The $1.3 billion SunRail project in central Florida broke ground on Friday, January 27, 2012, at the future home of the Altamonte Springs station, located at the intersection of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and State Road in Seminole, Fla.
The cleanup of almost 2 million railroad ties from a site in Radford, Va., brings to an end a multi-year effort to clear the former industrial location and eliminate a potential environmental concern. Norfolk Southern completed removal of the ties earlier this month, delivering on a long-standing offer to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to transport the ties for free if a suitable disposal site could be found.
Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco, Calif., is continuing its work of earthquake safety strengthening of the Transbay Tube, which was not damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake but remains BART’s top earthquake safety priority.
United Transportation Union engineers, conductors and collectors employed by Chicago South Shore & South Bend, an electric-line passenger operation between Chicago and South Bend, Ind., have ratified a new two-year agreement.
Port San Antonio in Texas and Watco Companies, L.L.C., plan to launch a new rail service at the Port’s East Kelly Railport.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s reconstruction of its Piedmont & Northern Rail Corridor in Gaston County, N.C., will be significantly completed by February 20, 2012. This will allow operation of trains over the corridor for the first time in more than 20 years. Patriot Rail will provide freight rail service to customers over the line.
Canada’s Evergreen Line in Vancouver, B.C., is taking a major step forward with pre-construction beginning in the next couple of weeks, bringing new jobs and improved transit options for residents of Metro Vancouver.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proposed a significant change in the way major transit projects compete for federal funds by streamlining the process and making decisions more responsive to local needs.
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s PATH rail system reported record ridership in 2011, with 76.6 million commuter trips made during the year, the highest number since the agency took over operation of the system in 1962.
Yangtze Railroad Materials named Jeremy Tucker national sales manager.
U.S. Congressmen Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly and Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner said the Department of Transportation has awarded nearly $116 million funding for construction of Phase 1 of the Dulles Metrorail project in northern Virginia.
Union Pacific will improve the transportation infrastructure in San Antonio, Texas, by investing $4 million in one of two rail lines that parallel Frio City Road. The project will help trains move more efficiently through the west side of the city.
The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project in northern Virginia has completed the tunnel that will carry the future rail line under a portion of Tysons Corner, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C.
Jon Ryan has been named president of The Wood Energy Group, Inc., owned by Banyan Rail Serivices Inc.
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad LLC will soon complete a major capital project to rehabilitate a publicly-owned railroad corridor between Madison and Milton, Wis. The project, expected to be completed this year, consists of installing 30,000 railroad ties, upgrading 21 public at-grade railroad crossings and installing 32 miles of continuous welded rail in the following communities: Madison, McFarland, Stoughton, Edgerton and Milton.
Union Pacific employees capped a decade of safety improvement in 2011 by achieving a 1.15 reportable injury rate, the best performance on record in the company’s history.
CSX Corporation appointed Oscar Munoz as executive vice president and chief operating officer and Fredrik Eliasson as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective immediately.
New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North Railroad provided 82 million rides last year, up 1.4 percent over 2010, with ridership gains on all lines and in all markets from traditional morning inbound commutation to nights, weekends, middays and holidays.
The General Excise and Use Tax (GET) surcharge collected this past quarter for Honolulu’s rail project came in significantly higher than projected, marking the third consecutive quarter that revenue has surpassed projections, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation reported.
L.B. Foster Company appointed Robert Bauer as president and chief executive officer and member of the board of directors, effective February 1, 2012. Bauer joins the company from Emerson Climate Technologies where he previously served as president of the Refrigeration Division, a business of Emerson Electric Co. Bauer also served as president of Emerson Network Power’s Liebert Division.