Construction to begin on subway section of Fremont BART extension

On August 24, BART reached
another milestone on a major phase of the Warm Springs Extension project that
will ultimately bring BART closer to Silicon Valley. BART issued a "Notice to
Proceed" to Shimmick Construction Company, Inc./Skanska USA Civil West
California District Inc. Joint Venture, which will allow them to begin the
extensive construction project that will create and support tens of thousands
of jobs and help stimulate Bay Area economy.

Illinois encourages development along rail lines Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says Illinois must do what

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn
says Illinois must do what it can to attract jobs to the state, so he signed a
measure encouraging business development along freight rail systems, the
Chicago Tribune reports. A new rail transportation hub is intended for the
Chicago suburb of Joliet and the measure will set aside some state taxes
connected to new jobs created at the facility. The company operating the hub,
CenterPoint Properties, can then get some of that money for infrastructure
improvement, according to the governor’s office.


RailComm DOC® CTC System in service at Portland’s TriMet

TriMet’s Washington County
Commuter Rail in the Portland, Ore., area is in production service and is
dispatched through a web-enabled Software-as-a-Service delivery platform
provided by RailComm. RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller (DOC®)
Centralized Traffic Control system is hosted in Rochester, N.Y. RailComm’s SaaS
platform provides a "pay-as-you-go" model, thus eliminating capital equipment
procurement constraints.


Final Applications for Track 1, 3 and 4 Submitted

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted 42
applications for $1.1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding
available through the federal High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program,
under which states compete for $8 billion in funding designated for intercity
and high speed rail. Federal applications for Track 1, 3 and 4 require focus on
improvements to existing passenger rail services for job creation purposes. In
adherence to these federal requirements, California’s Track 1, 3 and 4
applications focus on improvements to existing passenger rail lines, including
the integration of high-speed rail with intercity passenger service. The
federal government’s Track 2 application focuses on high-speed rail and is due
on October 2, 2009.

Temporary Suspension of White Plains Line Express

MTA NYC Transit said that
beginning August 24 and continuing until November 13, 2009, there is no express
subway service on the 5 line between the 3rd Avenue/East 149th Street station
and the East 180th Street station. In addition, during the afternoon rush hour,
four of the northbound 5 trains that normally operate to the Nereid Avenue
station will terminate at East 180th Street. Customers traveling on these 5
trains will have to transfer to northbound 2 trains at East 180th Street or
other Nereid Avenue-bound 5 trains for stations on the White Plains Road line.


CN to fix Hafenrichter Road crossing

Canadian National plans
to repair the Hafenrichter Road crossing just southeast of Aurora, in
unincorporated Wheatland Township, local newspapers report. The crossing, which
lies along the suburban Elgin, Joliet and Eastern tracks, will be shut down for
four days next month, from Sept. 21 to 25.

CSXT prepares major bridge, track projects in Ohio

CSX Transportation Inc.
will raise and remove bridges and lower railroad tracks throughout Northeast
Ohio starting next year as part of its $840 million National Gateway plan,
according to the Akron Beacon Journal. The local work includes
removing the Park Street bridge in Akron, replacing the Knapp Road bridge in
Ravenna and raising the Portage County Hike & Bike Trail in Kent.

L.A. mayor wants subway work sped up

As workers finished
exploratory drilling for the planned Westside subway extension, Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other elected officials said they want to speed
up construction of the $4.1-billion transit project, which has been scheduled
for completion in 2036, according to the Los Angeles Times.

FRA chief: passenger grants to benefit freight

The first state
applications for "shovel-ready" passenger rail projects are due into the
Federal Railroad Administration on Aug. 24, and FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo
thinks some of the federal grants to follow will need to help freight lines get
ready for more and faster passenger trains, reports The Journal of Commerce.

Opinion: Finally, a rail plan for New England

(The following opinion,
published Aug. 24, 2009, by the Boston Globe, was written by former
Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis [also a former vice chairman of Amtrak] and
Robert O’Brien, who is executive director of the Downtown North Association and
chairman of the North-South Rail Link Citizens Advisory Committee.)


