Construction at BART’s West Dublin/Pleasanton Station set for June19-20






February 14, 2001

BART and Caltrans will need
to close a portion of westbound Interstate 580 in the Dublin/Pleasanton area
beginning 11p.m. on Saturday, June 19 through 9 a.m. Sunday, June 20. Ramps
from Interstate 680 leading to the impacted segment of I-580 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.

UP making improvements to Illinois, Missouri lines






Union Pacific is
investing more than $7 million to improve the rail line that runs from East
Clinton, Ill., to near Dixon, Ill.  Work on the 46-mile stretch of railroad track began June 7
and is scheduled to be completed by the end of July. The project includes
removing and installing more than 50,000 ties, spreading 16,700 tons of rock
ballast to reinforce the roadbed and replacing 41 grade crossing surfaces.


Burns & McDonnell to acquire bridge design specialist Harrington & Cortelyou






Burns & McDonnell has
reached an agreement to acquire Harrington & Cortelyou, Inc., a consulting
engineering firm with a well-established national reputation for engineering
design of fixed and movable highway and railway bridges. Based in Downtown
Kansas City, Harrington & Cortelyou has been providing engineering and
construction management services since 1907. The firm has designed and
supervised construction of more than 800 bridges in Missouri, including several
major bridge improvements in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Balfour Beatty to build Denver’s Eagle P3 Commuter Rail Project






Balfour Beatty Rail, Inc., was selected as part of
the Denver Transit Partners (DTP) team by the Denver Regional Transportation
District (Denver RTD) to construct the 46-year, multi-billion dollar Eagle P3
commuter rail project. The DTP team, which will design, build, operate,
maintain and finance the Eagle P3 Project, is made up of a group of transit
industry experts including Balfour Beatty Rail, Fluor Corporation, Macquarie
Capital Group Limited, Ames Construction, Hyundai-Rotem USA, Alternative
Concepts, Inc. (ACI), Fluor/HDR Global Design Consultants, PBS&J, Parsons
Brinckerhoff, Interfleet Technology, Systra, Wabtec and many others.

Waverly, Neb., may get a quiet zone






The Railroad
Transportation Safety District recently talked about making changes to three
Waverly crossings to create a nearly three-mile long quiet zone, where trains
wouldn’t have to blow their horns, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. The
Federal Railroad Administration requires trains to blow horns at unprotected
at-grade crossings, but they can be silenced if cities create quiet zones by
beefing up safety features around crossings with raised medians, lights and
gates.

LaHood praises Iowa’s railroad efforts






The nation’s top
transportation official expressed optimism that high-speed passenger rail will
be widely available within two decades, and he praised Iowa’s efforts to push
for more passenger train service, the Des Moines Register reports.

Branchburg, N.J., quiet zone could go ahead






Township Committee has
tentatively offered to foot part of the cost of creating a quiet zone at the
Lehigh Road railway crossing in Branchburg, N.J., if homeowners put up $30,000
of the cost of equipment, local media report. The total cost of the improvements
needed to silence train horns as they cross Lehigh Road is $36,000, according
to Township Administrator Gregory Bonin.

PB designing transit depot in Singapore






Parsons Brinckerhoff has
been awarded a contract to provide architectural and engineering design for the
Tuas Depot, a new train and vehicle service facility to support the ongoing
expansion of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System.

Digital monitors installed at PATCO station






What do the New York
Times, the City of Philadelphia, LaSalle University and Miracle Whip all have
in common? They are among the first to advertise on the newly installed digital
monitors at PATCO’s 8th & Market Streets Station. The station is equipped
with four, 52-inch digital monitors, located at the platform level. The
monitors display advertisements as well as weather, PATCO news and information.

CSXT deal will add Boston commuter trains






Central Massachusetts
commuters may have more rail options in about two years when CSX Corp.
completes its expansion project in Worcester and the state is able to add more
passenger trains, The Telegram & Gazette reports.

Miami Metrorail extension renamed as AirportLink






It’s a 2.4-mile Metrorail
extension that will take the stress out of getting to and from Miami
International Airport. And with less than two years to go before its scheduled
spring 2012 opening, the project now has an official new name. Formerly known
as the Miami Intermodal Center-Earlington Heights Connector, Miami-Dade Transit
(MDT) is pleased to reintroduce the project as the AirportLink.

Reusing the old Pacific Electric Railway a possibility?






In the neighborhood of
1500 North Bewley Street, a hole in a fence leads to a grimy outdoor corridor
with graffiti-plastered walls that is used as a dumping ground for old
television sets and other unwanted items, the Orange County Register reports. Fifty
years ago, this same corridor was part of the Pacific Electric Railway, or Red
Car system, which provided mass transit service to Southern California from
1901 to 1961.

Metrolink in Southern California is constructing a wider platform and new access points at the Pomon






Metrolink station. As part of the station expansion, on the weekend of
June 19–20, track 2 (track closest to SantaFe Street) will be realigned.
A temporary platform will be located on the south side of the existing tracks
east of the Santa Fe Street (Station Entry) Railroad Crossing effective Monday,
June 21. In order to exit the
train at the Pomona Station, going eastbound only, customers must be on board
one of the last three cars on the train set.


N.Y.-CSXT agree on high-speed rail

New York state and CSXT have set aside differences so that planning can go forward for a high-speed rail line across upstate New York. The parties have signed a pair of agreements to facilitate planning for the passenger-train track that New York intends to build.

Report: HSR’s significant economic impact

The U.S. Conference of Mayors today released a new report positively assessing the economic impact of high-speed passenger rail along proposed HSR corridors in the United States. The report, prepared by the Economic Development Research Group and sponsored by Siemens, analyzed the potential economic impact of HSR in the four cities of Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando and Albany.