Jacobs lands Valley Metro contract

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. said Tuesday it has won a $12.5 million engineering services contract from Phoenix’s Valley Metro Rail, Inc. for the Central Mesa Light Rail Extension project. The project will extend LRT 3.1 miles through downtown Mesa, a Phoenix suburb. Jacobs will provide both preliminary and final engineering services for the project.

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Jacobs expects the project to take approximately two years to complete and will be followed shortly thereafter by construction. The extension is scheduled for completion in 2016.

Said Jacobs Group Vice President Robert Clement in a statement, “Jacobs is very pleased to be involved in the Central Mesa Light Rail Extension project and proud to support METRO’s overall efforts to improve transit in the greater Phoenix area.”

At present, Valley Metro’s LRT service ends in western Mesa, just across the border from neighboring municipality Tempe, Ariz.; the 3.1-mile addition will extend the line further east. Mesa, unlike some Phoenix-area suburbs, has been consistent in its support for LRT access.

Valley Metro began revenue operations on its current 20-mile route on December 27, 2008. 

 

TranSystems’ Miller to chair AREMA HSR committee

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) has named TranSystems’ Frank Miller as the new Chair for Committee 17: High Speed Rail Systems. Miller begins a three-year term and new duties effective immediately.

Miller is vice president of passenger rail and transit for Kansas City, Mo.-based TranSystems, a transportation consulting firm.

Miller already has outlined a number of initiatives on which he would like Committee 17 to focus for his three-year term. "First, we need more authors contributing to our reference manual content, which is becoming more comprehensive," he said. "Second, we need to make sure our large membership of nearly 90 professionals stays active and involved with the committee. Third, we need to lead the way in developing and maintaining high speed rail recommended practices for which high speed rail design and construction can be applied here in the United States."

Currently a subcommittee chair on Committee 11: Commuter and Intercity Rail, Miller also has previously served as the vice chair for one year and secretary for two years for Committee 17.

Labor groups host hazmat course

The National Labor College Rail Workers’ Hazardous Materials Training Program, in cooperation with the United Transportation Union and other rail unions, will conduct a four-day hazardous materials training course for rail workers in St. Paul, Minn., from Sept. 27-30.
 

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The course includes advanced classroom instruction, hands-on drills and a simulated hazmat response in full safety gear. It addresses Occupational Health and Safety Administration and Department of Transportation required procedures in cases of unintentionally released hazardous materials.
 
Participants will also be eligible for academic credits from the National Labor College. 
The course is federally funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and includes incentive pay of $440 for participants who are unable to receive regular pay through their employer, as well as a $35 a day per diem for meals and mileage. Class size is limited to 25 participants, so the program hosts recommend that interested parties should register immediately. 
For additional information or to register, contact Freddie Thomas at (301) 439-2440; Email [email protected].

LIRR strives for normal service

Riders on the Long Island Rail Road will find out Monday if they indeed have access to normal weekday service levels, following a fire last week affecting an antiquatedswitching machine near Jamaica Station in Queens, N.Y., that hampered service on 10 of the LIRR’s 11 routes.

LIRR had been running three-quarters of its usual morning service since last Monday, when a pair of track cables short-circuited near Hall Tower, setting fire to a 1920s-era lever-and-pulley machine that controlled track switches at Jamaica Station. The railroad ran about two-thirds of its normal afternoon service while repairs took place.

The switching machine is scheduled to be replaced with a modern computerized system by late October. Transit officials said they believed the equipment upgrades would go on as scheduled, although the $56 million project is already behind schedule and over budget. Service disruptions are likely to occur again on the weekends when the railroad carries out the upgrade.

As for Monday, “we’re anticipating a normal rush hour, a.m. and p.m.,” said LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone.

In a statement, LIRR President Helena Williams said, “I appreciate the challenges our customers faced during the past week and I thank them for their patience during what has been a difficult time.

“I would alsolike to thank the hundreds of railroad employees who worked around the clock to put the damaged signal and switch system back together while keeping service going and assisting our customers throughout the week. Once again, they demonstrated their dedication and commitment to our customers,” Williams said.

