The Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies named Lara Karamatsu its 2013 Young Engineer of the Year. A civil engineer in the Honolulu office of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Karamatsu is one of the firm’s designers for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project.
In its FY 2014 funding request to Congress, Amtrak is emphasizing the need for more federal capital investment to improve and expand intercity passenger rail, while requesting significantly less in federal operating support.
The Board of Directors of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) took steps toward the development of an indoor train layover facility in Brunswick, including the decision to award the design/build contract to Consigli Construction Company of Portland, Maine.
OmniTRAX, Inc., has made four management appointments and promotions.
Work has begun on $88 million in construction projects for three segments of the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension in Alaska. Contracts were recently awarded to three construction companies and up to 200 jobs in the construction industry could be created this summer.
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver, Colo., has determined that a confidential unsolicited proposal for the North Metro Rail Project has technical merit. The proposal was submitted Feb. 22 by a team led by Graham Contracting Limited.
Coalspur Mines Limited has reached a definitive agreement with Canadian National (CN) for the transportation of thermal coal from its Vista Coal Project to Ridley Terminals Inc., as well as final agreement with CN regarding the construction of the railway line to serve the mine.
The rail line construction agreement will govern the construction of a 6.5-kilometer (four-mile) long line providing CN access to Coalspur’s loading site. The rail line will enable Coalspur to load the entire train in one continuous load. Subject to regulatory approval, construction activity is expected to begin in Q3 2013 and be completed in early 2015. CN will ensure the rail line meets its design and construction specifications.
“We are very pleased to have finalized these contracts with CN,” said Gill Winckler, Coalspur president and CEO. “The agreements provide further clarity and stability over our operating costs in the initial years of mining at Vista. Rail and port logistics costs account for approximately 50 percent of Coalspur’s Freight on Board cash costs, which are now under contracted rates.
The definitive rail transportation agreement with CN is for a seven-year period, effective from Jan. 1, 2013 and extending through to Dec. 31, 2019. CN will supply the equipment to carry Coalspur’s coal to tidewater. The agreement includes transportation of up to 12 million tons per annum of coal and defined rates with agreed escalation and fuel surcharge calculations.
The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans has given notice to AECOM Technical Services Inc. to begin the design of the port’s new Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal Project.
New York Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens/Nassau) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn and Queens) have joined state Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) in the effort to restore the abandoned Rockaway Beach Rail Line.
As reported by Railway Age, Dennis Glenn Boll, retired Assistant Vice President-Signals, BNSF Railway, died Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, Minn., after a long battle with cancer. He was 65.
Arup, an engineering and consulting firm, hired Joseph Edge, P.E., associate principal, and Christopher Taylor, P.E., associate principal, to its regional transit division. They will be located in Arup’s New York office.
The government of Canada, the government of British Columbia and TransLink laid out the construction schedule for the next 12 months and finalized station names for the Evergreen Line in Metro Vancouver scheduled to open in summer 2016.
Canadian National closed the sale of a segment of rail line principally used by GO Transit commuter trains in the Oakville-Burlington, ON, Cananda-area west of Toronto to Metrolinx for CA$52.5 million (US$51.4 million).
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and David Vitter (R-LA) introduced the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act on Thursday, March 21.
The state of Pennsylvania and Amtrak have reached an agreement on a new funding plan that will maintain rail passenger service between Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pa.
After a two-year rehabilitation project, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Smith-9th Streets Station, serving the F and G lines, will reopen on April 22.
Acrow Bridge, an international bridge engineering and supply company, signed an agreement with Canadian steel bridge manufacturer, Structal-Bridges. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly market their solutions in temporary and permanent modular steel bridging.
Canadian National (CN) has relocated its forest products transload operation to North America Stevedoring Company, LLC’s operation at the Port of Chicago to improve supply chain efficiencies for lumber customers.
Metropolitan Transit Authority New York City Transit is bringing FASTRACK to the Upper East Side of Manhattan on the 4, 5 and 6 lines, starting March 25.
U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) appointed Jim Billimoria to lead the committee’s communications and public relations efforts in the 113th Congress.