The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has entered into a station-area funding agreement with the city of Burbank to begin the planning process to develop a multimodal transportation hub.
The Metra Board of Directors has voted unanimously to spend $1 million on a study that will produce 30 percent design plans to improve Chicago Union Station. The project will be funded through a partnership between Metra, Amtrak, the city of Chicago and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA).
The Railway Supply Institute (RSI) promoted Amanda Patrick to the vice president of trade shows and member relations.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its 2016 Most Wanted List of transportation safety improvements on January 13 at the 95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board.
Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger says that the industry will be targeting several key issues in 2016, such as maintaining balanced economic regulation at the Surface Transportation Board (STB), extending the shortline tax credit while laying the groundwork for overall tax reform and advancing security-safety legislation or regulation.
This holiday season, from December 16, 2015, to January 5, 2016, VIA Rail Canada saw its highest passenger revenue in over four years, with an increase of 10.3 percent since 2012 and the busiest day, December 23, had VIA Rail trains transporting 16,377 passengers to their destinations.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposes a $3 billion plan to transform Penn Station and the James A. Farley Post Office into a world-class transportation hub.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has identified California Rail Builders as the apparent best value proposer for the design-build services contract for Construction Package 4, the next segment of construction through the counties of Tulare and Kern and the cities of Wasco and Shafter.
In a Fastlane blog post Dec. 31, Greg Winfree, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) assistant secretary for research and technology, recapped 2015’s research endeavors.
TranSystems has named Alex Houseal regional vice president for the Pennsylvania and New Jersey operations.
Amtrak activated the final stretch of Positive Train Control (PTC) along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) on Dec. 18. The technology is now active on all Amtrak-owned track between Washington, D.C., and Boston.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), Amtrak and the Baltimore City Department of Transportation released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the B&P Tunnel Project Dec. 18.
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed a monster spending bill late last week, which will keep federal agencies funded through the end of September 2016.
Amtrak has concluded negotiations and changed the route of the Texas Eagle train between Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, to run on the Trinity Rail Express (TRE) corridor.
The Minneapolis-Duluth/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance, in conjunction with Minnesota Department of Transportation (MdDOT) and Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), has cut the Northern Lights Express high-speed passenger rail project (NLX) cost in half.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has adopted 27 projects, valued at nearly $154 million, that it says will support needed upkeep on California’s aging roads and bridges, alleviate traffic delays and encourage use of alternative forms of transportation, including biking, walking and transit. CTC has allocated more than $96 million for rail projects alone.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 10, 2015 passed S. 808, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2015, which among other provisions, will increase the number of STB members from three to five, improving STB’s structure and decision-making processes by allowing, with proper disclosure, board members to speak with one another about cases on which the STB is ruling.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Rail Division is collaborating with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) on a rail workforce assessment study.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transpiration Authority’s (SEPTA) proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia (KOP) will result in the addition of 17,000–29,000 new employees in King of Prussia over 20 years, according to new analysis released by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and Econsult Solutions, Inc.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s (TSB) investigation into the September 2013 collision between an OC Transpo bus and a VIA Rail train in Ottawa, Ontario, identified numerous contributory factors including company practices, work-related driving distractions, speed, the configuration of the Transitway and bus crashworthiness.
