Construction has started on the new passenger rail route connecting Chicago and Moline, Ill. The $23 million in improvements underway at the BNSF’s Eola Yard in Aurora, Ill., are made possible by funds from the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) $177-million grant toward the project, as well as $78 million in matching funds provided by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! capital program.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) released two separate Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) for Regional Consultant services for the Palmdale to Burbank Project Section and the Burbank to Los Angeles/Anaheim Project Section of the high-speed rail program.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has published its first multi-state plan for a comprehensive, high-performing passenger rail network that will support rail planning in six Southwestern states over the next 35 years.
The Las Vegas Railway Express, Inc., (X Train) has begun the engineering of the route to Las Vegas from Los Angeles on what it calls the Western Alignment.
The Foothill Gold Line project from Pasadena to Azusa, Calif., celebrated construction completion of the light-rail track systems for the 11.5-mile project.
The Mid-Coast Trolley project in San Diego, Calif., reached a significant milestone when the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) signed the Record of Decision for the federal environmental document on October 15.
London Trackwork Inc. has been awarded the supply contract for special trackwork for the Confederation Line in Ottawa, ON, Canada. The contract, worth several million dollars, will take one-and-a-half years to complete.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released the findings and recommendations on Oct. 16, 2014, from its focused safety assessment of Metra, the Chicago area’s suburban rail service.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has given Caltrain the green light to proceed with the installation and testing of its Positive Train Control (PTC) technology.
AECOM completed its acquisition of URS Corporation on Oct. 17, 2014, following approval of the merger agreement by URS’ stockholders and the stock issuance proposal by AECOM’s stockholders at each company’s respective special stockholder meetings held on Oct. 16, 2014.
The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program partners and the Federal Highway Administration announced the availability of the combined Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (75th Street CIP).
A new Metra station at 79th Street in the Chicago neighborhood of Auburn Park-Gresham received a $21.5-million boost in state funds. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced the funds Oct. 11 and is part of the governor’s agenda to create jobs and build infrastructure to drive the state’s economy forward.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Board approved an ordinance that will require all CTA contractors and subcontractors to pay their eligible employees a minimum wage of $13 per hour.
Fairfax County in Virginia approved funding preliminary engineering designs for the planned Columbia Pike Streetcar, a joint project with Arlington County, which serves as the lead partner for the project.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has allocated $1 billion to repair its transportation system and alleviate traffic delays statewide, including $78 million to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) for its maintenance shop and yard improvements project.
On October 13, Hostetter Road at the intersection of the future Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) corridor fully re-opened from two lanes to three lanes in each direction, marking the completion of an important milestone on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (SCVTA) BART Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension project.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), representing 200 rail engineers at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), have reached a tentative agreement for a new five-year contract with the transit agency that will cover workers through July 2015.
A future additional station along the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) eBART extension could receive a $2.5-million boost after a vote October 9 by the BART Board of Directors, who voted to earmark the funds toward the cost of a Pittsburg Center Station at the intersection of Highway 4 and Railroad Avenue.
New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) appointed Gardner Tabon as the chief of the recently-established Office of System Safety, as part of an initiative to reinvigorate NJ Transit’s corporate-wide safety culture.
Chicago’s Metra released a long-term, multibillion dollar modernization plan focused on replacing the agency’s aging rail cars and locomotives and addressing the ongoing critical need to maintain safe and reliable service for hundreds of thousands of daily commuters.