The Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio has approved upgrades at railroad crossings in Fayette and
Ross counties, The Gazette reports. The Norfolk Southern crossing at East
Second Street in Chillicothe and the Indiana and Ohio Railway crossing at
Oakland Avenue in Washington Court House will receive upgrades that include
flashing lights and roadway gates through federal funds.
BNSF recently paid Buchanan
County, Mo., $50,000 to close a railroad crossing off Missouri Highway 45 by
Sugar Lake, the St. Joseph, Mo., News-Press reports.
July 16-18, Washington, D.C.’s
Metro will make upgrades to its track, platforms and bridges on the Red, Blue
and Yellow lines to improve reliability and service. As a result of this
crucial work aimed at keeping the railroad in a state of good repair, riders
can expect delays of up to 40 minutes.
Wabtec Corp. has signed
an agreement to acquire G&B Specialties, Inc., and Bach-Simpson Corp. from
Global Railway Industries Ltd., for about $45 million. Subject to the
fulfillment of certain conditions, the purchase of G&B Specialties is
expected to close by July 31, and the Bach-Simpson purchase is expected to
close by Oct. 31. Wabtec expects the acquisitions to be accretive in the first
year.
The Chicago Transit Board passed
a resolution supporting the Chicago Transit Authority’s commitment to further
develop and implement meaningful and proactive accessibility initiatives
consistent with the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The
resolution is in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the landmark piece of
legislation enacted on July 26, 1990. The Board also approved the appointment
of new 2010 ADA Advisory Committee members.
Metro Blue Line
passengers in Los Angeles will experience travel delays of up to 40 minutes this coming
weekend beginning Friday night, July 16, due to construction of the Expo light
rail line, which will connect with the Metro Blue Line in downtown Los Angeles.
Special Metro Bus service will parallel the train route during the construction
work.
Norfolk Southern rejects
North Charleston, S.C., Mayor Keith Summey’s plan to kick its trains out of key
up-and-coming neighborhoods at the company’s expense, and the railroad’s
officials say there’s nothing he can do about it, The Post and Courier reports.
BNSF has pulled out of
the application process for federal stimulus money to help build a railroad
bypass on the west edge of Willmar, Minn., the West Central Tribune reports. In
a letter sent to city officials, the railroad said that after a further review
of the application guidelines, it saw "no possibility" that BNSF would be able
to obtain a planning grant for the proposed multimillion-dollar project.
Local officials said they’re
disappointed with the turn of events.
"The greatest
disappointment is the loss of what we thought were the benefits," said Steve
Renquist, executive director of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar
Economic Development Partnership.
The proposed project
would have shifted the Morris-to-Marshall subdivision traffic out of Willmar’s
central rail yard and routed it to a bypass on the west edge of town. The move
would have opened up rail access to Willmar’s industrial park. It also could
have enhanced the possibility of cargo service at the Willmar Municipal
Airport, as well as position the city for a light-rail commuter train service.
City officials had in
fact been discussing the options with BNSF on and off for "a number of years,"
said Bruce Peterson, community development director for the city of Willmar.
"The main thing was to
get that western bypass," he said.
With the shelving of the
application process for a stimulus planning grant, "the local impact is
significant," Peterson said. "It makes it extremely difficult to get access to
the expanded industrial park."
Construction of a rail
bypass would have required a massive financial investment – an estimated $33
million to $58 million, including not only the cost of construction but land
acquisition, permits and environmental reviews as well. The scope of the
project is such that neither local government nor BNSF could have financed a
rail bypass on its own, Peterson said.
The availability of
stimulus funding for transportation projects created a unique and perhaps
one-time chance to apply for outside funding, Renquist said.
"The window of
opportunity opens and closes. Nobody knows how long it’s going to stay open,"
he said.
The timeline for
decision-making also was short. Preliminary grant applications are due at the
end of July. Final applications are due in August, and grant awards are
supposed to be announced in October.
But after reviewing the
guidelines again, BNSF officials told the city this week that in order to be in
the running for a planning grant through the National Infrastructure
Investments Competitive Grant Fund, the railroad would have had to obtain a
significant level of non-federal funding for the project. BNSF is "simply not
in a position to make that commitment," railroad officials said in their
notification to the city.