 

Heartland Corridor wins Hay Award

Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor Clearance Improvement Project has been awarded the 2010 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence. The $190 million project, which improves capacity, clearances, and travel times for freight rail traffic between Chicago and Norfolk, Va., was named during the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Annual Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Fla.

This is the 12th year the award was presented.

Norfolk Southern Friday began running test trains on its upgraded Heartland Corridor between Chicago and Norfolk, Va., with hopes of beginning scheduled service on the improved route September 9.

 

Denver RTD breaks ground on East Corridor rail line to DIA


On August 26, Denver’s RTD
broke ground on the $1-billion East Corridor commuter rail line, the largest
single rail project in the voter-approved FasTracks program. The groundbreaking
ceremony was held at Denver International Airport on the south lawn of the
Jeppesen Terminal, the future site of the DIA rail station. Federal and local
officials participated in the ceremony, including Sen. Mark Udall, Rep. Diana
DeGette, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Aurora Mayor Ed
Tauer.

LIRR warns about cancelled trains, delays due to Jamaica fire






MTA Long Island Rail Road
continues to advise customers to expect significant schedule changes and delays
during Friday’s morning and evening rush hours August 27 as repair work and
testing continues as a result of damage to a major switching tower at Jamaica
Station caused by a cable fire on the morning of August 23.

Officials: Not so fast on aging rails






Railroad officials have
imposed slower speeds on Amtrak trains traveling through portions of western
Kansas because of deteriorating track conditions, The Hutchinson News reports. The
slowdown, which could become permanent, has added about 45 minutes to the run
from La Junta, Colo., to Hutchinson, Kan. Without a significant influx of
spending on the line, the miles of slowdown are expected to increase with time.

Nomad Digital provide communications technology to support Alstom






Nomad
Digital Limited, a provider of train-to-shore data connectivity solutions, is
to support Alstom’s contract with Angel & Southeastern in the United
Kingdom, in conjunction with Nexala, to supply a remote condition based
monitoring system, on Southeastern’s Networkers. The contract has been awarded
for the design, supply and installation of the system for the Alstom Class 465/2,
465/9 and Class 466 fleets, totalling 93 units.

 

Duluth zoo faces $175,000 repair bill from flooding






Last week’s flooding at
the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, Minn., caused as much as $175,000 in damage to
pumps and other electrical equipment in the lower level of the polar exhibit,
zoo officials say, according to the Duluth News-Tribune. A culvert that was
under repair got blocked under a BNSF bridge downstream from the zoo, and water
backed up Kingsbury Creek during a heavy rain Aug. 18.

D.C. Metro schedules weekend work on Red, Blue, Green lines






Visioning Sessions

August 27-29, the
Washington, D.C., Metro will upgrade its track and platforms and trim weeds on
the Red, Blue and Green lines to improve long-term reliability and service. As
a result of this crucial work, which is critical to maintain the railroad in a
state of good repair, riders can expect delays of up to 30 minutes

Greater Cleveland RTA uses Oldcastle Precast StarTrack® Rail System






Oldcastle Precast provided 980
track feet of its StarTrack® railroad-crossing system for the Greater Cleveland
Regional Transit Authority’s four light rail grade-crossing rehabilitation
projects in Cleveland, Ohio. Oldcastle Precast provided design and production
of the 99 precast concrete rail crossing segments, known as the StarTrack®
System, as well as 16 precast, tapered approach slabs to upgrade the four light
rail crossing areas. The installation work performed at each location had to be
completed within a 54-hour time frame to minimize train schedule interruption.

All aboard for the North End rail station






A North End train station
project in Niagara Falls, N.Y., more than two decades in the making officially
moved into the first phase of construction on August 24, the Niagara Gazette
reports. 

Local officials gathered outside the historic U.S. Customhouse near
the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge Plaza to break ground on a new Amtrak passenger
rail facility and Underground Railroad interpretive center to be built on the
site.