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.
Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad Company in Michigan has extended its maintenance and support agreement with RailComm for its computerized Centralized Traffic Control and Track Warrant Control System.RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller dark territory train control system has been in service since 2005.
The DOC software-based control system is an advanced command, control, communications and information server-based platform that supports a wide variety of integrated solutions for indication, control, access and distribution of critical operational data across the corporate enterprise.
The Louisville & Indiana Railroad has appointed Daniel Rickel to the newly created position of vice president, effective September 11, reporting to LIRC President John Secor at the railroad’s headquarters in Jeffersonville, Ind.
Rickel has served as president of the Northern Lines Railway in St. Cloud, Minn., since 2004. He will continue as president of NLR.
Both LIRC and NLR are affiliates of Anacostia & Pacific Company, Inc., a U.S. railroad development and consulting firm. The Chicago South Shore & South Bend railroad in northern Indiana is also an affiliate of Anacostia.
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.
The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns and operates Caltrain in the San Francisco Bay Area, approved a proclamation for Railroad Safety Month at its monthly board meeting. The proclamation was accepted by Vic Ryerson on behalf of Operation Lifesaver, an internationally renowned program promoting rail safety.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority peer review panel has concluded that the model and data used for ridership and revenue forecasts for high-speed rail in California provides a solid foundation for project planning.
"We are satisfied with the documentation presented in Cambridge Systematics and conclude that it demonstrates that the model produces results that are reasonable and within expected ranges for the current environmental planning and business plan applications of the model," peer reviewers wrote in their report, provided to the California High-Speed Rail Authority last week. "We were very pleased with the content, quality and quantity of the information."
The Authority convened the peer review panel earlier this year to examine the ridership and revenue forecasting process used by Cambridge Systematics to produce the estimates used in planning and environmental work. This was in direct response to calls from observers for a more in-depth review of the approach Cambridge Systematics used to arrive at its ridership forecasts.
"The peer review report clearly indicates that the ridership model is a useful and dynamic tool," said Authority CEO Roelof van Ark. "We will continue to refine the model and add the latest data to forecast demand for the state’s high-speed rail system."
The report concluded that the model is appropriate for its intended uses, will provide a sound basis for future forecasting needs and will continue to be improved to support more detailed analyses.
The group reviewed documentation and data that contributed to the development of the ridership model including sensitivity to factors such as:
· train service schedules,
· rail and air ticket prices,
· highway congestion,
· and fuel prices.
In addition, the panel reviewed new survey data related to long distance travel behavior, and methods to address the uncertainties of population and employment growth.
The Authority has been working with Cambridge Systematics to use and refine the model as part of its project level environmental review, business planning and system development. Further enhancements to the model will continue over the coming years as the high-speed rail project progresses.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors voted Thursday, September 1, 2011, to authorize VTA to execute a $22.14 million contract with Gordon N. Ball, Inc., for the construction of the Kato Road Grade Separation in Fremont, Calif. The roadway project is a joint effort between the City of Fremont and VTA to separate Kato Road from Union Pacific tracks. Once the project is completed, Kato Road will pass underneath UP tracks and future BART tracks.
The bid from Gordon N. Ball, Inc., is 19 percent below the engineer’s estimate. The contract is funded by 2000 Measure A and Proposition 1B Highway-Railroad Crossing Safety Account.
"This grade separation will both enable frequent BART service in the future and reduce congestion in the area that has previously been caused by freight movements," said VTA Board Chairperson Margaret Abe-Koga.
Under a VTA Board authorized Project Implementation Agreement with the City of Fremont in 2008, VTA is responsible for the design and construction of the Kato Road Grade Separation Project and the City of Fremont is the lead agency for the environmental clearance and right of way acquisition.
"In addition to decreasing vehicle emissions and commute times, our partnership with VTA enhances safety by separating the freight and future BART traffic from pedestrian and auto traffic," said Fremont Public Works Director Jim Pierson.
The project work includes construction of a steel UP bridge, a cast-in-place reinforced concrete maintenance bridge and reinforced concrete BART Bridge spanning over Kato Road. The BART bridge structure is essential to allow the Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension contractor access along the corridor over the depressed Kato Road. The grade separation activities also involve relocation of sanitary sewer facilities, installation of a pump station, removal and replacement of impacted landscape, trees and irrigation and construction of traffic improvements at the intersection of North Milpitas Boulevard and Dixon Landing Road.
Construction is scheduled to begin in October with substantial completion by spring 2013. Kato Road will be closed for up to nine months during this period.
The National Carriers’ Conference Committee issued the following statement today on the decision by the National Mediation Board to release two coalitions representing 11 unions from federal mediation with the nation’s largest railroads. The statement can be attributed to A. Kenneth Gradia, Chairman of the NCCC, the railroads’ bargaining representative.
