Houston Metro to begin bridge work for LRT project

Work will begin on Houston Metro’s North Main Street bridge on Aug. 8 as part of the North Line light-rail project.

"We are configuring two major-bridge structures for the light-rail expansion on the new North Line," said David Couch, Metro senior vice president for Capital programs.

The closure between Naylor and Franklin streets allows crews to begin rebuilding the northern section of the Main Street bridge for light-rail use. Metro will also construct the southern part of the bridge, over the Union Pacific tracks.

 

KCS appoints Anderson as automotive sales VP

Kansas City Southern has appointed Kelley Anderson as vice president of automotive sales.

Anderson has 32 years of transportation experience. He joins KCS from RJ Corman Railroad Group, where he served as vice president of strategic sales and marketing. He has held positions with BNSF Railway, Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern railroads.

"Kelley brings extensive rail industry experience and an outstanding reputation," said Patrick Ottensmeyer executive vice president of sales and marketing

NCRR board adds five members

The North Carolina Railroad Company has elected five new directors to its 13-member board, with terms officially commencing July 1, 2011.

The directors appointed by Senate President Pro-Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) are Duane Long of Wake County who is the chairman and co-founder of Longistics and Franklin Rouse of Brunswick County who is the owner of Franklin Rouse State Farm Agency.

The directors appointed by Speaker of the House Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) are George Rountree of New Hanover County who is the senior partner and attorney of Rountree, Losee & Baldwin L.L.P. and Walter LaRoque of Lenoir County who is the president of LaRoque Real Estate Operations, Management Group, Inc., East Carolina Development Company, Inc., and the Piedmont Development Company in Kinston, N.C. Tillis also appointed James Powell of Alamance County who is the former president, chief executive officer and director of Laboratory Corp of America.

 

Gregory joins Parsons Brinkerhoff

John Gregory has been named a senior supervising engineer in the Orange, Calif., office of Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Gregory has more than 20 years of transit industry experience. His vehicle design experience includes supervising a mechanical design team and coordinating engineering design, troubleshooting mechanical design issues, maintaining design quality assurance and monitoring specification compliance, safety, manufacturability, systems integration and cost effectiveness.

 

OmniTRAX acquires Stockton Terminal & Eastern Railroad

Stockton Terminal & Eastern Railroad in California, which has been in operation since 1908, is now part of the OmniTRAX, Inc., family of managed railroads.

"The ST&E has a long and storied history and has provided quality rail service to its customers for decades," said Gary Long, president and CEO of OmniTRAX. "We look forward to continuing to provide that same high level of service in the future and working with the customers in Stockton to help grow their businesses and to bring new industries and jobs to the area."

Located in California’s Central Valley, the 25-mile ST&E Railroad is linked to the Port of Stockton via the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads. It is located near Interstate 5, one of North America’s busiest freight corridors, and serves a number of Fortune 500 customers located on its lines.

Its location maintains rail access for active industrial facilities comprising hundreds of thousands of square feet; plus another 800,000 square feet of available warehouse space and hundreds of acres of agricultural fields and of industrial-zoned property. Concurrent with the acquisition of ST&E, OmniTRAX has formed a joint venture with ST&E’s prior owner to develop these facilities and attract new rail business to the properties.

 

Flintco awarded $58 million ACE maintenance facility

Flintco Pacific, Inc. has signed a nearly $58 million contract to build a maintenance and layover facility for the Altamont Commuter Express train fleet in California, which is owned and operated by San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission.

Currently, ACE trains are maintained in South Stockton at a rail yard owned and operated by Union Pacific. The new ACE facility will be built on 64 acres approximately 1.5 miles north of the Cabral train station where the commuter line originates and will be used for the repair, maintenance, cleaning and overnight storage of the train sets used by the ACE service and future rail service expansions.

County Supervisor Steve Bestolarides and Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston who serve as chair and vice chair of SJRRC have championed this project for the last several years.

"Jobs are needed right now and this large industrial project will provide several hundred good paying jobs over the course of the 2.5 year construction period," Mayor Johnston said. "When we have the opportunity to invest in needed infrastructure, we get the double benefit of putting people back to work."

Supervisor Bestolarides echoed the benefits of building now, saying, "This is still a very favorable bid environment and it may be one of the best times to undertake a project of this scale." 



We are delighted to be part of this significant project," Flintco Pacific, Inc., President David Parkes said. "This is just another example of Flintco’s commitment to expanding its operations on the west coast and we’re ready to get to work."

This project will allow Flintco to utilize its expertise in a variety of construction types including deep excavations, extensive underground utilities, large structural concrete, steel and masonry structures and large industrial installation.

A formal groundbreaking ceremony is being planned for August with site work to follow in September. Construction on the structures should begin in February 2012. The project is scheduled to be completed in August 2013. The $58 million project is being funded in part with bond proceeds and by local and federal funds.

