Amtrak is using $115
million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve
tracks, buildings and control systems in Chicago this construction season, as
part of a $1-billion construction program to fund capital projects designed to
rebuild critical infrastructure.
Two rail tunnels under
the Hudson River – one dug by NJ Transit and another by Amtrak – could be built
within 20 years to handle the growing passenger load between New Jersey and
Manhattan, transportation officials said, The Record reports.
(The Teamster Rail
Conference sent the following letter to its membership): The Teamsters Rail
Conference takes great interest in efforts by our nation’s railroads to
maintain and improve the industry’s workplace security and safety – as well as
workforce training and awareness – especially in light of heightened security
threats and increased use of technology. As your representatives, we care
deeply about your job, your employers’ long-term security and viability, and
employer accountability across the rail industry.
The NJ TRANSIT Board of
Directors advanced the first phase of a project that will transform Perth Amboy
Station into an ADA-accessible facility, with high-level platforms and
elevators to provide access for customers with disabilities.
NOMAD
Digital Limited, a provider of train-to-shore data connectivity solutions, has
been awarded a contract with train builder Talgo. The contract is to deliver
and operate a high-quality wireless broadband and live passenger information
system on all Talgo’s train sets, servicing its cross border route from
Vancouver, Canada, through Seattle and Portland and Eugene, Oregon. The project
forms part of a train refurbishment program that Talgo is undertaking.
The Canadian federal
government should get on board with a high-speed rail line linking Ontario and
Quebec or risk being left in the dust by the Obama administration in the United
States, the premiers of both provinces said Wednesday, according to the Toronto
Star.
Representatives from the Connecticut Department of Transportation and URS engineering consultants held an information session
in Brookfield Town Hall June
16 to introduce four alternatives for improving the Danbury rail line. One
potential option includes extending passenger service up to New Milford, which
would include a stop in Brookfield, the Brookfield Patch reports.
Thirty companies
representing the U.S.’ rail and infrastructure technology, engineering,
security and construction sectors will convene at the Emirates Palace Hotel in
Abu Dhabi on June 20 to launch the "The U.S. Commercial Railroad &
Infrastructure Trade Mission to the United Arab Emirates," led by the
U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and the Association of American Railroads.
Construction for a bridge
over Lenwood Road near West Main Street in Barstow, Calif., is expected to
begin in two years and will transform the current two-lane road into a
four-lane road, the Desert Dispatch reports.
The new method to paint
the railroad bridge across Alabama’s Coosa River was cheaper than the other
proposed method, but just not cheap enough, local media report. Gadsden Associate Planner Shane
Ellison said the city received only one bid for the CSX Transportation railroad
bridge coating project, and it was much higher than the grant funds the city
has for the project.
Sealy, Texas, residents
could hear a few less trains blow their horns while passing through town within
a year as the city moves forward with plans to construct a quiet zone
stretching the length of the city, the Sealy News reports.
BART and Caltrans will need
to close a portion of westbound Interstate 580 in the Dublin/Pleasanton area
beginning 11p.m. on Saturday, June 19 through 9 a.m. Sunday, June 20. Ramps
from Interstate 680 leading to the impacted segment of I-580 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.
Union Pacific is
investing more than $7 million to improve the rail line that runs from East
Clinton, Ill., to near Dixon, Ill. Work on the 46-mile stretch of railroad track began June 7
and is scheduled to be completed by the end of July. The project includes
removing and installing more than 50,000 ties, spreading 16,700 tons of rock
ballast to reinforce the roadbed and replacing 41 grade crossing surfaces.
Burns & McDonnell has
reached an agreement to acquire Harrington & Cortelyou, Inc., a consulting
engineering firm with a well-established national reputation for engineering
design of fixed and movable highway and railway bridges. Based in Downtown
Kansas City, Harrington & Cortelyou has been providing engineering and
construction management services since 1907. The firm has designed and
supervised construction of more than 800 bridges in Missouri, including several
major bridge improvements in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Balfour Beatty Rail, Inc., was selected as part of
the Denver Transit Partners (DTP) team by the Denver Regional Transportation
District (Denver RTD) to construct the 46-year, multi-billion dollar Eagle P3
commuter rail project. The DTP team, which will design, build, operate,
maintain and finance the Eagle P3 Project, is made up of a group of transit
industry experts including Balfour Beatty Rail, Fluor Corporation, Macquarie
Capital Group Limited, Ames Construction, Hyundai-Rotem USA, Alternative
Concepts, Inc. (ACI), Fluor/HDR Global Design Consultants, PBS&J, Parsons
Brinckerhoff, Interfleet Technology, Systra, Wabtec and many others.
For months now, former
Anchorage, Alaska, Mayor Rick Mystrom has been pushing a huge railroad project — in the
Mat-Su, the Anchorage Daily News reports. It’s one of the projects the
Matanuska-Susitna Borough is banking on to make its 11-year-old Port MacKenzie
viable.
The Railroad
Transportation Safety District recently talked about making changes to three
Waverly crossings to create a nearly three-mile long quiet zone, where trains
wouldn’t have to blow their horns, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. The
Federal Railroad Administration requires trains to blow horns at unprotected
at-grade crossings, but they can be silenced if cities create quiet zones by
beefing up safety features around crossings with raised medians, lights and
gates.
The nation’s top
transportation official expressed optimism that high-speed passenger rail will
be widely available within two decades, and he praised Iowa’s efforts to push
for more passenger train service, the Des Moines Register reports.
Township Committee has
tentatively offered to foot part of the cost of creating a quiet zone at the
Lehigh Road railway crossing in Branchburg, N.J., if homeowners put up $30,000
of the cost of equipment, local media report. The total cost of the improvements
needed to silence train horns as they cross Lehigh Road is $36,000, according
to Township Administrator Gregory Bonin.
Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp. in
2008 was upheld by an appeals court, which rejected challenges by the Sierra
Club and Metra, the Chicago area commuter rail agency, local media report.