U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Ray LaHood announced members of the Transit Rail Advisory
Committee for Safety (TRACS), a newly-formed advisory committee that will
assist the Federal Transit Administration with developing national safety
standards for rail transit.
The Metropolitan Council awarded
the first heavy construction contract for the Central Corridor light rail
transit Project to Walsh Construction to build the seven-mile St. Paul segment
of the line. Walsh’s $205.1-million award includes betterment work valued at
$10.4 million that was requested by, and will be paid for, by cooperating
agencies and utilities.
As part of BART’s
system-wide Earthquake Safety Program, in July the agency will begin
strengthening structures at the El Cerrito Plaza Station to withstand future
earthquakes. While this work is going on, there will be times that we will need
to change pedestrian access and traffic flow to the station.
The U.S. rail manufacturing
industry stands to undergo considerable growth in the coming years as Amtrak
upgrades its railcars and adds high-speed trains and as lawmakers consider a
transportation bill that calls for significantly greater investments in public
transit, including rail, according to a new study by Duke University prepared
for the Apollo Alliance. Illinois, which is home to 23 rail-manufacturing
facilities and is planning its own high-speed rail network, would reap major
benefits from such a bill.
The county has received
bids from 14 architectural firms on the $1.2-million downtown transit depot
that officials hope is a hub for Greyhound bus and Amtrak railway services in
the next few years, local media report. County staff members will spend the next couple of weeks
reviewing the projects and ranking the top four or five candidates before
presenting them to the commission, said Judy Halaas, county purchasing
technical coordinator.
CSX Transportation officials
told the Albany Times-Union editorial board June 23 that adding passenger
trains traveling 110 mph to CSX tracks would cut the amount of freight traffic
the railroad could handle.
June 25-27, Washington, D.
C., Metro will make upgrades to the track on the Blue Line to improve
reliability and service. As a result of this crucial work aimed at keeping the
railroad in a state of good repair, riders can expect delays of up to 30
minutes.
TriMet in Portland, Ore.,
has begun work to improve safety, security and fare compliance at the Gresham
Central MAX station. Over the next two months, crews will be installing
railing, lighting and signage around the platforms to improve visibility, make
the platform a fare zone and help make the overall environment safer. With the
station platform as a fare zone, passengers will be required to have valid fare
before boarding, making it easier to check fares at the station.
America’s growing economy
moves more and more freight on rails and Ohio is increasingly one of the
critical links to keep those goods rolling. Already nearing completion of its
Heartland Corridor between Chicago, Columbus and the Port of Norfolk, Va.,
Norfolk Southern is extending the corridor’s reach to Cincinnati.
As part of their review of
agency finances, DART officials are reviewing funding strategies for capital
projects scheduled beyond the current 37-mile light rail expansion. The
projected shortfall in sales tax revenue will result in the indefinite delay in
the third section of the Orange Line, from Irving to Terminal A at DFW Airport,
the second Downtown Dallas alignment and the Blue Line extension from Ledbetter
Station to the UNT Dallas campus, officials said.
Services that impact the
lives of many are often the subject of public scrutiny, as they well should be,
the Mid-Region Council of Governments said in a press release. However, it’s
also important to separate fact from fiction. And, since you, the taxpayer are
helping fund this service, we think it’s your right to know the truth.
Norfolk, Va., Moose Lodge
39 on Kempsville Road was knocked down to make way for The Tide light rail
project, The Virginian-Pilot reports. The giant jaws of a piece of heavy
machinery tore away at the building piece by piece this morning shortly after
10 a.m.
The Port Authority Board of
Commissioners approved the first major construction contracts – totaling more
than $100 million – for the iconic Santiago Calatrava-designed Transit Hall and
Oculus portions of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.
At its regular meeting
June 22, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Board considered several
resolutions, including:
• Authorizing a $140,000
change to the design of the Buckeye-Woodhill light-rail station. The new design
will offer a canopy and a series of ramps on each side of the tracks, instead
of elevators/escalators. RTA will also look at the cost of heated sidewalks, to
keep the ramps safe in snow and ice.
• Authorizing agreements with the City of Cleveland
that will allow federal funds to flow through RTA to the City of Cleveland to
plan an intermodal transportation facility on the Lakefront, near Dock 32.
Union Pacific will improve
Nebraska’s transportation infrastructure with a more than $20 million
investment to improve the rail line that runs from west of Grand Island, Neb.,
to Gibbon, Neb. Work on the nearly 25-mile stretch of railroad track began June
20 and is scheduled to be completed in late July.
For weeks, a giant yellow
and blue truss has been in place along the Dulles Connector Road (Route 267)
near Route 123 where the trains will move from the Connector Road to the
northwest side of Route 123. That truss weighs about 366 tons and is now being
used to lift huge concrete segments into place to make the spans between piers
that will create the aerial bridges for support tracks across Tysons Corner.
Those piers have been built along Route 123 and in the middle of the Dulles
Connector Road.
The federal Surface
Transportation Board announced today that it would hold a public hearing in
Presque Isle, Maine, on July 7, 2010, to allow interested persons to comment on
the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd.’s application to abandon 233
miles of line in Aroostook and Penobscot Counties.
Medina, Ohio, is upgrading
seven railroad crossings for the cost of two after Council recently approved a
deal with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, local newspapers report. According
to the agreement, the utilities commission will cover the city’s estimated
$400,000 share of installing crossing gates and upgrading warning signals at
five railroad crossings at South Court Street between Smith and Lafayette
roads; South Elmwood Avenue, West Smith Road between South Elmwood Avenue; and
South Huntington Street, Medina Street, and Prospect Street.
Pennsylvania granted $1 million to build a solar-power field on part of a Superfund site at the Paoli rail yard, as part of a plan for a new transportation facility, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
A train with refrigerated railcars is carrying its first load of Washington cherries to Chicago this summer, thanks to a new central Washington rail facility built to provide faster delivery of perishable products to the Midwest, the Associated Press reports.