 

CN’s partnership with Cline a key part of its export coal growth strategy

The sale of Canadian National’s assets of IC RailMarine Terminal Company to Raven Energy, LLC, an affiliate of Foresight Energy, LLC and the Cline Group for US$73 has closed and Cline assumed operation of the Convent transfer facility as of August 1, 2011.

As part of this sale agreement, CN has also entered into a 10-year rail transportation agreement with Savatran LLC, another affiliate of Foresight and Cline, to haul coal from four Illinois mines to the Convent transfer facility. Savatran will ship a minimum volume of coal via CN growing to eight million tons per year as of 2014.

"We are excited that we have successfully concluded this transaction," said Michael Beyer, Foresight CEO. "The acquisition of the terminal and the long term transportation partnership with CN firms up our logistics for our growing export business and provides a platform for us to immediately expand our export volumes."

"This partnership with Cline is one of the key elements of our strategy to leverage and expand our unique export coal franchise across North America." Said Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of CN
CN directly serves five export coal terminals in Canada and the United States and moved 21 million tons of petroleum coke, thermal and metallurgical coal destined for offshore markets in 2010.

"With this partnership and the significant coal mine and terminal expansions already announced or planned along our rail network in Western Canada, we hope to double our coal export volume over the next four years if trends of increasing global demand continue," stated Mongeau.

Brandt launches rail services division

Brandt Road Rail Inc., which designs and manufactures railroad maintenance-of-way products, has officially launched Brandt Rail Services, a railroad services business located in Georgetown, Texas.

Brandt Rail Services is being led by Steve Orrell, former president, CEO and Co-founder of Georgetown Rail Equipment Company.

"This new division will bring the Brandt-engineered quality into a new arena with railroads throughout the US," said Orrell. "The Rail Services group will be providing current Brandt railroad products to our railroad partners. Only now are these designs available in a short-term service package."

Orrell states that his small staff already boasts 65 years of railroad service, design and customer knowledge.

CSX investing $15 million for new intermodal terminal in Louisville

CSX will be investing $15 million for a 34-acre intermodal terminal to be constructed in Louisville, Ky. The terminal is slated to begin operations in early 2012.

The new terminal will be built and operated by CSX Intermodal Terminals. When it opens, it will provide inbound and outbound daily train service connecting through the company’s Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal to markets across CSX Transportation’s network.

The new facility is between CSXT’s Osborne Yard and the Louisville Industrial Center near Louisville International Airport.

The project includes the installation of new track, pavement, drainage, gates for inbound and outbound containers and the refurbishing of two buildings for use as office facilities.

 

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. signs agreement to acquire Arizona Eastern Railway

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire the Arizona Eastern Railway from Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, of Chicago, Ill., for $90.1 million. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2011.

"The Arizona Eastern serves copper mining and smelting facilities and we are pleased to be investing in long-term rail infrastructure that will improve rail service and support the expansion of copper production in the region," said Jack Hellmann, president and CEO of GWI.

AZER primarily provides rail service to Freeport-McMoRan’s largest North American copper mine and its North American smelter, hauling copper concentrate, copper anode, copper rod and sulfuric acid. The company also serves other local customers, predominantly in the mineral, agricultural and forest product sectors.

AZER has 45 employees and 10 locomotives and will be managed as part of GWI’s newly created Mountain West Region. The Mountain West Region includes AZER, the Utah Railway and coal loading operations in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana and will be led by GWI Senior Vice President Andrew Chunko.

 

MoDOT, UP, Amtrak, FRA sign agreement for second Bridge over Osage River

The Missouri Department of Transportation, Union Pacific, Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration have signed a service agreement that will allow work to begin on Missouri’s first rail infrastructure project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The signing follows negotiations between Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s office, MoDOT, Union Pacific and several agencies including the FRA.

"This is a project that will alleviate congestion along a vital trade and passenger transportation artery," Gov. Nixon said.

The $28.3 million project consists of the construction of a second rail bridge over the Osage River that will eliminate the last single track portion between Jefferson City and St. Louis, Mo. It will also remove the last single-track bottleneck to cause delays for freight and Amtrak trains on the eastern segment of the St. Louis to Kansas City, Mo., corridor.

MoDOT anticipates beginning construction in the fall, but prolonged flooding could push the start date into the spring.

UP and MoDOT have agreed to further study the St. Louis to Kansas City rail corridor as funding becomes available.

 

Iowa, Nevada receive federal grants to develop statewide rail plans

The Federal Railroad Administration has made high-speed rail grants available for Iowa and Nevada to develop statewide rail plans as part of a national effort to develop an integrated passenger rail network.

The Iowa Department of Transportation received $400,000 to develop a freight and passenger rail transportation model, which will expand on Iowa’s existing statewide travel demand model used in rail planning activities and used to update its 2009 State Rail Plan. The passenger rail component of the model will allow IADOT to forecast passenger rail ridership along potential corridors. Iowa will contribute $100,000 towards this project.

The Nevada Department of Transportation received $640,000 to fund the completion of the Nevada State Rail Plan. The plan will create a state policy on freight and passenger rail transportation to enhance rail service and serve as the basis for future federal and state rail investments. Nevada is contributing $345,699.

