Second SFMTA Central Subway TBM continues to progress

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) says the Central Subway‘s second tunnel boring machine (TBM) will soon pass beneath Powell Street Station and the existing Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Muni Metro tunnels, passing under Market Street from SoMa into Union Square.

When the Central Subway opens, the new tunnels will allow T Third Line trains to travel quickly beneath 4th Street and Stockton Street, cutting transit travel times by more than half along this busy corridor.

UP improves public safety performance in 2013

Union Pacific improved its public safety incident rate in 2013, demonstrating progress in enhancing safety for employees, customers and communities. The company’s 2013 public safety incident rate was 2.22, a seven percent improvement over the 2012 rate of 2.38.

HNTB Corporation names rail and transit leader in southern California

HNTB Corporation, an infrastructure solutions firm, has hired Graham Christie, PE, as associate vice president, Southern California rail and transit leader. Christie brings more than two decades of project management, design and construction management experience working with various transportation agencies on rail and transit projects throughout Southern California.

MTA receives first reimbursement for Sandy-related repairs

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has received more than $886 million in federal aid to help cover costs associated with repairs from Superstorm Sandy, primarily in the Montague, Greenpoint and Steinway subway tunnels, and to make New York’s transportation system more resilient to any future storms.

NTSB closes another WMATA safety recommendation

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has closed another safety recommendation, which advised the transit agency to develop a program to periodically determine that the electronic components in Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) train control system are performing within design tolerances. NTSB has now closed 21 of its 29 recommendations for WMATA.

Metro Transit to open Green Line June 14

Metro Transit will begin service on the Twin Cities’ Green Line light rail on June 14, 2014. The new light rail between Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., is opening nearly six months earlier than required by the Federal Transit Administration, which is funding half the $957-million project, which is on budget.