TÜV Rheinland®, a leader in
global market access, has acquired Rail Sciences, Inc. (RSI), a rail industry
consulting firm and train dynamics specialist headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.,
with an advanced testing and metallurgical analysis laboratory in Omaha, Neb.
Electro Switch Corp. has acquired Arga Controls, a producer
of precision measurement and control instrumentation. Based in Monrovia, Calif., Arga
Controls will operate as a unit of Electroswitch.
The National Gateway has launched
its FacebookTM and TwitterTM social media channels.
In January, President
Obama announced that Maine was awarded $35 million in American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act funds for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.
On July 7, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that the U.S.
Department of Transportation and the State of Maine have finalized a grant
agreement allowing work to begin on the rehabilitation and expansion of the
popular state-supported Downeaster Amtrak intercity passenger service.
Intergraph Corp., a provider
of engineering and geospatial software, has signed a definitive agreement to be
acquired by Hexagon AB, a measurement technology company, in a transaction
valued at approximately $2.125 billion. Upon closing of the transaction,
Intergraph will operate as a separate Hexagon division under the Intergraph
name and branding.
Bentley Systems,
Incorporated has acquired a minority interest in Charlotte, N.C.-based
BLUERIDGE Analytics , Inc., provider of SITEOPS, site-design-optimization
technology that utilizes cloud computing to save substantial time and cost
while improving land development outcomes. SITEOPS, a patented web-based application,
empowers civil engineering professionals, real estate developers and land
planners to quickly perform site configuration simulations, produce preliminary
cost estimates, optimize site designs, and reduce overall costs.
With temperatures expected
to reach the upper-90s or higher through this week, Philadelphia’s SEPTA is
taking a number of steps to prevent heat-related disruptions to customers. SEPTA
officials are monitoring the system for potential infrastructure-related issues
that can be caused by excessive heat, such as sagging overhead power lines and
track buckling. To help prevent these problems, SEPTA is slightly reducing the
maximum speeds for some trains. This adjustment also reduces the amount of
electricity needed to run the trains, which helps cut down SEPTA’s overall draw
on the region’s power system. In addition to this effort, SEPTA is taking all
possible measures to minimize energy consumption at its maintenance facilities,
offices and stations.
Slowly, mass transit is
taking hold in a city synonymous with the car. Now a light-rail line is finally
coming to the affluent and traffic-choked Westside after years of local
resistance, and at least some urban-style development is likely to follow, the
New York Times reports.
Results from a recent
online survey administered to Northstar Commuter Rail customers and the general
public found that 79 percent of respondents support government funding to
extend rail service to St. Cloud, Minn..
Starting July 12, nearly
two-dozen weekday trains on the Metra BNSF Line between Chicago and Aurora, Ill.,
will see minor schedule changes to accommodate a major construction project
and/or to make the schedules more reliable. In most cases, the trains will have
slightly later or, in a few instances, slightly earlier departure times from
some or all stations. Some of the changes will result in a slightly longer
overall trip, but in other cases the total run time will not be affected.
Nearly two decades after
the Chicago and North Western Railroad closed up shop in Chadron, Neb., a new
railroad company is bringing the Chadron rail-yards, and the railroad
roundhouse back to life, the Chadron Record reports. And principals in the new
company say they see tremendous potential for niche railroad services in the
community, based on the community’s location near a main BNSF rail line, and
the presence of a roundhouse that can handle repair and refurbishing of large
railroad equipment.
East County residents will
be riding eBART before they know it. eBART is the 10-mile BART extension
eastward from the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART Station to a station near Hillcrest
Avenue. Construction begins this fall and will coincide with the widening of
State Highway 4. eBART and Highway 4 will finish together in 2015, offering
faster travel time on both the highway and the train.
Norfolk Southern contract
crews have set up warning signs, and one of Bluefield, W. Va.’s bridges that
traverses the NS main line in the city’s East End will be coming down within the
next two weeks
,
the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports.
As
the state has not yet negotiated a deal to purchase the tracks, the federal
Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing in Presque Isle on July
7 to allow interested parties to comment on Montreal, Maine & Atlantic
Railway’s application to abandon the 233 miles of tracks that run through Aroostook
and Penobscot counties, the Bangor Daily News reports.
Charlie Brown stood
behind the bar at the dark, dusty Whistling Post Tavern on June 30, rag in
hand, updating his patrons on the latest local news, local newspapers report.
Canadian Pacific marks a
significant milestone this year as it celebrates the 125th Anniversary of the
driving of the Last Spike, which signaled the completion of Canada’s first
transcontinental railroad. In celebration of this anniversary, CP presented the
first of its archives Legacy gifts to the Banff Whyte Museum.
BART and Caltrans will need
to close a portion of eastbound Interstate 580 in the Dublin/Pleasanton area
beginning 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 10, through 9 a.m. Sunday, July 11. Off-ramps
from eastbound I-580 to northbound and southbound Interstate 680 will also be
closed. These closures are necessary to accommodate construction crews as they
install bridges perpendicular to the highway, which will provide access to the
new West Dublin/Pleasanton Station.
Ingleside Civic League
president Phillip Hawkins points to a rut with his shoe along the light rail
tracks that run in front of his home. He’s less than thrilled his neighborhood
is about to be inconvenienced again, Norfolk, Va.’s WAVY reports. Starting July
6, crews will rip out the light rail crossing at Ingleside and Mississippi and
replace it. The same will happen at the Bristol and Curlew Dr crossing.
WAVY
learned the concrete panels settled causing the tracks to move.
Work on an important part
of a new east-west highway corridor across south Renton, Wash., that will help
ease congestion could begin in spring 2012, the Seattle Post Intelligencer
reports. Key players in the project, including Renton, Tukwila, Boeing, BNSF
and Sound Transit, recently held a high-level meeting on the project, known as
the Southwest 27th/Strander Boulevard Connection.
Wednesday, July 7 to
Friday, July 9, crews will begin site preparation for a project that will
improve rail crossings at Mary and Sunnyvale avenues in Sunnyvale, Calif. The
work is part of VTA project to improve safety at eight crossings in Sunnyvale,
Mountain View and Palo Alto.
