News and Opinion

Los Angeles asks feds for help in borrowing money for transit






Three decades is a long
time to wait for a train. So Los Angeles is asking the federal government for
help in borrowing $9 billion to speed construction of 12 new mass-transit rail
lines, The Wall Street Journal reports. With Washington’s backing, city
officials say they could make a dramatic improvement to public transportation
in just 10 years — including a dreamy-sounding Subway to the Sea — after
decades of stalled attempts to equip the sprawling metro area with a
comprehensive public-transportation system.

State review backs Railroad District testing






Montana state officials
have accepted the results of a study sponsored by the city of Whitefish of an
underground diesel plume caused by spills at BNSF’s locomotive fueling station
in Whitefish, a Superfund site, the Whitefish Pilot reports. Using $50,000 in
state grant money obtained by the city, Roger Noble and Applied Water
Consulting, of Kalispell, investigated the extent of the contamination in
Whitefish’s Railway District and a neighborhood east of the middle school.

St. Louis Metro to host event for National Clean Air Day






St. Louis 
Metro and the
Sierra Club, along with the American Lung Association in Missouri, Sisters of
St. Joseph of Carondelet and other clean air advocates, will participate in a
National Clean Air Day event at the Civic Center MetroLink Station March 16.
Participants will distribute "I Heart Clean Air" postcards and a sweet treat as
a "thank you" to Metro riders for helping to keep the air clean by choosing
transit.
 


Maine governor outlines $79-milion bond package for transportation






Maine
Gov. John Baldacci provided the details of a $79-million bond proposal that includes
money to save northern Maine’s last major rail line and to fund transportation
projects across the state, the Bangor Daily News reports. Pitching the bond package as a type of stimulus
measure, Baldacci said the additional state borrowing would create or protect
thousands of jobs in the state while investing in much-needed highway and
infrastructure projects.

Colo adds three new locations






Colo Railroad Builders, a leading provider of railroad
construction and maintenance services to shortline and Class 1 railroads, has
added three new offices, one in Kansas and two in Texas.

Parsons Brinckerhoff marks 125th anniversary






Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB)
is celebrating its 125th year as a New York City-based international
engineering giant. In 1885, William Barclay Parsons established a consulting
engineering practice at 22 William Street in Lower Manhattan. Since then, PB
has continued to play leading roles on transportation, power, buildings, and
environmental projects throughout the world. Today, the firm is a strategic
consulting, planning, engineering and program/construction management
organization with approximately 14,000 employees in 150 offices on six
continents.

Austin, Texas, Capital MetroRail to begin service March 22






On March 22, Central Texans
will have a new way to commute as Capital Metro opens its passenger rail line,
Capital MetroRail. Capital Metro said that it will begin passenger service on
the 32-mile Red Line from Leander to Downtown Austin and will offer free fares
the first week of service. There will be nine trips in the morning (six
southbound and three northbound trips) and 10 trips in the afternoon (six northbound
and four southbound trips). The first train will leave Leander Station at 5:25
a.m.

New York City Transit 7 Line weekend work completed ahead of schedule






Fulfilling a commitment
to the Long Island City community to end back-riding and shuttle bus service in
as short a period as possible, MTA New York City Transit completed a series of
weekend rehabilitation projects, including major track replacement work on the
Davis Street Curve of the 7 Line. These jobs were completed three weekends
ahead of the projected schedule.

Newburgh-Beacon Ferry resumes operations






The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry
is resuming normal operations March 10, 2010. Ferry service was suspended
January 4 due to heavy icing in the Hudson River. Ice floes subsequently
damaged the floating dock in Newburgh, N.Y. All repairs have now been
completed.

Spurned operator to bid again on P&N Railroad






A short-line railroad
operator that lost a bid last year to operate the restored Piedmont &
Northern Railroad in Gaston County, N.C., is back with another proposal, the
Gaston Gazette reports. Bill Gray, president of
Carolina Central Railway, could not come to terms with transportation officials
on a lease agreement last year. But Gray said he plans to bid again on the
state’s latest request to find a long-term operator for the P&N Railroad.

