Freight forum stokes EJ&E concerns

Squabbling in Congress
over how to pay for transportation could mean no federal cash in the near
future to fix Chicago’s freight train bottleneck, a top official warned, the
Daily Herald reports. At a forum on freight
rail, representatives from the U.S. and Canadian governments and the business
community emphasized that trains are cheaper and more fuel-efficient than
trucks to move goods. Transport Canada official Kristine Burr said the public
and private sectors were investing $2 billion in freight rail projects there.

 

CN getting closer to opening jet fuel transfer station

Canadian National Railway
is inching closer to transporting jet fuel from Flat Rock, Mich., to Toronto, according
to local newspapers.

 On June 22, the city’s Planning Commission approved the
company’s plan to open a jet fuel transfer station at its rail yard on the
north side of Vreeland Road, just east of Peters Road.

 Company officials are
working on obtaining permits from the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Patrick Waldron,
Canadian National spokesman.

Track extension to pave way for VRE express trains

Virginia will apply for
$72 million in federal stimulus money this month to build a third set of rails
between Prince William and Stafford counties, Inside NoVa.com reports. The
state is expected to file for the money Aug. 24, and if approved, it will go to
fund a third set of train tracks between Powell’s Creek in Dumfries and the
Widewater area of Stafford County.

 

Funding for two upstate New York rail bridges ready


Funding for two area
bridge projects is now in place, according to state Sen. James Seward,
R-Milford, local newspapers report. Work is expected to begin shortly on both
the Pony Farm Road Bridge in Oneonta, N.Y., and the Brooker Hollow Road Bridge
in East Worcester, N.Y., Seward said in a media release. The projects each have an
estimated cost of about $600,000.

 

Watco’s Alabama Warrior Railway begins operations

Watco
Transportation Services, Inc., started up a new railroad, the Alabama Warrior
Railway August 7. The ABWR operates 15 miles of track in and around Birmingham,
Ala., and interchanges with BNSF, Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation. The
ABWR’s chief mission is to deliver coal to Walter Coke Inc., a furnace and
foundry coke producer based in Birmingham.

 

Station repairs planned in Fredericksburg, Va.

Renovations to the Amtrak
and Virginia Railway Express train station in Fredericksburg, Va., are planned
to begin in spring 2010, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reports. Federal
funds set aside by Virginia 1st District Rep. Jo Ann Davis before her death in
2007 are waiting to be applied to the project. It will improve the appearance
and structure of the railroad overpasses that cross Caroline and Princess Anne
streets.

 

MTA releases draft capital program, capital needs assessment

New York City’s
Metropolitan Transportation Authority released its 2010-2029 Twenty Year Needs
and Preliminary 2010-2014 Capital Program for public review and comment. Taken
together, these documents identify the MTA’s long-term infrastructure needs and
a short-term plan to begin addressing them within current budget expectations.
The documents are available online at www.mta.info, where the public can also
submit comments.

Groundbreaking set for CSX Ohio yard

Ohio Governor Ted
Strickland will be on hand Aug. 14 to break ground on North Baltimore’s CSX
Intermodal rail yard, local media report. The company’s CEO, Michael Ward, will
join Strickland to break ground on the terminal which will serve the Midwest.

 

NS soothes pangs over new Alabama Hub

Railroad and economic
development officials are laying tracks to school leaders in hopes of
addressing concerns at McAdory Elementary School that threaten to derail a $112
million Norfolk Southern intermodal hub, the Birmingham News reports.

 

Railing against railroad construction

Residents unanimously
called for officials and Pan Am Southern Railroad to explore creative
alternatives to avoid the imminent paving of 25 acres on top of a Zone 3
aquifer for Littleton at a July 29 meeting, according to the Littleton Mass.,
Independent.

Vancouver’s Canada Line to start service August 17

When it begins service on
August 17, SkyTrain’s newest line will bring rapid rail service to Metro
Vancouver’s busiest north-south corridor, linking Downtown to Richmond and Vancouver
International Airport. The Line will connect people to dozens of local
destinations—and a whole world of travel possibilities beyond.

 

Statement from D.C. Metro Chief Safety Officer

”I would like to clarify
and correct some information contained in a Washington Post article entitled “Metro
Safety System Failed in Near Miss Before June Crash.” However before doing so,
I want to assure the public that our Metrorail system is safe and to let you
know that I personally continue to use it regularly,” said Alexa Dupigny-Samuels,
chief safety officer for the Washington, D.C., Metro.

Summer heat takes toll on railroad tracks

More than roads are
buckling under the extreme heat. Iowa’s railroad tracks also are susceptible to
the high temperatures, and this is keeping railroad crews and Iowa Department
of Transportation track inspectors busy, the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
reports.

 

NS rail facility planned for Antrim Township, Pa.

Years of planning a second
major rail facility in Franklin County will go public next week when Norfolk
Southern unveils plans for building near Exit 3 of Interstate 81 in Antrim
Township, a company spokesman said Friday, according to local newspapers

 

Illinois locals line up for rail bonanza

Jim Coston is betting
that the billions of federal dollars aimed at a high-speed rail system could
reassert Chicago’s place as the nation’s rail center — and jump-start his
attempt to resurrect a business that flourished here a century ago: building
passenger rail cars Crain’s Chicago Business reports.

 

ARINC works with D.C. Metro on train system

ARINC is helping
Washington Metro officials design a new system to avoid rail collisions just
weeks after a deadly train crash near the Maryland state line, according to The
Capitol in Annapolis, Md. Officials from the Parole-based company said they are
providing expertise as its workers develop technologies to position the company
as a frontrunner in helping trains everywhere run more safely. That’s in
response to a federal mandate requiring rail operators to upgrade their systems
to help prevent collisions and deaths of railway workers by 2015.

Minnesota’s Northstar commute line advancin

At the downtown Minneapolis
LRT Connection for the Northstar commuter railroad, crews finished glass
installation at the LRT platforms. Communications system testing and programming
finished at both the LRT and Northstar stations. Crews began installation of
the handrail on the LRT platform. The overhead catenary system wires are now
live.

Knoxville, Tenn., mayor defends NS confidentiality agreement

Knoxville, Tenn., mayor
defends NS confidentiality agreement

 

It has caused him no end of
political heat, but Jefferson County Mayor Alan Palmieri says that signing a
confidentiality agreement with Norfolk Southern was the right thing to do,
according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. He doesn’t regret it and says he
would do it again. While some residents who have concerns about Norfolk
Southern’s plans for an intermodal facility fear that the agreement cloaks
behind-doors dealings, Palmieri denies this is the case.

Chico, Calif., train depot will be getting improvements

The historic train depot at
West Fifth and Orange streets in Chico, Calif., will see a pair of improvements
due to federal and local projects, the Chico Enterprise Record reports.

Amtrak will use $509,000 in
federal stimulus dollars to build a 550-foot concrete platform along the
railroad tracks. The city of Chico is planning to use up to $150,000 in city
transportation funds to rebuild the wooden deck that runs around the northern
part of the depot building.

 


Track maintenance to affect Metro’s Red and Orange lines







Track maintenance on the
Red and Orange Line this weekend will cause inbound and outbound trains to take
turns sharing one track on the Washington, D.C., Metro. Customers should add 30
minutes of time to their trips. 

Red Line 

Metrorail customers traveling
between the Medical Center and Friendship Heights Metrorail stations should add
at least 30 minutes of travel time for their trips because Metro will make
tunnel repairs, and replace rail and rail fasteners that stabilize the tracks.
Trains will share one track between these locations from August 7-9. 



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