Union Pacific is enhancing Missouri’s transportation infrastructure by investing $7.4 million in the rail line that runs just west of Jefferson City and Pleasant Hill. The project is in progress and is scheduled to be completed by the end of October.
Chicago Transit Authority ridership has continued its upward trend in the first six months of 2012, with June marking the 16th consecutive month of ridership increases.
The Washington State Department of Commerce has awarded Sound Transit $400,000 towards energy efficiency projects, including new lighting at the Federal Way, Auburn and Kent transit centers. The improvements covered by the grant will save more than an estimated $80,000 a year in utility and operations costs and allow the agency to leverage an additional $175,000 in utility rebates.
L.B. Foster Company has been awarded a contract by RailWorks Track Systems, Inc., to supply 11,000 of its CXT Concrete Ties for the construction of an unloading facility at the Tesoro oil products refinery in Anacortes, Wash.
Winchester Electronics Corporation has acquired Clements National Company, headquartered in Broadview, Ill. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Federal Railroad Administration issued a report titled Positive Train Control Implementation Status, Issues, and Impacts to Congress this month reporting on progress of the railroad carriers in implementing PTC systems.
CSX Intermodal Terminals, Inc., and EMH&T have won the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Ohio “2012 Engineering Excellence Outstanding Achievement Award” for the design of CSX Intermodal Terminal’s Northwest Ohio intermodal terminal.
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, Texas (METRO) and contractor Houston Rapid Transit are blazing light-rail tracks on the North, East and Southeast lines and chilling 9,000 pounds of ice each day to make sure crews stay cool enough to work during the season’s high temperatures. The transit authority says maintaining safety on the new lines (scheduled to open in 2014) calls for expertise and coordination and Safety Coordinator Daniel Motley has plenty to offer. Motley comes to METRO with 30-plus years of experience, most recently in the mid-east as construction safety leader for one of the largest petro-chemical projects ever attempted. Today, he is in the field daily, checking on rail expansion crews and work conditions.
Carl Hybinette has joined the Watco Compliance Service Team as vice president of engineering. Hybinette will be responsible for the day-to-day compliance and engineering activities at Watco Compliance Services.
Canadian National and Superior Silica Sands have entered into a multi-year agreement to move frac sand from a new processing plant now under construction in northern Wisconsin.
To enhance safety and improve railroad operations, the Federal Railroad Administration has awarded Alion Science and Technology a contract with a ceiling of $10 million to conduct research that gauges human performance in rail operations and maintenance. The global engineering, R&D, IT and operational solutions company will provide technical expertise to FRA’s Human Factors Research Division, which aims to reduce human factors that cause train, trespasser and grade crossing accidents.
As part of a pilot program to install wayside horns in the city of Del Mar, Calif., crews are beginning to construction of pedestrian crossing improvements at Coast Blvd.
Reading and Northern Railroad hired Dennis Shaffer as vice president of business development, effective August 20, 2012.
The Federal Transit Administration granted the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority a Record of Decision (ROD) for the $5.6 billion Westside Subway Extension,
Canadian National says that a customer group of mining companies, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd., New Millennium Iron Corp., Cap-Ex Ventures Ltd., and Alderon Iron Ore Corp.
U.S. Representative Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) joined local officials and representatives from the offices of Senators Chambliss and Isakson, the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, STX Railroad Construction, CSXT and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia to discuss the
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board Chairman Tom Nolan and Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin issued a statement on the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury Report, “Better Muni Service Needed, Without Switchbacks.”
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and United Transportation Union recently ratified four new collective bargaining agreements.
Regional Rail, LLC, has acquired a majority ownership interest in Diamondback Signal, LLC. Diamondback Signal specializes in the design, construction and maintenance of signal installations for crossings and was formed in January of 2012. In the short time since its inception, Diamondback has been able to contract with 21 railroads and private industries throughout the United States to provide normalized maintenance and monthly inspections for their signalized crossings and has also aggressively pursued and secured a number of crossing signal construction and/or rehabilitation projects.
In an effort to reduce future expenses and avoid additional impacts to rail service, the Chicago Transit Board approved an amendment to the existing design/build contract for the North Red Line station improvement project.
