Another OC Bridges grade crossing moves to the completed column
The $64-million Sand Canyon Undercrossing Project in Irving, Calif., part of Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) OC Bridges program, is now open.
Intercity
Batory elected to X Train Board of Directors
The Las Vegas Railway Express, Inc. (X Train), Board of Directors elected Ronald Batory as a director.
Etherton to serve as interim AREMA chief
Larry Etherton, PE, retired director engineering, Norfolk Southern and former president of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA), has assumed the role of interim executive director and chief executive officer of AREMA.
Caltrain Board approves capital budget
Caltrain’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a $43.6-million capital budget, which will provide funding for bridge repair work in San Mateo, new safety improvements on the rail system and station modifications to allow for longer trains.
Nine Indiana, Ohio mayors to sign agreement supporting Chicago to Columbus passenger rail
Fort Wayne, Ind., Mayor Tom Henry and the mayors of eight other cities plan to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) calling for cooperation in development of a Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus passenger rail corridor.
The Indiana cities include Fort Wayne, Warsaw, Plymouth, Valparaiso and Gary. The Ohio cities represented are Columbus, Marysville, Kenton and Lima.
The MOA calls for the parties “…to systematically and incrementally develop the higher-speed rail intercity system in cooperation with existing freight rail operators and owners of right‐of-way along a corridor from Chicago to Columbus through northern Indiana, hereafter known as the Northern Indiana/Ohio High Speed Rail Initiative.”
Specifically, the MOA resolves that the parties will work together to secure funding for the federally-required Environmental Impact Study (EIS), the next step in developing the passenger rail line. The EIS would examine the preliminary engineering, technical analysis, service planning and environmental impacts along several different routes in order to determine the preferred route for locating the rail lines. Once complete, the EIS would be submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration. This study could begin in late 2014 and would take 18 months to complete.
“This is a big step forward in the effort to bring passenger rail back to our community,” said Mayor Henry. “The Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus corridor will be good for citizens throughout northern Indiana and central Ohio. It will increase transportation alternatives and help boost economic development and tourism.”
A rail corridor feasibility study concluded that approximately 2.1-million riders would use the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus route in 2020, with that number growing to more than three million in 2040. The study also estimated that for every $1 of investment, $1.70 would be generated in economic return through job growth and increased property values. The study was completed in 2013 by Transportation Economics & Management Systems, Inc. for the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association.
The 300-mile-long passenger rail corridor would operate up to 12 trains daily, each direction, along the route. Express services would link downtown Chicago to Columbus in less than four hours.
IDOT, IAIS agreement advances Chicago to Quad Cities passenger service
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) reached an agreement with Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) to perform design work for a portion of the route for the new passenger rail service between Chicago and Moline. Next month, IDOT is planning to begin making improvements to accommodate service on the BNSF portion of the route.
Piedmont Improvement Program marks project milestones
Passengers along the Raleigh to Charlotte rail corridor in North Carolina will experience some of the benefits of the Piedmont Improvement Program (PIP) following project milestones met last week.
VIA Rail launches renovations to Brockville Station
VIA Rail Canada launched an extensive renovation project July 29, which will transform its station in Brockville, Ontario.
Denver Union Station reopens as transit hub
Denver’s historic Union Station officially reopened to the public on July 26, 2014, after being closed for extensive renovations on December 2, 2012.
CHSRA, city of Gilroy enter into funding agreement for possible station
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and the city of Gilroy have entered into a station-area funding agreement that will allow the city and CHSRA to initiate the planning process for a potential high-speed rail station in the downtown area of the city.
All Aboard Florida reveals West Palm Beach design
All Aboard Florida revealed designs for its new West Palm Beach station, planned and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP in association with Zyscovich Architects.
MassDOT Board approves purchase of Berkshire rail line
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board of Directors authorized MassDOT Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Richard Davey to execute an agreement to purchase the Berkshire Line from the Housatonic Railroad Company, a step toward delivering passenger rail service between New York City and the Berkshires.
Administration’s Build America Transportation Investment Center to offer financing options for transportation projects
President Obama spoke at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware on July 17 to announce a new executive action to create the Build America Investment Initiative, a government-wide initiative to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth by engaging with state and local governments and private sector investors to encourage collaboration, expand the market for public-private partnerships (PPPs) and put federal credit programs to greater use.
AECOM to acquire URS Corporation
AECOM Technology Corporation and URS Corporation have executed a definitive agreement under which AECOM will acquire URS.
All Aboard Florida unveils design for Fort Lauderdale station
Local Florida officials joined All Aboard Florida executives at the revealing of designs for the passenger service’s new Fort Lauderdale station, which was planned and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) in association with Zyscovich Architects.
VIA Rail celebrates 100 years of Ocean service
VIA Rail Canada celebrated the 110th anniversary of its Ocean service July 2, which serves 26 communities between Montréal and Halifax.
FTA calls first year of TSO a success
Two years ago, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) was granted the authority to oversee the safety of all of America’s individual public transportation systems, writes Theresa McMillan, FTA deputy administrator in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fast Lane blog.
Optimizing capital planning, asset management topic of Railway Age/RT&S free webinar
It is no secret that rail infrastructure is expensive to maintain and, for North American transit agencies, many of which are working with strained budgets, every dollar spent on a maintenance program must stretch as far as it can go.
FRA issues Record of Decision for Fresno to Bakersfield HSR section
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the 114-mile Fresno to Bakersfield Section of the California high-speed train system. The ROD is the last step in the National Environmental Policy Act process and clears the way to break ground on the project.
With no shared use option, study ups LYNX Red Line estimates by $215 million
A study released by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) shows cost estimates for a proposed passenger line between Mooresville and Charlotte, N.C., rose significantly due to new infrastructure needs rather than using existing infrastructure.