The Sound Transit Board officially designated Sound Transit Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mike Harbour as acting CEO as Joni Earl continues her medical leave. Harbour has been deputy CEO since October, 2012.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will provide a $50-million grant to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CapMetro) in Austin, Texas, for the purchase of four additional MetroRail cars and help construct a permanent, expanded downtown rail station.
J.L. Patterson & Associates, Inc. (JLP) and STV, Inc., received a contract worth up to $10 million from the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) to provide on-call professional engineering design services for Metrolink.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has named the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) Outstanding Public Transportation System of 2014.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has established a special advisory board of 22 experts who will make up the Transportation Reinvention Commission.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has closed three more Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) safety recommendations, bringing the total number of recommendations closed to 24 out of 29.
The recommendations include:
R-10-12 – Conduct a comprehensive safety analysis of the WMATA automatic train control (ATC) system to evaluate all foreseeable failures of this system that could result in a loss of train separation and work with your train control equipment manufacturers to address in that analysis all potential failure modes that could cause a loss of train detection, including parasitic oscillation, cable faults and placement and corrugated rail.
R-10-13 – Based on the findings of the safety analysis recommended in R-10-12, incorporate the design, operational and maintenance controls necessary to address potential failures in the automatic train control system.
R-10-17 – Develop and implement a non-punitive safety reporting program to collect reports from employees in all divisions within your organization and ensure that the safety department; representatives of the operations, maintenance and engineering departments and representatives of labor organizations regularly review these reports and share the results of those reviews across all divisions of your organization.
Last week, WMATA was awarded the Gold Award for Safety from the American Public Transportation Association for its roadway worker protection program and at an industry event, National Safety Council President and former NTSB Chair Deborah Hersmann noted that WMATA has gone “from worst to first among [its] peers.”
“We are committed to closing the five remaining NTSB recommendations as soon as possible, while maintaining our focus on fostering a culture of safety, shared responsibility and vigilance,” said WMATA General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Richard Sarles.
WMATA says he remaining five recommendations involve longer-duration projects, such as replacement of the entire 1000-series fleet with new 7000-series railcars. The first 7000-series trains are expected to enter service late this year.
Detroit City Council gave unanimous approval of construction and operating agreements, putting construction of the M-1 Rail 3.3-mile streetcar project in motion this July.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded a $1.8-million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to rehabilitate 12 miles of track on the state-owned rail line located between Erick and Sayre, Okla., that will enable faster speeds and increases in freight service along the line.
Keolis Commuter Services (KCS) has reached agreement with all 14 of the labor unions representing its employees for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail service, which Keolis begins operating on July 1.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo called on elected officials and transportation planners in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to develop a shared vision of rail service along the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor (SEHSR) between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Ga.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) plans to open the Silver Line July 26, 2014, according to General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Richard Sarles.
Alaska Railroad (ARRC) crews continue to make progress on plugging an 80-foot-long washout following high waters at Skookum Creek (ARRC milepost 59.7).
The incident began about 7:30 a.m. June 17, when high water eroded the trackbed, leaving the track suspended over the water. Alaska Railroad track maintenance crews, heavy equipment and a rockhauling work train have been working round-the clock for three days to plug the gap and re-route a high volume of water.
“Earlier this week, this area experienced significant isolated rainfall that measured as much as a half inch every 10-15 minutes for a sustained period,” said ARRC Vice President Engineering Clark Hopp. “We are essentially dealing with a new river channel that did not previously exist.”
While freight traffic is not affected, passenger train traffic southbound from Anchorage has been suspended since the incident occurred. A decision to restore passenger service will be made at 7p.m. on June 20 and is based on the progress of the repair efforts.
The railroad has not yet determined the final financial impact of the outage. However, ARRC says revenue losses are expected to reach tens of thousands of dollars due to refunds and cancellations. Track repair expenses will also be considerable, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) approved a $13.1 billion, six-year improvement program, which allocates
$3.2 billion for rail and public transportation projects.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board of Directors has awarded a $210-million contract for the South Coast Rail Project to Vanasee Hangen Brustlin/HNTB Corporation, officially moving the project from planning into construction.
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is launching an emergency project on June 20, 2014, to repair the light-rail tracks and prevent further erosion of land around the Cold Spring Station due to heavy rains. Emergency work will require the temporary closure of the Mt. Washington, Cold Spring and Woodberry stations for approximately three weeks and MTA anticipates the project should be complete by July 11, 2014, weather permitting.
Alaska Railroad passenger train traffic southbound from Anchorage was interrupted June 17 due to high water damage to the track at Skookum Creek, located between Luebner Lake and Portage.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) says its Bay Area Rapid Transportation (BART) Silicon Valley Project, Phase II, is well positioned to receive unanticipated funding through the state’s Cap and Trade Program, included in the 2014-15 state budget spending plan.
The California General Assembly and Gov. Jerry Brown reached a budget deal that will includes a $250 million appropriation for high-speed rail in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) celebrated the completion of tunneling work for the Central Subway Project, the extension of the Muni Metro T Third Line.
The Honolulu rail transit project has completed the first 100 support columns of the planned elevated rail system.