Railroads might have their
roots in the 19th century, but they still are important to the area economy,
say transportation and economic development officials, The Longview News-Journal
reports. Two area groups, meanwhile, are working to provide more rail options.
Prisco R. Morella expects
a delivery every day. On Wednesday, it came at 1:45 in the afternoon – 126,000
gallons of vegetable oil, The Telegram and Gazette in Worcester, Mass., reports.
Cowboys Stadium will get
temporary commuter rail service for the 2011 Super Bowl, but it might not be
the plan that was previously announced, The Dallas Morning News reports.
The new Mission Bay Drive
crossing in San Francisco is scheduled to open to pedestrian and vehicle
traffic Oct. 7. The crossing will provide access to Mission Bay residential
neighborhoods and eventually, to the UCSF Mission Bay campus from the west side
of The City. The new Caltrain grade crossing is wider than most because it
crosses three tracks instead of the usual two tracks. There is a pedestrian
crossing on the south side of the grade crossing that includes safety gates
with emergency swing gates, tactile warning strips, sidewalks and pavement
markings. There is no pedestrian crossing on the north side of grade crossing.
For the first time,
SkyTrain passengers will be able to access platforms 3 and 4 at the Commercial-Broadway
SkyTrain station in Vancouver, B.C., from the new 10th Avenue entrance. Transit
customers should be advised that the elevator at 10th Ave is awaiting final
inspection. Passengers who need assistance should still use the elevator on the
north side of Broadway street.
Union Pacific
Chairman and CEO Jim Young, Iowa Department of Transportation Director Nancy
Richardson and Boone, Iowa, Mayor John Slight commemorated one of North America’s
tallest double-track railroad bridges, the new Kate Shelley Bridge in Iowa
spanning the Des Moines River. Young, Richardson and Slight rode a Union
Pacific train over the bridge, which is more than 2,800 feet long and 190 feet
high.
The California High-Speed
Rail Authority on released its much-anticipated "alternatives
analysis," the most detailed view yet of how the massive transportation
project might forever transform the region from San Francisco to San Jose, the
Mercury News reports.
Top BART, State of
California, regional transit and local officials broke ground on the subway
portion of the Warm Springs Extension, a 5.4-mile project that will bring BART
closer to San Jose.
On October 7, 2009, The
Kansas City Southern Railway Company will close the Booth Street crossing in
Monroe, La. This crossing closure is part of a five-year, multi-million dollar
corridor project agreement between KCS and the Louisiana Department of
Transportation and Development to improve public safety at grade crossings
across Louisiana and in Monroe.
Metra officials joined
with Winnetka President Jessica Tucker and other local officials to break
ground on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Winnetka, Ill., train
station on the Union Pacific North line.
Good towers make good
neighbors, the Palm Beach, Fla., Post reports. Neighborhood opposition was
sparked when Florida East Coast Railway said it planned a 200-foot-tall
communications tower – twice as high as the Jupiter Lighthouse – just west of
the tracks off the Loxahatchee River.
Consider it a
housewarming party of sorts. The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad
showed off a newly rebuilt, 30-mile stretch of line to Rochester-area
government officials , according to the Rochester, Minn., Post-Bulletin. And
what better way to see the new tracks than from the upholstered comfort of one
of DM&E’s Pullman passenger cars?
HJ Skelton (Canada) Ltd. was
award a contact from Stacey & Witbeck for the supply of all the special
trackwork and associated switch machines for the Portland Streetcar Loop
Extension. Encompassing a total of 3.3 miles and serving the Eastern half of
Portland Central City, this extension will utilize a combination of Ri59/59R1
and the low profile R152/51R1, rail sections.
Beginning October
4, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will reach
another milestone as it begins the pre-revenue testing phase before the opening
of the six-mile extension of the Metro Gold Line to East Los Angeles, which is
expected this fall.
Residents, commuters and
businesses in Chicago’s West Loop, which has undergone a transformation from
primarily a manufacturing district 15 years ago to a vibrant neighborhood with
condos, town homes, arty shops and hip bars, are looking forward to a new
elevated train station, the Chicago Tribune reports. Allyson Holleb, owner of a
handbag shop near the proposed Chicago Transit Authority station at Lake and
Morgan Streets, hopes it will bring even more people to the neighborhood.
Construction could be a nightmare, she said, but it would be worth it to get a
station.
A $659-million railway-tunneling
contract has been won by a joint venture comprised of Granite Construction
Northeast, Traylor Bros. and Frontier-Kemper Constructors, according to International
Construction.
The contract was awarded
by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Capital Construction
company and involves building the Queens bored tunnels and structures for Long
Island Rail Road’s East Side Access project in New York.
An inaugural train set to
usher in new intercity rail service in Virginia will stop Sept. 30 in Manassas,
local media report. The train, billed as taking a whistle stop tour, will leave
Washington’s Union Station at 8:30 a.m. bound for Lynchburg. It is scheduled to
arrive in Old Town Manassas at 11:40 a.m.
In just 96 hours recently,
the BNSF engineering team completed several projects on the Lafayette
Subdivision in Louisiana, according to the company newsletter. Considered an
engineering "blitz," the team aimed to maximize track work and minimize
disruption for community members, all while making sure safety was a top
priority. The work window was granted from 6 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21, through 6
a.m. Friday, Sept. 25.
L.B. Foster Company of Pittsburgh
has been awarded a contract to supply direct fixation fasteners and bonded
insulated joints for the first phase of the new Dallas Area Rapid Transit
(DART) Orange Line from the city center of Dallas to Irving, Texas. L.B. Foster
is coordinating product shipments to the Northwest Corridor Expansion project
to meet the scheduling requirements of the general contractor joint venture,
Kiewit/Stacy and Witbeck/Reyes/Parsons Corporation.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver joined
Congressman Bruce Braley in Waterloo to reopen the Iowa Northern Railway
bridge, a freight line that was damaged when the Cedar River flooded in 2008.
The reconstruction project is funded through $1 million in Culver/Judge I-JOBS
funds, and $2.1 million in federal railroad funds, secured by Congressman
Braley. The bridge is completely repaired except for the laying of the tracks.