New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to introduce FASTRACK, a new way of working on the rails. Beginning Monday, January 9, the 4, 5 and 6 lines will be shut down from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., suspending all Lexington Avenue Line service between Grand Central-42nd Street and Atlantic Avenue in both directions for four consecutive weeknights.
The Seattle-area Sound Transit Board of Directors adopted a 2012 budget that includes more than $700 million for new construction, as Sound Transit continues building the mass transit expansions voters approved in 2008.
United States Department of Transportation awarded $511 million in TIGER III discretionary grants to 46 capital construction projects in 33 states, of which $279 million of funding will go to rail-related projects.
Canadian Pacific and the province of Manitoba, Canada, signed a 10-year memorandum of agreement to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall transportation system in Manitoba.
Canadian Pacific has completed the first year of infrastructure enhancements as part of an aggressive three-year plan to upgrade its North Main Line between Winnipeg, MB, and Edmonton, AB, Canada.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded $10 million in federal resources to help upgrade the rail line near Devils Lake, N.D. These federal resources will be added to additional funding the state’s congressional delegation worked to secure from Amtrak and BNSF to help cover the cost for the project, which many deem critical to regional commerce.
The Federal Transit Administration will provide $116 million to extend TRAX light-rail transit service from downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, into the suburb of Draper. The 3.8-mile extension is the final project in a bold seven-year, 70-mile effort to significantly expand transit options for residents and commuters in the Salt Lake City area, one of the nation’s fastest growing cities.
Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority will advance major projects to rebuild sections of the Red and Orange lines December 2 to December 4.
The Bureau of Land Management released the Record of Decision for the DesertXpress Passenger Rail Project in San Bernardino County, Calif. and Clark County, Nev.
The Federal Railroad Administration awarded $21 million to the California Department of Transportation for engineering to begin on three projects to improve Southern California’s Pacific Surfliner Corridor.
The Chicago Transit Board approved a $1.24 billion budget for 2012 that holds the line on fares and maintains current service levels, relying on deep management cuts and work rule changes from labor unions. The proposed budget is $66.2 million, or 5.1 percent, less than the 2011 budget.
The Arizona Department of Transportation will partner with BNSF to install new technology to enhance vehicle safety at railroad crossings.
The Federal Railroad Administration obligated $7.913 million of the Fiscal Year 2010 funding to the New York State Department of Transportation for its NY Hudson Subdivision Signal Reliability Project.
A team of engineers hired by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North Railroad is inspecting and assessing the catastrophic flood damage to the Port Jervis Line. Meanwhile buses are providing alternative service for the 2,300 people who normally use the line each weekday.
Harsco Corporation has obtained a new order from Saudi Arabia for railway track maintenance and related equipment valued at close to $15 million.
Auto Truck Group, an upfitter in the work truck industry headquartered in Bartlett, Ill., has successfully re-organized operations to include its newest upfitting company, Fleet Body Equipment.
A critical choke point on Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor has been eliminated with a reconfigured rail junction near Front Royal, Va. This was the final and most complex of six capacity improvement projects in Northern Virginia to handle more trains at higher speeds.
Nordco Inc. has named Bill Straub President of the company’s newly formed Equipment Services Business Unit. Nordco Equipment Services incorporates the company’s Rebuild and Repair group in Oak Creek, Wis., and J.E.R. Overhaul in Arcola, Ill.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, elected officials and contractor S3 Tunnel Constructors launched the tunnel-boring machine that will dig the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway.
Harsco Corporation said that its Harsco Rail unit has received a new railway ballast tamper order from the Brazilian market, marking another step forward in the company’s strategies for expanding its service and product support within emerging market economies. Terms of the order were not disclosed.