The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, officially opening the new University Transportation Center (UTC) for Railway Safety, which was made possible through a two-year, $3-million grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
Transport Canada has proposed grade crossings regulations that would establish new safety standards for federally-regulated grade crossings.
Kansas City Southern (KCS) was prepared for a hard hit by Winter Storm Nika, which blanketed Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma with several inches of snow, while southern portions of the network experienced some snow, ice and unusually cold temperatures.
Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. (PATH) says it is on track to meet the federal government’s December 2015 deadline for implementing positive train control (PTC) with work to begin on February 14.
CSX plans to build a new rail inspection yard in Hopkinsville-Christian County, Ken., which will support hundreds of local construction and trade jobs while being built and will initially provide more than 50 on-site jobs servicing the growing freight rail corridor that stretches from the Southeast to the Midwest.
New York City Transit (NYCT) has completed a $31-million rehabilitation of Upper Manhattan’s Dyckman St. 1 Interborough Rapid Transit Station (IRT) after two years of work, including a new elevator linking the mezzanine level and the southbound platform.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has selected four teams to bid on a contract to design and build Package B of Phase 2 of the Silver Line project. Package B consists of the design and construction of a rail yard and maintenance facility to be built at Dulles International Airport.
U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) secured a commitment from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to deploy a new track inspection program to Casselton, the site where a recent derailment occurred and where four derailments have taken place in nine years.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Board of Directors awarded a $25.6-million design/build contract to F. H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen and Associates, LLC, for the rehabilitation of the Damen, Western and California stations to improve and upgrade the O’Hare branch of the Blue Line.
BNSF has planned a capital commitment plan of approximately $5 billion for 2014, approximately a $1 billion increase over its 2013 capital spend.
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) has proposed a 10-year, $26.7-billion Capital Plan, which will maintain and build transportation infrastructure for its airports, tunnels, bridges, ports and rail system and includes $3.3-billion for projects on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. (PATH) system.
For the first time, New York City Transit’s (NYCT) FASTRACK maintenance program came to the 2, 3 and 4 lines in Brooklyn between Crown Heights and Downtown Brooklyn.
The Sooner Subdivision rail line between Del City and Sapulpa, Okla., garnered bids from four companies interested in purchasing the line.
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA-17) recently toured the 10-mile Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Extension Project.
The Chicago Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors recently authorized issuance of up to $100 million of 30-year general obligation RTA bonds to finance multiple state of good repair projects to bolster the condition of the region’s transit infrastructure.
“State and federal dollars are not sufficient to support our capital needs, so the RTA is using its bonding authority to keep our region in a state of good repair,” said RTA Board Chairman John Gates, Jr. “Our region needs approximately $33 billion to bring the existing system to a state of good repair. The RTA is meeting a portion of the need with this bond issuance. The recent favorable reports from the three ratings services only reinforce the importance of the RTA and its ability to benefit the region in this way.”
The bonding will fund projects that benefit the region’s public transit riders through enhancements to Chicago Transportation Authority, Metra and Pace bus capital assets, specifically tied to state of good repair, in the categories of rolling Stock, track and structure, electric signal and communications and stations and passenger facilities
Qualifying projects would include projects that upon completion would have a useful life of at least 20 years; projects that will reduce the region’s state of good repair backlog and projects that replace assets, which fall into the category of “worn” or “marginal” as identified in the Capital Asset Condition Assessment.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has allocated $27 million in new funding to three projects that it says will improve passenger rail and further strengthen the state’s economy.
Koppers Inc. and Norfolk Southern have agreed to extend their two existing sales contracts to supply railroad crossties and related rail products and services for an additional three years.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published a rule in the Jan. 24 edition of The Federal Register, amending the Federal Track Safety Standards to promote the safety of railroad operations by enhancing rail-flaw detection processes.
HNTB Corporation, an infrastructure solutions firm, has hired Graham Christie, PE, as associate vice president, Southern California rail and transit leader. Christie brings more than two decades of project management, design and construction management experience working with various transportation agencies on rail and transit projects throughout Southern California.
New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has received more than $886 million in federal aid to help cover costs associated with repairs from Superstorm Sandy, primarily in the Montague, Greenpoint and Steinway subway tunnels, and to make New York’s transportation system more resilient to any future storms.
