The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), in partnership with the city of Maricopa, Union Pacific and the Federal Highway Administration, has received federal approval for the proposed bridge project on State Route 347 over the railroad crossing, clearing the way for the project to move forward when funding is available.
Two bills of substantial importance to railroads—Staggers Rail Act revisions as part of reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), and extension of the deadline to implement Positive Train Control (PTC)—took meaningful steps forward March 25, gaining the imprimatur of the Senate Commerce Committee.
The American Short Line Rail and Regional Association (ASLRRA) disclosed the winners of its 2014 Safety Awards including Safety Person of the Year, Safety Professional of the Year, Most Improved Award, the President’s Awards, Jake Awards with Distinction and Jake Awards.
Oregon’s TriMet said construction activities surrounding the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project are now “substantially complete” with some intermittent work taking place this summer.
The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) 2015 Right-of-Way Fatality & Trespass Prevention Workshop will be held August 4 – 6, 2015, at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel, in Charlotte, N.C.
The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR) broke ground March 24 to reconstruct nearly 11 miles of state-owned freight rail track between Plymouth and Kohler, Wis.
The Long Island Rail Road’s $45-million Colonial Road Improvement Project is now underway. The Colonial Road Bridge will close to vehicular traffic March 30 and contractors prepare to demolish the 115-year old bridge that spans the tracks in the Village of Thomaston near the LIRR’s Great Neck Station.
OmniTRAX Inc.‘s Billie Johnson, general manager for Newburgh & South Shore Railroad and Northern Ohio & Western Railway, has been named the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) 2014 Safety Person of the Year. Johnson will receive the award at the ASLRRA Convention in Orlando, Fla., March 28-30.
All Aboard Florida has hired The Vailon Group to implement its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program in Miami-Dade County.
Canadian National has planned its annual major work program for the Quebec Bridge.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD), submitted a letter to the THUD Subcommittee with 10 members of the Illinois House delegation urging full funding for mass transit and passenger rail in next year’s THUD budget.
Newark Penn Station, the gateway for New Jersey rail travel throughout the region, turned 80 years old March 23.
The Low Level Road Project in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, is now complete.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) has introduced legislation he says will provide a dedicated revenue source to invest in rebuilding crumbling freight infrastructure.
Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL-3) and Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) introduced the Reassuring Adequate Investment in Lifesaving Systems (RAILS) Act, which reauthorizes the Rail Safety Technology Grant program to improve the safety of the nation’s railroads.
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who serve as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced S. 808, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2015.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and Metro-North Railroad this spring will be making critical repairs on the Devon Bridge on the New Haven commuter rail line and doing maintenance work on the line’s Waterbury Branch.
U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) introduced the Track, Railroad, and Infrastructure Network (TRAIN) Act, which the senators say will reform the environmental permitting process for rail projects in order to facilitate a more efficient way to approve rail infrastructure.
Norfolk Southern held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the expansion of its “Railroad University” and redoubled its commitment to superior transportation services for its present and future rail customers.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) called for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to do a “Deep Dive” examination into measures to reduce collisions and deaths following what he called “a significant increase” in these accidents at grade crossings.