"We are extremely disappointed by the Board’s decision to end mediation. It is clear this action reflects the enormous pressure the unions have placed on the Board to obtain what we believe is a premature release given that neither coalition has bargained in good faith.
"The carriers, with the assistance of the Board, have reached agreement with the industry’s largest rail union, the United Transportation Union, covering nearly a third of railroad employees in collective bargaining. However, the two coalitions have rejected this contract as a pattern for discussion. They have refused to address the constantly escalating costs of employee healthcare in any meaningful way, despite the railroads’ offer to freeze employee cost-sharing contributions. And they have dismissed as insufficient a proposed 17 percent wage increase for employees who are already among the nation’s most highly-compensated workers. Their intransigence undermines not only current negotiations, but also the time-honored process used to reach voluntary agreements in the rail industry.
"Although the railroads accepted the Board’s offer of binding arbitration, the coalition unions did not. We fully expect that a Presidential Emergency Board will be appointed before October 7, the end of the statutory ‘cooling off’ period. This will defer the possibility of any service disruptions for an additional 60 days. In the past, PEB recommendations have provided the basis for voluntary settlements. We hope that will be the case in this round and that the nation will not experience disruptions to rail service that could threaten the nation’s already fragile economy."
The NCCC represents more than 30 railroads, including BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, in national bargaining with the 13 major rail unions.
The Federal Transit Administration has granted approval to begin preliminary engineering on the Southwest Corridor light-rail transit project in Minnesota.
FTA approval represents a significant step toward winning federal matching funds and building the 15-mile LRT line between downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie. Projected ridership on the corridor is nearly 30,000 riders each weekday by 2030, comparable to current ridership on Hiawatha LRT.
"What this means in the eyes of the FTA is that we have a sound and viable project that will create jobs and benefit employers, as well as those who live and work near the transitway," said Metropolitan Council Chair Susan Haigh. "We have the confidence of the federal government, in addition to all the local partners, that we have a project that meets the standards for moving forward amid all the projects standing in line for federal transportation dollars. The FTA’s blessing is a very good sign."
During preliminary engineering, the Council and project partners will finalize plans for station placement and design, refine the estimates of project costs, benefits and impacts, finalize management plans and identify and fully commit local funding sources. The PE process will take about two years and complete about 30 percent of the design work.
If the project ultimately receives FTA approval to enter final design and obtains federal funding, construction of the line will begin in 2014 and operations in late 2017/2018. The corridor will pass through the cities of Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Hopkins and St. Louis Park and link with the Central Corridor line in Minneapolis, becoming the 26-mile Green LRT Line.
The proposed LRT line is part of the Council’s 2030 long-range plan for a network of rail and bus "transitways" to serve heavily traveled corridors in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. These transit investments are intended to improve mobility, build transit ridership, slow the growth in traffic congestion and provide opportunities for housing, job and economic development along transportation corridors.
"This is a tremendous announcement as the competition for federal resources is fierce. Having Southwest LRT make the cut is incredibly important to our future economic development," said Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Klingel.
As currently proposed, the $1.25 billion line would have 17 new stations and provide a link to three other rail corridors at the Target Field Station in Minneapolis, including Hiawatha, Central Corridor and Northstar.
Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority received a $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration Transit Asset Management (TAM) Pilot program.
The grant will allow the RTA to move forward with existing plans to develop a Capital Program Prioritization Decision Tool that will utilize its newly developed assessment and inventory of the region’s transportation assets, including infrastructure and equipment, to prioritize future expenditures, in order to best achieve a state of good repair for transportation assets over the next 10 years. The regional Service Boards CTA, Metra and Pace have collaboratively participated with RTA in the process.
"Our proactive efforts to conduct the asset condition evaluation favorably positioned our region to receive the FTA grant that will be of tremendous help toward maintaining a state of good repair and aiding us with making strategic capital investments," said Grace Gallucci, RTA senior deputy executive director, finance and performance management and CFO. She added that over time, riders can benefit from improved service reliability with a needs-based capital program.
Last year, the RTA and its Service Boards completed an 18-month asset condition evaluation that reviewed the condition of existing capital assets for each of the service boards. The infrastructure evaluation guided the RTA in establishing administrative criteria to replace, repair and maintain capital assets for each service board. The asset condition evaluation report concluded that the transit system’s 10-year capital program need is $24.6 billion; $15 billion for the CTA, $7.4 billion for Metra and $2.2 billion for Pace. As examples of the transit system’s urgent maintenance needs, 42 percent of rail cars and 39 percent of the region’s train stations were rated as past their useful life, according to the report.
Kansas City Southern executives boarded the Southern Belle business train for an inspection trip from Shreveport, La. north to Kansas City, Mo. and east to East St. Louis, Ill. The objective was to inspect the maintenance-of-way activity that has taken place on these lines over the past three years. This year, KCS is upgrading 30 miles of track between Shreveport and Kansas City and four miles between Kansas City and East St. Louis.
