Durbin: Increase rail investment under new Transportation Bill

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to increase funding for job creating Illinois rail and multimodal priorities, including rail line relocation grants, Amtrak and the TIGER grant program, in its bill to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Act. Durbin also urged the Committee to reject the proposals in the House Transportation bill that would eliminate or dramatically reduce funding for programs that are essential to creating jobs in downstate Illinois communities.

STB Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council appointments

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.

Watco Transload & Intermodal names VP

Ron Bird has accepted the position of vice president of Watco Transload and Intermodal Services Development. Bird will be based in Houston, Texas, at Greens Port Industrial Park, where he will be responsible for transload and multi-modal growth through existing and future Watco distribution channels.

Letter From The Publisher

Dear Railway Track & Structures and Rail Group News readers,

Happy New Year. January 1 marked my first day as publisher of the Simmons-Boardman Rail Division, which consists of Railway Age, International Railway Journal and Railway Track & Structures.

GWI Australian subsidiary dealing with Cyclone Grant aftermath

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) reported that a train operated by its subsidiary Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd (GWA) derailed in the vicinity of the Edith River bridge, approximately 40 km (18.6 miles) north of Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia, December 27.

BNSF takes intermodal service to the next generation

BNSF says it will transform shipper supply chains with its Next Generation Intermodal concept. The railroad says BNSF Next Generation Intermodal represents a new and innovative way of optimizing intermodal rail transportation as part of shippers’ supply chains. Next Generation Intermodal is geared toward making shippers fully aware of the broad spectrum of shipping options made available through intermodal, including different rail speeds and multimodal rail options in the same lane.

NS moves forward with TIGER grant, plans to expand Harrisburg intermodal operations

This is an update to a story first reported on December 15, 2011, Click here.

Norfolk Southern is moving forward with plans to expand operations at its Rutherford Intermodal Facility near Harrisburg, Pa., after the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $15 million TIGER III grant to the project.

Rail-related projects receive $279 million in TIGER funds

United States Department of Transportation awarded $511 million in TIGER III discretionary grants to 46 capital construction projects in 33 states, of which $279 million of funding will go to rail-related projects.

West Virginia Ports Authority awarded $12 million for Heartland Corridor terminal

The West Virginia Ports Authority has been awarded $12 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation to construct a long-planned intermodal terminal along Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor near Prichard, W.Va.

DART takes next steps to direct DFW Airport connection

Dallas Area Rapid Transit is making the final push to DFW Airport with the award of a design-build contract to construct a 5.2-mile extension of the Orange Line from the future Belt Line Station to the airport’s Terminal A. A joint venture of Kiewit, Stacy and Witbeck, Reyes, Parsons (KSWRP) was selected by the DART Board of Directors to complete the $149,750,000 project known as Irving-3 (I-3).

Chicago’s CTA receives $20 million TIGER grant

Illinois will receive a total of $44,288,000 in TIGER grant funding for three Illinois projects in the Chicagoland area and Alton. The grants represent approximately eight percent of total funding available through the program.

STB approves Alaska Railroad line in Port Mackenzie

The Surface Transportation Board issued a decision granting final approval for the Alaska Railroad Corporation to construct and operate approximately 35 miles of a new rail line connecting Port MacKenzie in south-central Alaska, to a point on ARRC’s existing mainline, between Wasilla and an area north of Willow, Ala.

Georgia Ports Authority Board approves Savannah area intermodal terminal expansion

The Georgia Ports Authority Board approved a $6.5 million, 6,000-foot extension of the Mason Intermodal Container Transfer Facility in Garden City, Ga. The initiative is designed to expand capacity, improve efficiencies and reduce costs for customers.

USDOT receives 32 letters of support for Port of Quincy rail intermodal terminal

More than 30 legislators (state and federal), businesses, organizations and communities have recently sent letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation, expressing extensive support for a TIGER Grant to expand the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal in Washington State.

PANYNJ hires HDR to rehabilitate Greenville Yard

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hired HDR to rehabilitate the Greenville Yard in Greenville, N.J., to improve ongoing rail-to-barge-to-rail freight movements across New York Harbor. The work includes rehabilitating a barge and transfer bridge used to move freight rail cars from the yard to the barges, designing a new barge and two new bridges, demolishing two bridges, rehabilitating the rail yard and waterfront structures and environmental permitting.

USDOT: TIGER grants in high demand

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the overwhelming demand for TIGER grants has once again far surpassed the available funding.

USDOT awards $7.9 million for station upgrades in Washington state

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood awarded $7.9 million for the Washington Department of Transportation to construct a new station in Tukwila, Wash., replacing the current, temporary wooden structure and creating enhanced intermodal and parking facilities.

MIA people mover begins service

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc., in cooperation with its local partners, completed construction of an Automated People Mover system capable of fully automated, driverless operation. The APM system connects Miami Airport Station with the Miami Intermodal Center over an approximately 1.25 miles of track, smoothly and efficiently transporting passengers on a one-way journey of roughly four minutes from one end of the system to the other.

Service began on September 8, 2011.

The APM project began in September 2008 when MHIA and Sumitomo Corporation of America, as a subcontractor to the Parsons-Odebrecht Joint Venture, won the competitive bid process. MHIA was responsible for supplying the operating system, which includes the vehicles, train control, power distribution and communication systems. The APM project was successfully completed in just 36 months.

Major Crescent Corridor improvements completed

A critical choke point on Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor has been eliminated with a reconfigured rail junction near Front Royal, Va. This was the final and most complex of six capacity improvement projects in Northern Virginia to handle more trains at higher speeds.