A regional agreement between the California High Speed Rail Authority and more than a half-dozen California Bay Area public agencies will fully fund the electrification and modernization of the Caltrain system, a long-planned, critically-needed improvement that will improve the service and help ensure the long-term viability of the commuter rail system.
Seattle-area Sound Transit tunneling contractors Traylor Kemper Frontier pushed through the wall into the Capitol Hill station site to complete a two-mile light-rail tunnel from the University of Washington. The 21-foot diameter tunnel boring machine emerged within three millimeters of its target as part of the University Link light rail expansion.
The Denver Colo., Regional Transportation District Board’s FasTracks Monitoring Committee endorsed the RTD staff’s hybrid option recommendation on how to proceed with the FasTracks Northwest Rail Line. The vote was 13 – 2 moving, the motion to the full RTD Board of Directors for a final decision will take place March 27.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority police officers went on strike at 2:00 p.m., March 21.
While SEPTA management was hoping to negotiate a new contract without a strike, it has implemented a contingency plan to deal with this situation.
Florida East Coast Industries, Inc., is developing a privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail service to connect South Florida and Orlando, which will be operational in 2014.
Southern California’s Caltrain will conduct construction on the San Bruno Grade Seperation Project and perform maintenance at several locations.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority released its Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report for the Westside Subway Extension Project.
Effective March 15, 2012, Norfolk Southern lowered the railroad operating speed limits on certain sections of the Michigan Line between Dearborn and Kalamazoo that handle both Amtrak’s passenger service and Norfolk Southern’s freight service. These lower speed limits, 25-30 mph, have been imposed to reflect the maximum safe operating speeds for the line, given the line’s condition.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo visited the Port of Vancouver to review early construction work on a critical rail connection that will link the Port of Vancouver to BNSF Railway’s east-west mainline.
Recent Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority system ridership numbers show an increase in weekday boardings during January and February of 2012.
In January, Railway Age announced that it had named KCS president and CEO Dave Starling its 2012 Railroader of the Year.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo visited King Street Station in Seattle, Wash., to celebrate the Pacific Northwest Passenger Rail Corridor construction project, which will help increase the station’s capacity while transforming it into a modern transit hub.
For the third straight year, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority expects to defer critical improvement projects due to funding cuts, according to the authority’s Fiscal Year 2013 Capital Budget proposal.
The Chicago Transit Authority previewed upcoming track renewal work that will affect primarily weekend service in the Loop beginning in mid-April through late-2012. The project will involve special trackwork at the Loop junctions and the replacement of nearly 11,500 feet of elevated rail and track components that were installed in the mid-1980s, which are nearing the end of their useful life.
The replacement of century-old catenary wire that powers the New York Metro-North New Haven Line trains will resume on Monday March 19th, on two tracks between Southport and Bridgeport and will continue through the end of November.
Improvements to make Newark Light Rail’s Bloomfield Avenue Station accessible to customers with disabilities and more convenient for all customers will begin this spring, under a contract approved today by the NJ Transit Board of Directors.
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will expand the operation of test trains along the LACMTA Expo Line corridor beginning Sunday, March 18, running trains from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week, on a schedule of every 12 minutes to simulate regular service on the line once the system opens in early 2012.
Regional Transportation District in Denver, Colo., has received a proposal for the I-225 Light Rail Project from Kiewit Infrastructure Company.
CTA ridership grew by more than 15 million (three percent) in 2011, with more than 530 million boardings on trains and buses across the city, the highest total in 20 years and one of the highest increases among big-city transit operations across the United States.
Axion International received its second purchase order from San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit for switch ties. Axion says its ECOTRAX ties has no chemicals or preservatives added and can be reused at the end of their useful lifecycle, eliminating standard disposal issues.