BART awards MERMEC contract for track inspection vehicle
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) awarded MERMEC a contract to supply a track recording vehicle to be operated on 104 miles of rapid transit lines serving the San Francisco Bay Area.
ON Track Maintenance
Various cost-effective maintenance practices for conventional track structures
Use determines a given maintenance strategy, but planning determines that strategy’s cost effectiveness.
Refining profile and saving face
Success in battling defects and extending the life of a rail can be met with a well-planned grinding or milling program.
Materials handling with care and accuracy
Suppliers offer many versatile options to railroads for precise placement and removal of materials needed along the rights-of-way.
Metra lays out 2016 construction program
Metra has laid out plans to begin infrastructure improvements to its stations, track, bridges and road crossings this year to ensure safe and reliable service and maintain a state of good repair systemwide. Construction work is expected to begin this week and continue through the fall, weather permitting.
KCS plans to replace more than 92k ties, 100 crossings through five states
Kansas City Southern plans to invest approximately $20 million this year in construction and improvement projects on KCS’s mainline from Kansas through Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and northwest Louisiana, which is a key component of the KCS network.
FASTRACK Returns to the 1 Line in Upper Manhattan
Beginning on March 28, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit’s (NYCT) FASTRACK program returned to the 1 line in Upper Manhattan for two weeks. For four consecutive weeknights from until early April 1, and for four weeknights from April 4 to April 8, 1 service will be suspended between 96 St and Dyckman St from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Keolis plans to replace 30k crossties on MBTA Framingham-Worcester Line
Trackwork will begin on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Framingham-Worcester Line this month, with a goal of replacing 25,000-30,000 crossties while work to end the line’s heat-related speed restrictions wraps up.
Work continues on NYS&W service restoration in New York
The Rail Revitalization Project begun by the Chenango County Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) in 2011 will mark a major milestone March 23, when Frontier Railroad Services, LLC, begins removing brush and other obstacles along the 45.5 miles of New York Susquehanna and Western (NYS&W) rail right-of-way in Chenango County, N.Y.
NYCT plans crucial rebuild of M Line
Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit (MTA NYCT) is preparing to rebuild two crucial sections of the M line in Brooklyn and Queens in order to ensure that two decades-old deteriorating overpasses remain safe for travel.
WSDOT begins track, signal improvements at King Street Station
Construction began March 11 on track and signal improvements at the King Street Station in Seattle, Wash. The work is part of the $50.4-million King Street Station Track Improvements project overseen by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
SCVTA BART Silicon Valley Project Phase II receives key FTA approval
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has given Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) the green light to enter the six-mile Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Phase II Extension into the project development phase of the Federal New Starts funding program.
BNSF plans $100M capital plan for Kansas
BNSF’s 2016 capital expenditure program in Kansas will be about $100 million and focus on maintenance projects that help ensure BNSF continues to operate a safe and reliable network. The largest component of this year’s capital plan in the state will be for replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast.
BNSF to replace 280k ties, 30 miles of rail in Illinois
BNSF’s 2016 capital expenditure program in Illinois will be about $180 million, which will focus on maintenance projects and improvements to BNSF facilities. The railroad says this year’s plan in Illinois brings capital investments more in line with forecasted customer freight service demand.
More than 400 take to Capitol Hill for Railroad Day
The industry’s annual single day blitz of congressional officials brought more than 400 industry representatives to Washington, D.C., on March 3.
LIRR third track project won’t need property acquisition
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that his proposal to significantly expand the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) by adding a third track along the mainline will not require any residential property acquisitions.
British university to build prototype switch
Loughborough University has received funding from Britain’s Railway Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) for a two-and-a-half-year project to build a full-size prototype of its Repoint track switch.
Maryland Transit Administration plans partial summer shutdown for track maintenance
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) will shut down Baltimore Metro Subway service from the Milford Mill to Mondawmin stations for 21 days – July 23 to August 12 – for replacement of major components of Metro rail.
BNSF’s California capital program to top $180 million
BNSF’s 2016 capital expenditure program in California will be about $180 million, which will focus on maintenance projects that help ensure BNSF continues to operate a safe and reliable network. The largest component of this year’s capital plan in the state will be for replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast.
Harsco Rail awarded contracts for two maintenance machines
Harsco Rail has won two contracts for two separate projects on major transit railroads in the northeastern U.S. totaling approximately $10 million in projected revenues.