Washington State, BNSF sign agreement, rail projects to move ahead

An agreement signed by the Washington State Department of Transportation and BNSF clears the way for work to begin on rail upgrades that will improve Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Portland.

The state can begin initial work this fall using some of the $781 million in federal grants awarded to Washington in the past two years. This money is part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act high-speed-rail grants administered by the Federal Railroad Administration.

The ARRA money will be used to purchase new locomotives and passenger coaches, as well as build bypass tracks and make upgrades to existing tracks shared by Amtrak and BNSF. Two Amtrak Cascades daily roundtrips between Seattle and Portland will be added as well.

The first rail-improvement project will occur in Everett, where two new tracks will be built for freight trains entering the rail terminal, taking them out of the way of oncoming passenger trains.

This agreement sets up a clear contractual relationship between WSDOT and BNSF. As such, it outlines mutually agreed upon requirements and performance measures, including project schedules and budgets, contracting methods, procurement and purchasing processes and budget and billing procedures, among other things.

"This is an important step towards improving the trackage infrastructure to help meet current and future demands for both passenger and freight rail service," said BNSF Chairman and CEO Matt Rose.

Sound Transit Board adopts East Link route and stations

The Sound Transit Board selected a route and stations for building the Seattle area East Link light-rail extension to serve the communities of East King County, culminating five years of study and community involvement.

"Getting light-rail across Lake Washington will enable future phases of expansion to reach other Eastside destinations," said Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and Issaquah City Council Deputy President Fred Butler.

The route and stations selected by the board will be reviewed by the Federal Transit Administration. After Sound Transit receives a Record of Decision from the FTA, the project will move into final design. Sound Transit is expected to start construction of East Link in 2015 or 2016 and launch passenger service in 2022 or 2023.

The decision includes a tunnel through downtown Bellevue that is contingent on the City of Bellevue providing $160 million of the approximately $300 million of additional cost of building a tunnel.

East Link riders would have one-seat rides between Redmond, Bellevue, Mercer Island to Seattle’s downtown, Capitol Hill, University of Washington, Roosevelt and Northgate neighborhoods and in peak periods to the cities of Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood as well.

More East Link project information can be found online: http://projects.soundtransit.org/Projects-Home/East-Link-Project.xml

 

UTA to open two TRAX lines Aug. 2

The Utah Transit Authority will introduce the Mid-Jordan and West Valley TRAX lines to Salt Lake County during opening ceremonies Aug. 2. The public is invited to ride the trains Aug. 2, but both lines don’t officially open until Aug. 7.

The Mid-Jordan TRAX line will run down the existing Bingham Branch Railroad corridor in a southwesterly direction branching off of the existing Sandy/Salt Lake light-rail line at the 6400 South TRAX station and extending west to 5600 West. From there, the line will turn south toward Kennecott Land’s new Daybreak development in South Jordan, Utah.

The West Valley Line is 5.1 miles of ballasted light-rail connecting to the current Sandy Line at 2100 South Street and ending near West Valley City Hall. The line will branch off from the Sandy to Salt Lake TRAX Line at the 2100 South Central Pointe station, traveling west. Bridges will extend the line over the Union Pacific Roper Yard and the Jordan River. It will then run north of the Redwood Nature Area and the Decker Lake drainage canal. The line ends at the West Valley City Hall. This project also includes four new stations. It is estimated to cost between $250 and $290 million.

 

 

TriMet selects director of diversity and transit equity and multicultural program manager

TriMet has hired for two positions focused on diversity and serving multicultural populations. Johnell Bell has been selected as the agency’s director of diversity and transit equity. In a newly created role, Martin Gonzalez, a TriMet employee since 2007, will serve as multicultural program manager.

Bell will continue TriMet’s regional and national leadership in transit equity, ensuring services and infrastructure are equitably distributed and accessible to diverse cultural, racial and economic communities throughout the agency’s service area. Bell will also lead the agency’s minority contracting efforts. Bell begins Aug. 1.

Bell most recently worked for U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) where he represented Merkley in Multnomah County, focusing on issues of diversity, community and government relations and environmental justice.

Gonzalez will continue building TriMet’s Limited English Proficiency program and provide leadership on internal and external issues around cultural competency. He will begin in his new position Aug. 1.

Gonzalez joined TriMet in 2007 after his work as executive director of the Portland, Ore., SCHOOLS Alliance.

 

Caltrain begins ballast deliveries

Caltrain in the San Francisco area, will begin delivering ballast to a storage area on its property between the train tracks and Chilco Street in Menlo Park, Calif. The ballast will be used for a variety of railroad construction and maintenance projects, including the San Bruno Grade Separation.

The deliveries are expected to continue for several weeks. The ballast will be delivered in a 54-car train, which will be staged at Redwood Junction. The train will be divided into smaller trains of six to eight cars that will deliver the ballast to the Chilco Street storage site. A total of three 54-car trains will be needed to complete the delivery.