The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has selected Charles Stark as the new executive director of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, overseeing construction of the 11.4-mile Phase 2 extension of the Silver Line from Reston, Va., through Washington Dulles International Airport to Ashburn in Loudoun County, Va.
Larry Etherton, PE, retired director engineering, Norfolk Southern and former president of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA), has assumed the role of interim executive director and chief executive officer of AREMA.
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has selected Linda Bauer Darr as president, succeeding Richard Timmons, who is retiring at the end of 2014.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) Board of Directors awarded an $86.8-million contract to McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., for the design and construction of the parking structures for VTA’s future Berryessa and Milpitas Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension stations.
Kansas City Southern named Erik Hansen vice president intermodal and Daniel Bozung assistant vice president mechanical operations.
Siemens Rail Automation plans to combine and expand its manufacturing and engineering operations in the Pittsburgh area to specifically support Positive Train Control (PTC) projects, including a project to upgrade train control systems on two lines for the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The company plans to add 129 jobs, 68 in engineering and 61 in manufacturing, at its new location in Munhall, Pa.
Fort Wayne, Ind., Mayor Tom Henry and the mayors of eight other cities plan to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) calling for cooperation in development of a Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus passenger rail corridor.
The Indiana cities include Fort Wayne, Warsaw, Plymouth, Valparaiso and Gary. The Ohio cities represented are Columbus, Marysville, Kenton and Lima.
The MOA calls for the parties “…to systematically and incrementally develop the higher-speed rail intercity system in cooperation with existing freight rail operators and owners of rightâof-way along a corridor from Chicago to Columbus through northern Indiana, hereafter known as the Northern Indiana/Ohio High Speed Rail Initiative.”
Specifically, the MOA resolves that the parties will work together to secure funding for the federally-required Environmental Impact Study (EIS), the next step in developing the passenger rail line. The EIS would examine the preliminary engineering, technical analysis, service planning and environmental impacts along several different routes in order to determine the preferred route for locating the rail lines. Once complete, the EIS would be submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration. This study could begin in late 2014 and would take 18 months to complete.
“This is a big step forward in the effort to bring passenger rail back to our community,” said Mayor Henry. “The Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus corridor will be good for citizens throughout northern Indiana and central Ohio. It will increase transportation alternatives and help boost economic development and tourism.”
A rail corridor feasibility study concluded that approximately 2.1-million riders would use the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus route in 2020, with that number growing to more than three million in 2040. The study also estimated that for every $1 of investment, $1.70 would be generated in economic return through job growth and increased property values. The study was completed in 2013 by Transportation Economics & Management Systems, Inc. for the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association.
The 300-mile-long passenger rail corridor would operate up to 12 trains daily, each direction, along the route. Express services would link downtown Chicago to Columbus in less than four hours.
New York City Transit (NYCT) veteran Frank Jezycki has been named vice president and chief officer for Staten Island Railway, effective immediately.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been awarded a four-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract from the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania to provide professional engineering design services for light-rail transit systems.
The derailment of a CSX coal train on a railroad bridge in Ellicott City, Md., on August 20, 2012, was caused by a broken rail with evidence of rolling contact fatigue (RCF), according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) began construction on a new station in Potomac Shores; the station is expected to open in 2017.
Harsco Corporation completed its transition of the appointment of F. Nicholas Grasberger to president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. The company originally announced the transition in April.
Union Pacific employees achieved a 1.01 reportable safety incident rate for the first half of the year (through June 30, 2014), matching the best-ever rate achieved in the first half of 2011.
Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (TCRC-RCTC) have reached a tentative six-year labor agreement covering approximately 135 rail traffic controllers in Canada.
The Maryland Department of Transportation/Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT/MTA) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Purple Line, a light-rail line to be constructed in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Kansas City Southern (KCS) made several organizational changes within the operations department.
Watco Transportation Services appointed Larry McCloud to general manager for the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR). He will be responsible for the daily operations, specifically focusing on improving safety, productivity and efficiency.
The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, Inc. (NRC), appointed Christian Jostlein, safety manager at Holland LP, as the new chairman of the NRC Safety Committee. Jostlein replaces outgoing Chair Tammy Mathews, corporate safety, health & environmental director at RailWorks Corporation, after her successful term as chair expired.
The city of San Antonio, Texas and Bexar County have withdrawn support of the proposed $280-million VIA Modern Streetcar Project, instead asking VIA to develop a new transportation proposal that could be taken to area voters.
Denver’s historic Union Station officially reopened to the public on July 26, 2014, after being closed for extensive renovations on December 2, 2012.