Results from a recent
online survey administered to Northstar Commuter Rail customers and the general
public found that 79 percent of respondents support government funding to
extend rail service to St. Cloud, Minn..
Starting July 12, nearly
two-dozen weekday trains on the Metra BNSF Line between Chicago and Aurora, Ill.,
will see minor schedule changes to accommodate a major construction project
and/or to make the schedules more reliable. In most cases, the trains will have
slightly later or, in a few instances, slightly earlier departure times from
some or all stations. Some of the changes will result in a slightly longer
overall trip, but in other cases the total run time will not be affected.
Nearly two decades after
the Chicago and North Western Railroad closed up shop in Chadron, Neb., a new
railroad company is bringing the Chadron rail-yards, and the railroad
roundhouse back to life, the Chadron Record reports. And principals in the new
company say they see tremendous potential for niche railroad services in the
community, based on the community’s location near a main BNSF rail line, and
the presence of a roundhouse that can handle repair and refurbishing of large
railroad equipment.
East County residents will
be riding eBART before they know it. eBART is the 10-mile BART extension
eastward from the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART Station to a station near Hillcrest
Avenue. Construction begins this fall and will coincide with the widening of
State Highway 4. eBART and Highway 4 will finish together in 2015, offering
faster travel time on both the highway and the train.
Norfolk Southern contract
crews have set up warning signs, and one of Bluefield, W. Va.’s bridges that
traverses the NS main line in the city’s East End will be coming down within the
next two weeks
,
the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports.
As
the state has not yet negotiated a deal to purchase the tracks, the federal
Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing in Presque Isle on July
7 to allow interested parties to comment on Montreal, Maine & Atlantic
Railway’s application to abandon the 233 miles of tracks that run through Aroostook
and Penobscot counties, the Bangor Daily News reports.
Charlie Brown stood
behind the bar at the dark, dusty Whistling Post Tavern on June 30, rag in
hand, updating his patrons on the latest local news, local newspapers report.
Canadian Pacific marks a
significant milestone this year as it celebrates the 125th Anniversary of the
driving of the Last Spike, which signaled the completion of Canada’s first
transcontinental railroad. In celebration of this anniversary, CP presented the
first of its archives Legacy gifts to the Banff Whyte Museum.
BART and Caltrans will need
to close a portion of eastbound Interstate 580 in the Dublin/Pleasanton area
beginning 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 10, through 9 a.m. Sunday, July 11. Off-ramps
from eastbound I-580 to northbound and southbound Interstate 680 will also be
closed. These closures are necessary to accommodate construction crews as they
install bridges perpendicular to the highway, which will provide access to the
new West Dublin/Pleasanton Station.
Ingleside Civic League
president Phillip Hawkins points to a rut with his shoe along the light rail
tracks that run in front of his home. He’s less than thrilled his neighborhood
is about to be inconvenienced again, Norfolk, Va.’s WAVY reports. Starting July
6, crews will rip out the light rail crossing at Ingleside and Mississippi and
replace it. The same will happen at the Bristol and Curlew Dr crossing.
WAVY
learned the concrete panels settled causing the tracks to move.
Work on an important part
of a new east-west highway corridor across south Renton, Wash., that will help
ease congestion could begin in spring 2012, the Seattle Post Intelligencer
reports. Key players in the project, including Renton, Tukwila, Boeing, BNSF
and Sound Transit, recently held a high-level meeting on the project, known as
the Southwest 27th/Strander Boulevard Connection.
Wednesday, July 7 to
Friday, July 9, crews will begin site preparation for a project that will
improve rail crossings at Mary and Sunnyvale avenues in Sunnyvale, Calif. The
work is part of VTA project to improve safety at eight crossings in Sunnyvale,
Mountain View and Palo Alto.
Union Pacific will improve
Missouri’s transportation infrastructure by investing more than $10 million on
the rail line that runs from near Washington, Mo., to Pacific, Mo. Work on the
nearly 22-mile stretch of railroad track began July 1 and is scheduled to be
completed by the end of July. The project includes removing and
installing the rail on one of the two tracks in the area.
Two years after officials
gathered in Mechanicsville, N.Y., to announce a $40-million "rail
logistics center," work on the project has yet to begin, the Albany
Times-Union reports. But that could soon change.
New Mexico Transportation
Secretary Gary L. J. Girón was joined by state and local officials as they
broke ground on the Reinken Avenue project in Belen. The $2.4-million project
is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will include
building a pedestrian overpass at the Belen Rail Runner Station. It is expected
to be complete by this November.
At the opening of the new
dog park in Fremont, Calif., Central Park, a cacophony of howls and yips from
assorted canines mixed with excited chatter and laughter from dog owners. When
the ribbon was finally cut by Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman and BART Board
Director Tom Blalock, dogs thronged the oasis-like park, which stood in stark
contrast to the booming construction nearby.
SERTC is now
enrolling emergency responders for hazardous material training through a
federally funded program that provides broad access to intensive training at
our world-class training facility located at the Transportation Technology
Center, Pueblo, Colo. Registration
for training is available on at www.sertc.org.
Transportation projects
in North Carolina have $173 million over the next four years that doesn’t have
to be allocated based on the state equity fund formula, the Sun Journal
reports.
Mesquite, Texas, is
pursuing a "quiet zone" along the Union Pacific railway
corridor that cuts through the middle of town, the Dallas Morning News reports.
In a quiet zone, if railroad crossings meet certain federal standards, trains
no longer sound their horns unless the engineer sees a danger on the tracks.
Union Pacific has published
its 2009 Sustainability and Citizenship Report, highlighting the company’s
commitment to protecting the environment, enhancing its position as an employer
of choice, being a valuable member of the more than 7,000 communities in which
it operates and diligently working on behalf of shareholders, employees and
customers to be among the best-governed companies in America.