L.B. Foster Company has begun delivery of $3.4 million of rail and trackwork products to rail contractor Wintrow Construction of Barberton, Ohio, for the construction of 8.5 miles of track and other track materials at the new Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes Star Steel pipe mill in Youngstown, Ohio.
For four consecutive weeknights hundreds of New York Metropolitan Transit Authority workers labored through the late night and early morning hours cleaning, inspecting, repairing and replacing subway infrastructure on a nearly seven-mile segment of the Lexington Avenue Line.
The White House Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Transportation revealed a pilot program to expedite environmental review of Northeast Corridor high-speed passenger rail projects. The statement below is from Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman:
Mercuria Energy Trading, Inc., based in Chicago, has developed a terminal to ship crude oil on the Panhandle Northern Railway, which operates on 31 miles of track between the towns of Panhandle and Borger, Texas.
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, in joint partnership with the Buckhead Community Improvement District, Georgia Department of Transportation, State Road and Toll Authority, Federal Transit Administration and the city of Atlanta, is preparing to begin construction in the spring on a pedestrian bridge to reconnect the east and west sides of the Buckhead community.
RailComm upgraded its existing yard system at BNSF Corwith’s mechanical facility in Chicago, Ill. RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller System is used to remotely control derails.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Iron Ship Builders, Forgers and Helpers; the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; and the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association have ratified new contracts with the nation’s largest freight railroads.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued two safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration related to five rear-end collisions in which crewmembers failed to operate their trains at the required restricted speed.
After re-evaluating route options for the Central Valley to Los Angeles Basin segment of California’s high-speed rail system, the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Board decided to continue to move forward with a proposed route through Palmdale.
A continuation of upgrade and modernization work to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Flushing Line and its stations will necessitate suspension of 7 train service between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square for eleven weekends beginning January 21, as well as the full closure of the Court Square Station on the 7 line until April 2, 2012.
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority’s total ridership, including weekends and holidays, reached 3,948,100 in 2011, up from 3,644,978 in 2010, showing an increase of 8.3 percent.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles recommended operating and capital budgets for the next fiscal year that continue the authority’s path of improvement on safety and reliability, as well as provide more and enhanced service for rail and bus riders.
Musket Corp. will establish a crude-oil export terminal within the Great Western Industrial Park in Colorado on a newly constructed loop track on the Great Western Railway. Due to the abundance of existing infrastructure, the site is easily scalable beyond the initial loading capacity of 5.8 million barrels per year.
Gross & Janes Co. acquired a crosstie production facility in Taylor, Ark., and approximately 4,200 acres of hardwood timber in Arkansas and Louisiana from Tucker Lumber Company and Smith-Turner Land Company. Terms of the deal, which was completed on January 9, 2012, were not disclosed.
With demand for intercity passenger rail service on the rise, Amtrak is moving forward with an aggressive agenda for 2012 and building for the future while strengthening current services.
California’s Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority was notified by the Federal Transit Administration that VTA’s $900 million grant request for the Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension Project has received all of the administrative approvals. VTA is now 60 days away from being awarded the anticipated funds through a full funding grant agreement.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) urged California Governor Jerry Brown to act swiftly to improve the viability of high-speed rail in California by strongly supporting a plan to move the California High Speed Rail Authority into a transportation agency under the governor’s direction.
CSX introduced a new program, CSX Select Sites, offering customers an easy way to access certified, rail-ready properties for a variety of industrial uses.
The Surface Transportation Board selected new appointees to serve on the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. RSTAC consists of 15 members appointed by the board’s chairman. It provides a forum for the discussion of matters of concern to rail shippers and railroads.
L.B. Foster Company’s Pueblo, Colo., rail products plant has been chosen by IndustryWeek magazine as one of 10 North American manufacturing facilities to receive the publication’s 2011 Best Plants Award. IndustryWeek’s website reported L.B. Foster’s rail joints and bars facility has been recognized for excellence in manufacturing. The magazine notes that the plant demonstrates extraordinary continuous improvement in the workplace and sustained efforts to provide customer satisfaction.