"It’s gratifying to see that our diligent planning, coordination and execution of maintenance-of-way activities over the past three years has resulted in a more durable and sustainable railroad," said executive vice president operations Dave Ebbrecht. "Trips like this help us set priorities for future maintenance activity."
Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer John Jacobsen concurred, saying, "We’ve increased the number of ties replaced per mile. We’re cleaning up the bridges and crossings and replacing curve worn rail and our efforts are paying off. The track is solid and easier to maintain."
Jacobsen added that the current state of KCS’ rail infrastructure is a testament to the teamwork invested by the engineering and transportation team in planning, coordination and execution.
"Our production gangs are right on schedule for this year. Next year we’ll complete the Heavener Subdivision and start on the Shreveport Subdivision," said Jacobsen. "This inspection trip solidified that what we’re doing is working."
The inspection trip included transportation and engineering team members from various territories. Ebbrecht commented that he was pleased with the professionalism and coordination of the team they met along the way.
A new national rail contract, delivering a 17 percent wage increase over 60 months (18.24 percent when compounded), a 78-month cap on healthcare insurance contributions and improvements in health care benefits, has been ratified by the United Transportation Union members in each of the six crafts eligible to vote. The new contract also provides certification pay, a faster process for new hires to reach full pay rates, provides for no work-rules givebacks and has no prior cost-of-living adjustment offsets.
Healthcare plan design changes deliver expanded and improved health care benefits, such as personalized medicine and access to centers of excellence. Personalized medicine assures access to the most up-to-date healthcare products available, while centers of excellence provide access for members and their families to the most advanced treatment centers in America when serious illness strikes.
Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, the ratified contract covers some 38,000 UTU members employed by BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Soo Line, Union Pacific and more, all represented in national handling by the rail industry’s National Carriers’ Conference Committee.
Lump-sum payments of the retroactive portion of the wage increases will be paid by the carriers, 2.0 percent covering the period July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011 and an additional 2.5 percent from July 1, 2011.
"The 17 percent wage increase over the life of this agreement is significantly higher than the rate of price inflation, providing a greater boost in purchasing power than any other national contract in the past 40 years," said UTU International President Mike Futhey, who led the UTU negotiating team.
"The $200 monthly cap on healthcare insurance contributions, through July 1, 2016, is less than half what federal workers currently are paying and is more than $140 less than the average currently paid by private-sector workers," Futhey said. "With healthcare costs continuing to rise, this cap will be even more extraordinary in each successive year of this contract."
Overall, the contract was ratified by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin. The craft-autonomy provisions of the UTU Constitution require that each craft ratify the agreement, and each of the six crafts did so by solid margins.
The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated nearly $50 million in rail investments to bolster both passenger and freight service through the state and jumpstart planning for high-speed rail between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
A $34 million TIGER II grant will fund major rail improvements on the Tower 55 project in Fort Worth, Texas and reduce traffic delays by 100,000 hours per year. The Tower 55 project will alleviate congestion at one of the busiest railroad intersections in the United States, where 10 freight and passenger rail routes converge and carry more than 100 trains per day. The high volume of trains currently results in lengthy delays for area commuters and passengers, which will be greatly reduced thanks to these rail upgrades.
In addition, the U.S. DOT approved a $15 million high-speed rail grant for Texas that will jumpstart engineering and environmental work on a high-speed rail corridor linking two of the largest metro areas in the U.S., Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston.
"Through our robust public-private partnership with state, local and industry partners on the Tower 55 project, we’re eliminating a longstanding bottleneck for freight rail, creating capacity to handle future rail demand as our population grows and strengthening the foundation for economic development across the region," said U.S. Transportatio Secretary Ray LaHood.
In addition to the U.S. DOT’s investment, the City of Ft. Worth, the Texas Department of Transportation, BNSF and Union Pacific are providing funding to help install new signaling, bridge upgrades, a third track line and improved street and pedestrian crossings.
Once complete, rail capacity will increase by more than 30 percent, making it more efficient for rail freight shippers and improve commuter rail reliability and performance.
"Tower 55 is a crossroads of the North American continent," said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. "This project will allow the Tower to go from a legacy chokepoint to the model of a freight and passenger checkpoint, a facility featuring efficiency, safety and convenience."
