The Memorial Day Holiday weekend Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project work on Metrorail’s Orange Line that had resulted in the disruption of rail service between the West Falls Church-VT/UVA and East Falls Church stations in northern Virginia was completed successfully and service between the two stations resumed at 5 a.m., Tuesday morning, June 1.
Three consortia that supply
smart card electronic fare payment systems and fare gates to some of the
biggest transit operations in the world have qualified to submit proposals to
supply a Smart Card and Faregate system for Vancouver’s TransLink, to be in
operation by the target date of first quarter of 2013.
Frustrated by the
clanging and banging of freight trains through their neighborhood near UC
Riverside, Calif., residents have demanded better sound protection and more
specifics on safety improvements before they support a planned expansion of
Metrolink service, The Press-Enterprise reports. But retrofitting more than 100
homes, adding underpasses and developing a community safety plan could cost
millions of dollars and potentially delay the Perris Valley Line.
Gangs will be in the
north central area and across the HiLine of Montana this spring and summer, but
these gangs are an indication of an improving economy, the Great Falls Tribune
reports. BNSF will invest $77.2 million in capital maintenance projects,
including rail replacement, tie replacement and track surfacing.
Florida East Coast Railway named
James Hertwig president and CEO of the company effective July 1, 2010. Hertwig is an accomplished expert in
intermodal transportation and is highly respected throughout the industry. He
has been president and CEO of Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation, president
of Landstar Logistics, Inc., and most recently president of CSX Intermodal.
CSX Transportation said
that it has entered into a rail security partnership with the State of Florida
that represents a model CSXT hopes to use with other states it serves.
Continuing the
Patrick-Murray Administration’s commitment to providing accessible
transportation service to all residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
MBTA General Manager Rich Davey joined local officials and members of the West
End community at the Science Park/West End Station to announce a $22-million
investment for accessibility improvements to the station. The project includes
the construction of two elevators that will provide access from a new street
level lobby to the train platforms at the top of the viaduct.
The effort to fix a
dangerous and congested rail intersection near downtown Fort Worth known as
Tower 55 may finally be on track, the Ft. Worth Star Telegram reports. Texas
Department of Transportation officials said that they would formally endorse an
application for federal funding for the Tower 55 project, a $93.7-million
proposal to modernize crossings often used by children on the way to school.
Portland, Oregon’s regional
transit agency TriMet formed a partnership with junaio to integrate transit
data ranging from station locations, bus routes to estimated arrival times into
a TriMet channel on the junaio 2.0 mobile augmented reality platform. Available
free on the iPhone 3GS and coming soon to Android devices, junaio 2.0 features
the TriMet channel to give riders easy and instant access to complete transit
information on nearby stops by simply pointing their phone around them.
The Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) invites the public to a new
community meeting on Monday, June 7, to discuss alignment options for tunneling
between the Wilshire/Rodeo and Century City Stations now being examined as part
of the Westside Subway Extension Project environmental study now under review.
Chicago area Metra commuters at Hanover Park on the Milwaukee West Line and Fairview Avenue on BNSF will experience some delays and inconvenience due to station work.
The Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio recently offered to pay, using grant funds, a portion of
Medina’s share of an upcoming railroad upgrade project if the city agreed to
used any saved money to install new gates and signal lights at crossings on
Lafayette and Ryan roads, the Medina Sun reports.
The U.S. Department of
Transportation said that nearly $80 million in grants have been delivered to
states as part of President Obama’s historic high-speed and intercity passenger
rail program. These grants will go toward the development of a brand new
Recovery Act funded high-speed rail system in Florida as well as critical
upgrades to existing passenger rail service throughout the country.
VAE Nortrak North America
Inc. won a Metra Commuter Service master purchase agreement for rail. The
master purchase agreement is for new 115RE and 136RE AREMA rail for a period of
18 months. The first train with 64,000 lineal feet of welded rail will be
loaded on a rail train and headed for Chicago for this season’s
welded-rail-laying program.
The Metropolitan
Transportation Authority said it has entered into a contract with a joint
venture of Related Companies and new partner Oxford Properties Group for the
development of the MTA’s Hudson Yards into a mixed-use community that will
include 12 million square feet of commercial and residential development. The
deal calls for the MTA to lease the site to the joint venture for 99 years,
with purchase options, and will provide $1 billion for vital MTA capital
projects.
The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Regional
Transit Authority, designated the transit stop at South Park and Shaker
boulevards as the Nature
Center at Shaker Lakes stop
Water may not be to blame
for the settling of light-rail tracks at the intersection of Brambleton Avenue
and Second Street, The Virginian-Pilot reports. Don Lint, Hampton Roads Transit
light-rail construction manager, said that once the tracks and the panels they
are bolted to are removed next week, the agency will have a better idea of what
went wrong.
The North Carolina
Department of Transportation’s Rail Division has applied for federal planning
funds that would allow for the expansion of intercity passenger rail service to
the western and southeastern parts of the state.
Target Field already is
the capital of Minnesota baseball. Now it may spawn Minneapolis’ answer to
Grand Central Station, the Star Tribune reports.
The Los Angeles Metro
Transit Authority is exploring ways to provide commuters with an alternative to
the 405 freeway by extending the South Bay Metro Green Line. One option is into
North Redondo Beach, to many residents’ dismay, the Beach Reporter reports.