Ramsey, Minn., residents hearing fewer trains






Some Ramsey, Minn.,
residents living near railroad tracks should be sleeping a little better, the
Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Two of the city’s five rail crossings have
been designated quiet zones where engineers no longer must sound train horns as
they approach. The zones, which went into effect late last month, will extend
more than a mile from Sunfish Lake Boulevard west along the BNSF tracks to
Ramsey Boulevard.

Keokuk, Iowa, mulls $500,000 offer for railroad bridge






At least three parties
have expressed interest in purchasing the city of Keokuk’s swing-span railroad
bridge, which connects the southern Iowa town to Hamilton, Ill., the Burlington
Hawkeye reports. After years of searching for a company willing to buy the
bridge, city officials find the abrupt attention to the structure to be a
refreshing change of events.

Government of Canada, VIA Rail to build new station for Smiths Falls






Dean Del Mastro,
Member of Parliament for Peterborough and Chairman of the All Party Rail Caucus
Parliamentary Group, on behalf on Rob Merrifield, Minister of State (Transport),
and VIA’s Senior Director, Real Estate, Magdy Fahmy announced the construction
of a new station and rail line upgrading for Smiths Falls, Ont. Made possible
by the Government of Canada’s investments of close to C$21 million for major
rail infrastructure work, the projects will increase and improve the safety,
frequency and speed of passenger rail service all along VIA’s busy
Toronto-Ottawa route. MP Del Mastro and Senior Director Fahmy were joined at
the announcement by Smiths Falls Mayor Dennis Staples and Canadian Pacific Vice-President of Government Affairs Michael Murphy.

Dulles Rail construction marks year of progress






Since the Federal Transit
Administration’s approval of $900 million in "new starts" funds to
complete the financial package for construction of Phase 1 of the Dulles
Corridor Metrorail Project in northern Virginia in March 2009, construction has started all along
the 11-mile alignment from East Falls Church to Reston. More than 95 percent of the
construction of manholes and duct banks necessary for relocating the 21 utilities
in the Route 7 alignment area has been completed. Some overhead power lines
have been permanently removed and utility crews are now working in those
manholes underground to connect the new lines.

FRA high-speed-rail effort draws fire






The federal agency in
charge of $8 billion in economic stimulus spending on high-speed-rail projects
doesn’t have the staff or expertise to properly oversee the money, government
investigators and congressional critics say. USA Today reports that the Federal
Railroad Administration, whose main job until now had been keeping freight and
passenger railroads safe, awarded the high-speed-rail grants in January —
months later than planned.

MARC adjusts schedule as Amtrak track work impacts Penn Line









The Maryland Transit
Administration advises the public of an upcoming Amtrak project on the
Northeast Corridor between New Carrollton and Baltimore that will impact MARC
Train Penn line riders. This major track work project, replacing the crossties
on the northbound track, will require Penn Line schedule changes approximately
every 4-5 weeks for the next six months.
 

 

Editorial: Maine Rail Solutions






Allowing
the rail link between Aroostook County and the rest of the state to disappear
would be economically devastating to the region. But, with limited resources,
the state isn’t in a good position to operate a financially troubled rail line,
according to an editorial in the Bangor Daily News.

KCS acquires Puerta Mexico Intermodal Facility, adds direct train service






Kansas City Southern said
that it has acquired the Puerta Mexico intermodal facility at Toluca in the State
of Mexico. Later this month, Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
(KCSM) will add direct train service from Lazaro Cardenas to Puerta Mexico,
providing Mexico City import and export shippers with a service alternative
featuring improved consistency and reliability and better transit times.

Union Pacific invests in its line between Seattle and Fife






Union Pacific will improve
Seattle’s transportation infrastructure with a $5.7-million investment to enhance
its track from Seattle to Fife, Wash. Running generally parallel to Interstate
5, this section of Union Pacific track is critical to the movement of goods in
Washington and helps keep local and regional economies competitive. The project
is under way and will continue through the middle of 2010.