VR Mergers &
Acquisitions – St. Louis is pleased to announce the sale of Central Illinois
Railroad Holdings to strategic railroad buyer, R & R Contracting. The sale
included substantially all of the assets of Central Illinois Railroad Company,
Central Railink Services and Central Railgroup Construction Services.
Union Pacific is investing
more than $18 million to improve the rail line that runs from Fremont to North
Bend, Neb. Also Union
Pacific is investing more than $11 million to improve the rail line that runs
from Jefferson City, Mo., to Wooldridge, Mo. Also in Missouri, UP is investing more than $2 million to improve the rail line
in St. Louis, Mo., that runs from Vandeventer Ave. to near Jefferson Barracks.
In Wisconsin, UP Railroad is investing more than $2 million to improve the rail
line that runs from Merrillan, Wis., to near Millston, Wis.
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the Federal Railroad Administration is
soliciting research proposals to foster rapid development of high-speed and
intercity passenger rail service technologies in the United States.
A pool of
$25 million is available for basic and applied technology research, development
and demonstration projects to advance the state of the art in track and
structures, train control systems, operating practices and rolling stock. FRA
is seeking projects focused on accelerating development of technologies that
ensure safe, efficient and strategic deployment of integrated passenger rail
systems. The solicitation is open to all sources.
Governor Charlie Crist is
applauding Florida’s application to the Federal Railroad Administration seeking
$1.1 billion in funding that will allow Florida to deliver high-speed rail
express service in the Tampa-Orlando corridor with operating speeds of 168 mph
by 2015, local media report.
Colorado has received
$400,000 and Vermont $500,000 under the Federal Railroad Administration’s High-Speed
Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) Program grant program funded from fiscal year
2009 appropriations. Colorado will use its funds to develop a state rail plan,
a prerequisite for receiving additional HSIPR intercity passenger rail funding.
Sound Transit released
updated long-term revenue forecasts to the agency’s Executive Committee that
show ST2 funding levels down by about 25 percent, or $3.9 billion. Last fall
Sound Transit estimated long-term revenue levels to be down by about 20
percent, or $3.1 billion through 2023. The latest estimates come from updated
forecasts the agency received showing an additional $767 million shortfall.
The Chicago Metropolitan
Agency for Planning, or CMAP, has unveiled a transportation wish list that has
the Illinois 53 extension and its companion project, the Illinois 120 corridor,
at the top.
Federal and state
officials joined representatives of the Town of Normal and Amtrak to
ceremonially break ground for a Multimodal Transportation Center that will
serve as a station for Amtrak rail and motor coach passengers, local transit
buses and will include a multi-level parking structure.
A routine federal
requirement that’s intended to preserve historic sites threatens to delay some
economic stimulus projects around the country, McClatchy Newspapers report. Federally-funded
projects that could affect sites with historic value are required to undergo
reviews that consider ways to minimize disturbance of the sites. Projects
funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are no different. In some
cases, that’s meant delays in getting crucial stimulus projects out the door,
and therefore in pumping stimulus dollars into the economy.
Canadian
Pacific is joining the procession of railroad facility developments to handle
freight shipments for the area’s emerging natural-gas drilling industry, the
Times-Tribune reports. Canadian Pacific, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is
developing a transload facility at its Taylor yard to process sand for
Marcellus Shale natural gas development, CP spokesman Mike LoVecchio said.
Construction on a
multimodal transportation center for the City of Trinidad, Colo., is currently
expected to begin in summer or fall next year, the Trinidad Times independent
reports. The planned center, to be owned by the city but operated by the South
Central Council of Governments (COG), will allow ingress and egress from the
city by train and bus and to COG’s local transportation system.
The Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail
Development Commission directing Norfolk Southern to upgrade a railroad
crossing Seneca County, the Advertiser Tribune reports. Norfolk Southern will
install mast-mounted flashing lights and roadway gates at the Reedtown Road/TR
126 grade crossing.
Metra released the final
version of a new schedule for the Union Pacific North line between Chicago and
Kenosha, Wis., that will take effect on August 22. The schedule is being
changed because a major, $185-million project to replace 22 bridges on the line
on the north side of Chicago will require trains to use a single track in the
construction zone.
Ottawa has come through
with some much-needed cash for track improvements to keep the Huron Central
Railway rolling, Northern Ontario Business reports. Sault Ste. Marie MP Tony
Martin has confirmed from federal Transportation Minister John Baird that $15
million earmarked for the northeastern Ontario shortline railway is on its way.
Preparations for
improvement of Union Pacific Railroad tracks used by Amtrak south of
Springfield will prompt two daily Lincoln Service trains to originate and
terminate in Springfield for 10 days, starting August 7. Alternate
transportation will be provided to and from points south to St. Louis for
Trains 303 & 304.
Metra and Alderman Gene
Schulter (47th) are pleased to announce that Metra is ready to move forward
with building a bigger and better Ravenswood Station at its current location on
the Union Pacific North Line. The station overhaul is part of a major
$185-million project to replace 22 bridges on the line.
The five Members of the
National Transportation Safety Board will meet the board of directors of the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) on Monday, August 9, at
2:30 p.m. at the WMATA headquarters building, 600 Fifth Street, N.W. in Washington,
D.C.
It became clearer that the
state’s high-speed train will run above ground in the Peninsula and South Bay
— including on so-called "Berlin Walls" that some cities fear will
divide their communities and demolish homes and businesses, the San Mateo
(Calif.) County Times reports.
North Charleston, S.C.,
Mayor Keith Summey said it’s urgent the city move forward on its own railroad
plan because the state and just about everyone else with a stake in the new
port terminal is dragging their feet or will never act in the city’s interests,
The Post and Courier reports.
Transportation authorities
in Delaware and Maryland soon will begin studying the possibility of a new
passenger rail line that would run north and south through the First State, The
News Journal reports.
