The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency received a letter granting federal approval to proceed with a key component of the Central Subway Project. The approval, a letter of no prejudice from the Federal Transit Administration, allows the SFMTA to commence work that will prepare the 1.7-mile project alignment for tunneling and station construction.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit is bringing FASTRACK to the Seventh Avenue Line this month following success on the Lexington Avenue Line in January.
Valley Metro’s first light rail extension into downtown Mesa, Ariz., will break ground in late spring 2012.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in a meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and local business leaders, affirmed the commitment to California high-speed rail and discussed how investments in high-speed rail are essential to keeping California’s economy moving.
Skanska USA’s civil construction business unit signed a contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the Second Avenue Subway Systems project in New York City.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation received permission from the Federal Transit Administration to move forward with the next phase of construction of Oahu’s rail system.
Missouri transportation officials approved a project that will remove the last single-track bottleneck on the Union Pacific line between Jefferson City and St. Louis, Mo. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded a contract for a new railroad bridge over the Osage River to OCCI, Inc., a construction company based in Fulton, Mo. When completed, the new bridge will significantly improve freight and passenger rail service.
Amtrak is requesting $450 million in federal operating support for fiscal year 2013, a lower amount than the $466 million appropriated by Congress for FY 2012. The ability to seek reduced federal operating funding results from ongoing efforts by Amtrak to improve its financial performance, including increased efficiency, cost controls and debt reduction as well as better service, record ridership and anticipated increases in revenue.
The Wood Energy Group, Inc., a division of Banyan Rail Services Inc., hired Natalie Ann Macey as vice president sales and marketing.
Construction has begun on a new 2.6-mile streetcar line in Georgia that will run through the heart of Atlanta’s business, tourism and convention corridor and bring jobs and new development to the city.
Axion International has received a purchase order for its first installation of ties from another Class 1 railroad. This represents the second of the nation’s Class 1 rail lines that Axion is doing business with, following a multi-year contract announced earlier in 2011.
BNSF plans a 2012 capital commitment program of approximately $3.9 billion, a $400 million increase over its 2011 capital spend of $3.5 billion.
The Association of American Railroads said the nation’s major freight railroads are projected to invest a record $13 billion in capital expenditures in 2012 to expand, upgrade and enhance the nation’s freight rail network. The freight railroads also expect to hire more than 15,000 employees this year, replacing retiring workers and adding new positions nationwide.
The $1.3 billion SunRail project in central Florida broke ground on Friday, January 27, 2012, at the future home of the Altamonte Springs station, located at the intersection of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and State Road in Seminole, Fla.
The cleanup of almost 2 million railroad ties from a site in Radford, Va., brings to an end a multi-year effort to clear the former industrial location and eliminate a potential environmental concern. Norfolk Southern completed removal of the ties earlier this month, delivering on a long-standing offer to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to transport the ties for free if a suitable disposal site could be found.
Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco, Calif., is continuing its work of earthquake safety strengthening of the Transbay Tube, which was not damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake but remains BART’s top earthquake safety priority.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s reconstruction of its Piedmont & Northern Rail Corridor in Gaston County, N.C., will be significantly completed by February 20, 2012. This will allow operation of trains over the corridor for the first time in more than 20 years. Patriot Rail will provide freight rail service to customers over the line.
U.S. Congressmen Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly and Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner said the Department of Transportation has awarded nearly $116 million funding for construction of Phase 1 of the Dulles Metrorail project in northern Virginia.
Union Pacific will improve the transportation infrastructure in San Antonio, Texas, by investing $4 million in one of two rail lines that parallel Frio City Road. The project will help trains move more efficiently through the west side of the city.
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad LLC will soon complete a major capital project to rehabilitate a publicly-owned railroad corridor between Madison and Milton, Wis. The project, expected to be completed this year, consists of installing 30,000 railroad ties, upgrading 21 public at-grade railroad crossings and installing 32 miles of continuous welded rail in the following communities: Madison, McFarland, Stoughton, Edgerton and Milton.
