New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeffrey Klein and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced an agreement on the 2016-17 state budget, including a whopping $27 billion for Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
The tunnel boring machine (TBM) mining the tunnel that will serve northbound Sound Transit light-rail trains to Northgate beginning in 2021 holed through the wall of its retrieval shaft at the University of Washington light-rail station March 30, completing one of two 3.5-mile tunnels for the Northgate Link Extension.
Plans for the first modern streetcar in Orange County, Calif., took several steps forward when the Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) Board of Directors approved a series of actions to help facilitate the design and construction of the project.
Rocla Concrete Tie, Inc., producer of pre-stressed concrete railroad ties, has opened its new manufacturing facility in Ft. Pierce, Fla.
Sound Transit has launched a month-long effort to hear from residents on the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Draft Plan and launched a series of seven public meetings around the region starting April 19.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has released its proposed Fiscal Year 2017 Operating Budget and Fiscal Years 2018-2021 Financial Projections and plans to hold a series of public hearings on the spending plan throughout the five-county service region April 25-29.
A consulting firm has been hired to assist in the environmental review and formal community engagement process for the Long Island Rail Road Main (LIRR) Line Expansion Project, which calls for adding a third track along a critical 9.8-mile section of LIRR’s mainline between Floral Park and Hicksville Stations.
To accommodate growing client needs, Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems (GFT&RS) has expanded teams in the U.S. and Canada. GFT&RS is a North American transit and railroad track, signal, communication, catenary and electric traction design company.
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.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) Board of Directors has approved the release of a draft expenditure plan for public review and input that could become part of a possible November ballot measure to fund a wide variety of transit and highway projects, local roadway improvements and pedestrian and bike paths to be built over the next four decades.
A public involvement period will begin March 29 on an extensive Sound Transit Board proposal for responding to the region’s chronic transportation challenges.
The Short Line Safety Institute on March 24, 2016 announced the onboarding of two key staff members—Mike Long, Senior Safety and Operations Manager, and Michele Malski, Safety Programs Manager. These two new positions will be instrumental in driving the Institute’s key initiatives forward.
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) ratified their first-ever union contract with the Illinois Railway (IR) on March 21, 2016. More than 80 percent of members who cast a valid ballot voted in favor of the agreement.
After 35 years in the railroad industry and 23 years of service with Atlantic Track & Turnout Co., Vice President William Roan, Jr., has decided to retire.
Partners in the Gateway Program have outlined steps to move it forward including the allocation of $70 million for preliminary engineering, a federal pledge to streamline environmental reviews and finalization of development corporation structure.
The Metra Board of Directors has approved a $64.5 million addition to the agency’s 2016 capital program which now totals $251 million in projected spending.
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.
CN has launched its third year of the Safety Innovation Program, which is part of the railroad’s broader safety agenda that is focused on enhancing the safety of operations and making the company the safest railway in North America.
Union Pacific‘s North Platte Service Unit, which includes about 900 miles of track across Nebraska and parts of Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, improved employee safety in 2015. The service unit’s reportable employee injury rate improved 32 percent from 1.33 in 2014 to 0.91 in 2015, demonstrating progress toward achieving zero employee injuries.
Norfolk Southern has named Ann Adams vice president human resources, succeeding Juan Cunningham, who retired earlier this year. Her appointment becomes effective April 1, 2016.