The Tower 55 project will create approximately 900 jobs and provide greater safety with reduced delays for motorists and pedestrians at area highway-rail crossings and bridges. With decreased train delays and blocked crossings, the project will achieve a projected 1.9 million ton reduction in carbon emissions from idling locomotives and automobiles.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2012. In addition to the $34 million TIGER II grant, the project will be funded with matching contributions, including: $1 million from TxDOT; $1 million from the City of Ft. Worth and $65 million from BNSF and UP.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. has completed its acquisition of the Arizona Eastern Railway (AZER) from Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, for $90.1 million in cash, subject to adjustment for final working capital. Headquartered near Miami, Ariz., AZER is composed of two rail lines operating more than 200 track miles in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico that are connected by 52 miles of trackage rights over Union Pacific.
The Federal Rail Administration approved the preferred route for Northern Lights Express. The route uses existing BNSF track from Minneapolis to Duluth, Minn., in the Highway 65 and Interstate 35 corridor. The approval is an important step for addressing the state’s transportation needs, according to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar.
"A 21st-century economy demands a 21st-century transportation network," Senator Klobuchar said. "Safe and efficient transportation is critical to our state. The approval of the preferred route for this project is another step toward improving travel for Minnesotans and laying the groundwork to address our state’s transportation needs in the future."
The NLX Alliance, made up of elected officials from local governments in the 155-mile corridor, reviewed plans to complete environmental documentation on the selected route and get started on a service development plan, survey and other work to advance this high-speed rail initiative.
An ambitious schedule is required if trains are going to run at 110 miles per hour within three years of securing construction funds, as many NLX Alliance members and supporters envision, including U.S. Representative Keith Ellison.
"Transit projects like the Northern Lights Express create jobs and in the long-term they reduce congestion and help protect our environment," Rep. Ellison said. "A few years from now, when we’re hopefully riding a fast NLX train, we’ll be grateful to the local supporters who championed the project through the approval process."
Last December, the NLX Alliance approved a report for the Federal Rail Administration that demonstrated NLX has the potential for a positive benefit cost ratio. The analysis showed the Alliance’s preferred route met Federal Rail Administration criteria for capital costs, ridership and revenue. The analysis looked at alternate routes in historic rail corridors where some of the tracks had been removed.
A $5 million federal grant awarded in May 2011 and a $3 million appropriation from the state of Minnesota will allow for preliminary engineering to begin spring 2012.
Additional Federal Rail Administration approvals will be needed along the way. Up to 80 percent of the total project’s cost, currently estimated between $650 and $750 million, may be federally funded.
The San Fransisco Bay Caltrain Board of Directors unanimously approved TransitAmerica Services Inc. of St. Joseph, Mo., to operate the Peninsula commuter rail system. The approval comes after an extensive competitive bidding process that took more than 15 months and included detailed and expert evaluation of proposals from top rail management firms.
TransitAmerica submitted the highest ranking proposal which was scored in three major areas of criteria: the management, operations and maintenance plan; the cost proposal and the qualifications and experience of the firm and key personnel proposed by the firm as the management team for the Caltrain service.
Caltrain sought competitive proposals last year to obtain the best value and most innovative approaches to managing the iconic 147-year-old rail system.
"We made an important business decision to go to the marketplace and seek new ideas, new energy and new approaches to how the rail operations contract was administered and performed. The result is an opportunity for a partnership between TransitAmerica and Caltrain that can meet the high expectations we have for a safe, reliable, viable Peninsula commuter rail service now and in the future," said Caltrain Executive Director Michael Scanlon.
Under federal regulations, the current employees working on the Caltrain system will have their jobs protected.
With Board approval, there will be a five-month period during which the new operator will transition into place and mobilize its new management team. During that period, Caltrain and Amtrak will remain in a partnership and Amtrak will continue to operate the railroad as it participates in the transition.
The first full year (FY 2013) of the five-year contract is for $59.5 million, within the projected Caltrain operating and capital budgets. Subsequent contract amounts are subject to annual negotiations. With a transition to a new rail contractor, federal regulations provide job protections for current employees.
The major components of Caltrain’s new five-year contract, with five one-year options, include the daily staffing and operations of trains, as well as inspection and maintenance of tracks, the passenger rail vehicle fleet, rights of way, structures, the signaling and communication network, stations and other facilities.
Caltrain expects there to be cost savings and efficiencies over the five-year life of the contract and praised TransitAmerica for producing a proposal that seeks to implement savings.
As part of the contract, Caltrain has secured a new innovative clause that will require TransitAmerica to achieve certain performance standards around management, safety, on-time performance and other critical tasks that are imperative to the operation of the railroad prior to receiving its full management fee.
Union Pacific will improve the transportation infrastructure in Wyoming by investing nearly $31 million in the rail line that runs from Lusk to Shawnee. Various projects that stretch to almost 37-miles of the line include removing and installing more than 28 miles of rail and nearly 75,000 concrete crossties, as well as renewing the surfaces at seven grade crossings. Crews will also spread nearly 48,000 tons of ballast to help provide a more stable roadbed and replace three switches.
Most of these projects begin September 2 and are scheduled to be completed by mid-November.