Local support for the
project was strong. As recently as last week, the operating board of the
Economic Development Commission voted to commit $50,000. The Willmar City
Council also was prepared to consider making a financial commitment.
Renquist said he hopes it
sends a signal to BNSF that local officials want to continue the discussion.
"The stimulus program isn’t
over yet," he said. "We don’t quietly go into the good night. Under the right
circumstances, this could be a project they’d still like to do."
"We’ll maintain contact
with BNSF and keep trying to do whatever is possible and affordable," Peterson
said.
Federal Railroad
Administrator Joseph Szabo announced a Final Rule requiring railroad track
owners to adopt and follow specific procedures to protect the safety of their
bridges, and to strengthen federal oversight of railroad bridge maintenance
programs. This rule is a requirement under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of
2008.
A state agency has given a
green signal to a $12.3-million expansion of a Norfolk Southern rail yard in
South Toledo, Ohio, a project intended to boost the region’s capacity for
handling intermodal freight and generate hundreds of transportation-sector jobs,
the Toledo Blade reports.
The Maryland Transit
Administration is seeking community participation at the July 20th
Public Information Open House for the West Baltimore MARC Station Parking
Expansion & Enhancement Project. The Open House is an opportunity for the
community to learn about the demolition and resulting changes to traffic and
parking, review draft designs for the parking expansion, and see how the
project will work with the existing streets, the Red Line, and future
Transit-Oriented Development.
MTA Metro-North Railroad
will hold a third Open House in Orange County to present the latest information
on the West of Hudson Regional Transit Access Study. The purpose of the study
has been to evaluate options to improve transit services between central Orange
County and New York City and to enhance regional transit access to Stewart
International Airport.
It’s never been easier to
bike it, park it and BART it in Berkeley, Calif., thanks to the newly opened
bike station at street level above the Downtown Berkeley Station. The new bike
station at 2208 Shattuck Avenue provides safe and secure parking for up to 268
cyclists. It replaces the cramped, outmoded bike parking area on the concourse
level and dramatically increases the bike storage capacity.
Anyone who has ever
rifled through pockets or purse looking for a lost item will connect
immediately with a public-art sculpture dedicated by Metro Arts in Transit
(AIT) at the MetroLink Station and MetroBus Transfer Center on St. Charles Rock
Road in Pagedale. The sculpture – titled Honey, Where’s My Metro Pass –
portrays that experience in a whimsical presentation of oversized coins, keys,
a crumpled receipt and a lip balm that could have been spilled along the
MetroLink platform by a frazzled passenger.
Iowa Department of
Transportation officials believe they will be successful in their second
attempt to obtain a passenger railway from Iowa City to Chicago, the Daily
Iowan reports. After taking in feedback from last year’s denied application,
the department is adding a new project to gain funding from the Federal
Railroad Administration. The application is due Aug. 6.
This month, Denver’s
Regional Transportation District is marking the 10 years since the Southwest
Light Rail Line opened. Banners will be on display this month at a half-a-dozen
key light rail stations and transit centers, and information will be on the RTD
and FasTracks websites.
Construction of a new
platform, lights and retaining wall will begin at the Round Lake, Ill., Metra
station July 15, 2010 and continue until October 1. Work will begin on the east
end of the platform. During the first phase of construction, commuters must
board trains from the western portion of the platform.
Union Pacific has been
named a 2010 Best Diversity Company by Diversity Careers in Engineering and
Information Technology. The magazine honored Union Pacific for its support of
minorities and women, attention to work/life balance and supplier diversity
commitment based on feedback from its readers and website visitors.
Norfolk Southern is
reinforcing a retaining wall along W.Va. 100 with steel I-beams and concrete, the
Morgantown, W. Va., Dominion Post reports.
On July 12, Superior Judge
William Morse extended until July 16 an order preventing the Alaska Railroad
from spraying weed killers on a section of track until the state’s high court
can review the state-issued permit, local media report. Previously, state
regulators had given the railroad permission to spray herbicide for 30 miles
along a 90-mile stretch of track from Indian to Seward, south of Anchorage.
