CXT, Inc., a
wholly owned subsidiary of L.B. Foster Company, has been awarded a contract by
West Rail Construction to supply 23,000 concrete rail ties for the unloading
system at EGT’s Columbia River Grain Terminal. CXT plans to start shipment of
ties from its Spokane manufacturing plant to the new Longview, Wash., riverside
facility in February.
TriMet WES Commuter Rail
line marks its first year in service on February 2. Oregon’s first commuter rail
line connects the Portland suburban cities of Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and
Wilsonville with weekday rush hour service.
The commission for the Bay
Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency voted 11 to 5
to keep $70 million in Stimulus funds with the Oakland Airport Connector Project.
However, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will revisit the issue at a
special February 17 meeting.
Two large-scale projects
being pursued by Riverport Railroad, LLC, in Savanna, Ill., have the potential
to add 350 to 400 new jobs to the Carroll County area, said Jack Koster, Riverport’s
president and CEO, the Freeport Journal Standard reports. The projects in
question will not only create jobs, but generate significant property tax
revenue and establish a "Rail Car Mall" serving companies across the U.S.,
Koster said.
Construction of a second
commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River, one of the biggest public works
projects under way in the country, could be delayed by issues about the use of
eminent domain to take property on the West Side of Manhattan, The New York
Times reports.
The Illinois
Commerce Commission has granted approval for safety improvements at five grade
crossings around the state. ICC OKed the installation of new automatic flashing
light signals and gates and roadway approach grade improvements at the N. 9th
Avenue highway-rail grade crossing of Norfolk Southern track near Litchfield,
Montgomery County The total estimated cost for the new automatic warning
devices is $280,806. The Grade Crossing Protection Fund will be used to pay 95 percent
of the signal installation costs, not to exceed $266,766. NS will pay all remaining
installation costs, as well as all future operating and maintenance costs
related to the new automatic warning devices. All work is to be completed by Jan.
6, 2011.
The companies behind a
C$400-million proposal to build a second Detroit River rail tunnel have issued
a pre-bid notice – a call for companies to prove qualifications – to conduct
the environmental assessment for the project, The Windsor Star reports.
Borealis Infrastructure and Canadian Pacific Railway, co-owners of the
100-year-old Windsor-Detroit rail tunnel, plan to build an adjacent tunnel to
accommodate larger double-stacked railway cars and possibly high-speed
cross-border passenger service.
A Plainview lawmaker is
backing away from supporting Rochester, Minnesota’s proposed railroad bypass,
The Post-Bulletin reports. DFL House Assistant Majority Leader Andy Welti
recently sent a letter to constituents who live along the potential rail route
saying that it is time to start negotiating with the railroad.
The New Orleans Regional
Transit Authority has selected HDR to complete an environment assessment and
preliminary engineering for extensions of the New Orleans streetcar network
into the Central Business District and neighborhoods surrounding the French
Quarter. HDR previously did the alternatives analysis identifying streetcar
investments for these areas, and the related conceptual engineering.
The Executive Committee
of the American Wood Protection Association gave final approval on January 26
for listing of ACZA-treated railroad ties in the AWPA Book of Standards.
Ammoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate (ACZA) has been listed in AWPA standards since
1983 as an accepted wood preservative, but it was not listed for protection of
ties. Recent pressures on creosote-treated ties led Arch Wood Protection, Inc.,
licensor of the Chemonite brand of ACZA-treated wood, to submit test data to
AWPA membership for tie applications.
Cutting-edge environmental
technologies and green design will make the Northwest Ohio Terminal Facility, a
new freight transit hub under construction in North Baltimore, Ohio, one of the
most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced freight terminals in
the country.
The construction of a new
transit center in downtown San Francisco received a financial boost from a
$171-million federal loan, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. The
new Transbay Transit Center will connect the Bay Area to the rest of
California, making daily commutes and longer trips easier, faster and more
convenient.
Union Pacific is investing
nearly $42 million to improve its existing rail lines in Arizona. Projects under way in the first quarter
2010 include track renewal work in the Phoenix and Mesa areas, railroad tie
replacement in Union Pacific’s Phoenix and Tucson rail yards and railroad tie
replacement on Union Pacific’s main line between Casa Grande and Yuma.
Beginning the weekend of Jan.
29-Feb 1 and running for nine consecutive weekends, MTA NYC Transit 7 Line trains
will operate between Main Street-Flushing and Queensboro Plaza only. There will
be no 7 train service between Grand Central in Manhattan and Long Island City.
Fare-free shuttle buses will be available.
As a part of its Great
American Stations Project, Amtrak is hosting its fifth Civic Conversation in
San Antonio, Texas, to discuss the redevelopment and restoration of passenger
rail stations with a focus on communities along the routes of the Texas Eagle, Sunset
Limited and Heartland Flyer. The two-day workshop, January 27-28, includes
information on design and planning guidelines and a how-to session on getting
started on a station renewal project and the types of state and federal grants
available for station improvements.
As part of BART’s system-wide
Earthquake Safety Program, the agency has been strengthening structures at the
Daly City, Calif., station to withstand future earthquakes. Starting early
February 2010, construction crews will start work inside the station. As a result,
BART will close two fare gates at the south end of the station, which may
result in delays during the peak morning and evening commute hours as riders
pass through the remaining fare gates.
SELECTAMARK’S Dutch
distributor, Rhine Group BV, has won a major contract to protect the main rail
infrastructure in the Netherlands from metal theft, using forensic marking
product SelectaDNA. Rhine Group has been awarded the contract by Dutch rail
company ProRail BV to combat trackside metal theft. The increased risk of
stealing, transporting and handling SelectaDNA-marked copper and other metals
is expected to deter thieves and have a significant impact on the number of
incidents.
RailComm has been selected
to provide a shove track detection and indication system to complement its
existing yard control system at CSX Transportation’s Erwin Terminal in
Tennessee. The system will provide remote indication of the shove track status,
allowing the train operator to know when his/her train has reached the detected
limits of the shove zone. The shove track system will interface to the existing
DOC® (Domain Operations Controller) System and will provide field
indications and an indication of the shove track status on the DOC®
System graphical user interface.
Mexico’s two main private
railway operators, Ferromex and Kansas City Southern de Mexico, or KCSM, plan
to invest a combined $242.6 million this year in infrastructure and other
projects.
BNSF
has reduced transit schedules on 60 percent of its Domestic Intermodal Premium
Container traffic, and added 16 more days of service.
