Busing planned on Metro-North New Canaan Branch for brush clearing






New York MTA Metro-North
Railroad will be operating substitute bus service on the New Canaan Branch
during weekday off-peak hours for the week of November 15 -19 to allow for tree
and brush clean-up before winter. The Power Department recently inspected the
branch and identified 16 locations where the foliage was too close to the
overhead catenary wires. To avoid putting train service at risk the first time
there is an ice or snow storm, it is necessary to take care of these spots now.

Nearly half-million dollar project to strengthen railroad bridge in Glendor, Calif.






Los Angeles County
this week began a nearly half-million-dollar project aimed at preventing
earthquake damage to a railway bridge in Glendora, Calif., officials said, according
to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

BART installs new bike racks inside 19th St./Oakland Station






The latest step in BART’s
efforts to improve facilities for bicyclists is a set of spiffy double-deck
racks that can hold 64 bikes inside the 19th St./Oakland, Calif., Station. Previously,
the only option for bicyclists who wanted to store bikes near the station were
the city-owned racks located outside on the street level, which were often
filled beyond capacity.

Happy 15th Anniversary West Coast Express






Fifteen years of service
and 30 million riders later, Vancouver’s West Coast Express commuter rail line had
reason to celebrate. Doug Kelsey, TransLink’s executive vice-president and president
of British Columbia Rapid Transit Company, Ltd., and Maple Ridge-Mission MLA
Marc Dalton joined hundreds of daily commuters at the Waterfront Station to
commemorate the anniversary.

BNSF suing Kootenai County over new regulations






BNSF is suing Kootenai
County, Idaho, over new regulations proposed for the railroad’s Hauser diesel
refueling depot, the Spokesman-Review reports.

Acoustifence® reduces Seattle light rail noise






When the Link light rail
system first began running in July 2009, Rainier Valley and Tukwilla residents
in south Seattle were upset with the noise.

Federal Signal appoints Dennis Martin president and CEO






Federal Signal
Corporation named Dennis J. Martin president and chief executive officer,
following the resignation of William H. Osborne. Martin, 60, has served on
Federal Signal’s Board of Directors since 2008.

Ice named President, BNSF Railway Company






BNSF Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Matt Rose today announced the promotion of Carl Ice to the
newly-created position of president and chief operating officer of BNSF Railway
Company, with responsibility for operations, marketing and technology services.

 

MBTA Old Colony tie replacement project under way






Beginning November 3 and
continuing as long as the weather permits, the MBTA contractor, J.F. White,
will be performing necessary track work to replace the deteriorating concrete
ties between Plymouth Station and the Rte. 3 Overhead Bridge in Kingston, Mass.
During this time Plymouth Station will be closed. Train service will be
provided to and from Kingston Station only.

Wisconsin rail deal quietly locked in






Just days before an
election that could decide the fate of a planned high-speed rail line, state
and federal administrators quietly signed a deal to commit the state to
spending all $810 million of the federal stimulus cash allocated to the
Milwaukee-to-Madison route, transportation officials confirmed Nov. 1, the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Rail company cooperates with Ontonagon County over abandonment






With support from Escanaba
and Lake Superior Railroad, officials in Ontonagon, Mich., are moving forward
with the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region working to
preserve the railroad located in Ontonagon, the Daily Mining Gazette reports.

Caltrain construction, maintenance update, Oct. 29-Nov. 4






Work will continue on the
new pedestrian underpass at the Santa Clara station. The underpass will connect
the north- and southbound platforms, allowing two trains to pass through the
station at the same time and improving safety for pedestrians in the station. Passengers
at the station are boarding the train from a temporary platform. Passengers are
asked to observe all posted signs and follow direction from identified
ambassadors in the station. The temporary platform will be in use for
approximately six months.

CN, North America Stevedoring to build Chicago steel transloading facility






CN and North America
Stevedoring Company, LLC (NASCO) will construct of a new multi-modal steel
transloading facility in Chicago, the North American hub for steel
transportation. NASCO is a division of Quebec Stevedoring Company Ltd. (QSL).


BART, project partners break ground on East Contra Costa County extension






BART customers will soon
have rail service to East Contra Costa County thanks to the eBART extension
project, which officially broke ground in a ceremony October 29. eBART,
shorthand for east Contra Costa BART extension, is a 10-mile extension from
Pittsburg/Bay Point Station to the City of Antioch.

MBTA’s Copley Station modernization complete






MBTA General Manager Rich
Davey joined Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino to celebrate the $61-million
modernization of Copley Station, located on the MBTA’s Green Line. Copley
Station is now fully accessible and in compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

Montgomery appointed to run Staten Island Railway






MTA NYC Transit said that
Stephone Montgomery, a 27-year veteran of the MTA family, has been named to the
post of vice president and chief officer for Staten Island Railway by Senior
Vice President, Department of Subways, Carmen Bianco. Montgomery, who succeeds
John Gaul, has served at MTA Long Island Rail Road and MTA New York City
Transit, in several positions during his career in rail, most recently as the
Line General Manager for the No. 4 and 5 lines as well as the Grand Central
Shuttle at NYC Transit.

ICF backing resurrection of B.C. rail line






You have to hand it to
the Island Corridor Foundation, which owns the 289-kilometre rail corridor on
Vancouver Island, for its ambitious plans to resurrect the ailing rail service,
according to a column in The Daily News. Graham Bruce, the executive director of the ICF, a
coalition of 13 First Nations and local governments formed in 2005 to
revitalize the railway system, said that the foundation has made a formal
application to Via Rail, operator of the Dayliner service, to begin a new
morning southbound train to Victoria that would leave Nanaimo at 6 a.m.

Paying for Portland-Milwaukie, Ore., light rail






Funding for the
Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail (PMLR) project will not affect money available
for bus service, TriMet points out. In Fiscal Year 2013, TriMet is slated to
sell bonds to generate roughly $40 million for its contribution to the
Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Line. Like a mortgage, these bonds will be paid
incrementally over 25 years or so. TriMet’s annual payment will be
approximately $3.2 million for debt service on the bonds. It is important to
stress that this borrowing won’t begin until FY13 and has no impact on current
service levels.

Michigan track deal helps commuter rail






The Michigan Department
of Transportation’s looming purchase of privately-owned railroad tracks between
Dearborn and Kalamazoo as part of an improved high-speed rail corridor to
Chicago also will directly benefit a commuter rail project linking Detroit and
Ann Arbor, Crain’s Detroit Business reports.

South Shore suspending weekend service for catenary work Nov. 6-8






The South Shore is alerting
passengers to the last in a series of planned temporary weekend construction
outages for 2010. The final weekend outage is planned for November 6-8. During
this construction related weekend outage the South Shore Line will not operate
trains or shuttle bus service in either direction between South Bend, Ind., and
Gary Metro Center beginning 2:30 a.m. Saturday, November 6 thru 3:00 a.m.
Monday, November 8.

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