U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood awarded $7.9 million for the Washington Department of Transportation to construct a new station in Tukwila, Wash., replacing the current, temporary wooden structure and creating enhanced intermodal and parking facilities.
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.
Siemens is to equip 9,000 of the total 11,000 automatic train control elements in the route
network of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) with the European Train Control System
(ETCS) type Trainguard 100. The order is worth a total value of around 125 million euros (US$170.5 million).
Norfolk Southern has made significant strides in its corporate sustainability program, including achieving nearly 40 percent of its five-year greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal during the first year.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency received $20 million in federal funds for Phase II of the Third Street Light-Rail Project, the Central Subway. In addition to these funds, the SFMTA will send to the Federal Transit Administration the final submittal for the New Starts Full Funding Grant Agreement by September 19.
“The momentum continues to build for San Francisco’s Central SubwayPproject because it will expand transit options in the heart of the city,” said Jerry Lee, vice chairman of the SFMTA Board of Directors. “The city’s transportation infrastructure serves as the lifeblood of our expanding industries as well as our vibrant neighborhoods and the residents, visitors and employees that support them.”
“The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce continues to support the Central Subway Project for the simple reason that it will improve San Francisco’s economic growth,” said Jim Lazarus, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce senior vice president of public policy. “Economic growth does not happen by accident. A great workforce and the right policies bring businesses to the City; well-planned infrastructure makes it possible for them to thrive here.”
The project will serve as an engine for economic growth and recovery in San Francisco, creating thousands of job opportunities as the project moves into the construction phase.
During these difficult economic times, the progress and development of the Central Subway will employ thousands of individuals throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Furthermore, the improved service will decrease transit travel times, relieve congestion, enhance the environment and stimulate economic activity along the corridor.
The project has consistently received positive reviews as part of the FTA’s New Starts program. The new infusion of $20 million from the program means that Central Subway has received $92.4 million in New Starts funds to date. The total project cost (with contingency) is expected to be $1.57 billion, with the federal government contributing close to $1 billion.
The SFMTA continues to work closely with its funding partners: the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the leadership in Sacramento and the FTA. This collaboration has leveraged state and local funds to secure $942.2 million in federal New Starts funding for this project that would otherwise be unavailable to San Francisco for any other 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.
The Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans, La., has awarded a contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff for construction management services for the expansion of the city’s streetcar system.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority reopened the downtown side of the Cortlandt Street R subway station on September 6, in time for the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. MTA Chairman and CEO Jay Walder was joined by Congressman Jerrold Nadler, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and NYC Councilmember Margaret Chin to celebrate the occasion.
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.
The Wickford Junction/North Kingstown Station in Rhode Island, which received $4.4 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars will receive an additional $13.6 million New Starts grant to extend existing commuter rail service an additional 20 miles from Providence to Boston starting in 2012.
Plans for an MBTA commuter rail station at the South Bay Shopping Center in Roxbury, Mass., moved a step closer to reality as the state issued a request for proposals for the $12-million project, the Boston Herald reports.
L.B. Foster Company said it is extending its previously announced cash tender offer, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Foster Thomas Company, for all outstanding shares of common stock of Portec Rail Products, Inc., until 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on August 30, 2010. The tender offer was previously set to expire at midnight, New York City time on August 16, 2010.
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.
The Chicago Transit Board approved a revenue-generating contract to place additional Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at rail stations and employee facilities. The ATM contract will generate a total of at least $1.3 million over the next five years. This is in addition to the $4.7 million contract announced at last month’s Board meeting.
When railroads were first stretching their tentacles across vast new parts of this country, each new expanse of track was bought with Herculean human labor, the Racine, Wis., Journal-Times reports. No longer. Maintaining and replacing the rails still requires manpower, but far less of it. Mechanization has replaced much of what the gandy dancer and the sledgehammer achieved.
BNSF will conduct work along the tracks from Naperville, Ill., into downtown Chicago the week of August 10 and in September, the Clarendon Hills Doings reports. The work will cause minimal pedestrian and traffic delays in Clarendon Hills from Aug. 11-13 and Sept. 6-10. The crews will be in Hinsdale Aug. 12-13 and Sept. 7-10, in Western Springs Sept. 9-10 and 13, and La Grange Sept. 9-10 and 13-14.