Caltrain construction, maintenance update August 24-28

Work on Caltrain’s Grade
Crossing Improvement Program, which will enhance safety at railroad crossings
in San Mateo County, continues. The current projects at Encinal, Glenwood and
Ravenswood avenues in Menlo Park, Calif., will take place August 23-27 between
the hours of 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. Throughout the project at least one lane of the
street will remain open. Flagmen will direct traffic and pedestrians around the
construction. The work is part of a larger program to improve grade crossings
in San Mateo County. 

Crews continue Northstar Fridley Station pedestrian tunnel

Construction in downtown
Minneapolis continues as crews work on the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit extension
and the Northstar Commuter Rail station. Punchlist work continues at the
commuter stations in Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka and Coon Rapids. System testing
also continues as crews are testing both the Northstar train system and the LRT
extension.

 

Contracting opportunities workshop for LA Metro Gold Line The Los Angeles Metro Gold Line Foothill

The Los Angeles Metro Gold Line Foothill
Extension Construction Authority will host a workshop Sept. 15 to inform small
businesses about the more than $600 million in contracting opportunities
available during construction of the light-rail transit line from Pasadena to
Azusa. Presentations by Construction Authority Chief Executive Officer Habib
Balian and others will include information about the project, as well as the
opportunities for small businesses and a procurement schedule.

Chicago $15.6-billion plan includes West Loop transit hub

A guide for downtown growth
through 2020 that calls for $15.6 billion in public works was endorsed by the
Chicago Plan Commission, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Chicago Central
Area Action Plan would allocate most of the spending for transportation
projects. The most expensive would be a $6-billion West Loop transit hub
beneath Clinton Street with a multilevel connection between Metra and CTA
service.

 

Exploratory drilling completed for LA Metro extension






Joined by local elected
officials from Los Angeles County and nearby cities, Los Angeles City Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa said the completion of exploratory drilling in West Los
Angeles is a key part of the planning and environmental process for the
proposed Westside Subway Extension, a regionally beneficial Measure R
transportation project.

New Hampshire competes for $1.5 million grant

Peter Burling, chairman of
the Rail Transit Authority in New Hampshire, envisions a rail line running
between Boston and Concord, N.H., at speeds of up to 90 mph, the Concord
Monitor reports. The rail would carry Massachusetts shoppers to Nashua and
travelers to Manchester Airport. It would take sports fans to Celtics games and
workers to their jobs in Boston.

 

Progress made on two Burlington, Iowa, projects

The city of Burlington,
Iowa, has a lot of irons in the fire, according to The Hawkeye. With that in
mind, City Manager Doug Worden updated city council members on the status of
two projects nearing completion during a recent meeting.

 

Construction of a 1
million gallon underground wastewater equalization tank on Gunnison Avenue and
a similar tank near the BNSF tracks on Lucas Avenue is complete.

WMATA track circuit repairs, track maintenance

Track circuit repairs on
the Red Line and track maintenance on the Red, Blue, Orange and Yellow lines
this weekend will cause inbound and outbound trains to take turns sharing one
track on the Washington, D.C., Metro. Customers should add at least 30 minutes
of time to their trips. 

This weekend, there will be no Red Line trains
serving the Fort Totten Metrorail station. Due to track circuit repairs, Red
Line trains will operate between the Shady Grove and Brookland-CUA Metrorail
stations and between the Glenmont and Takoma Metrorail stations from 9:30 p.m. August
21, to closing (midnight) on August 23. Free shuttle buses will take Red Line
riders between the Brookland-CUA, Fort Totten and Takoma Metrorail stations or
free non-stop shuttle buses will run from Takoma to Union Station on Saturday
and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 



 

Rail service suspended in CTA Blue Line subway this weekend

From 10 p.m. August 21
until 4 a.m. August 24, service on the Blue Line between the Western/Milwaukee
and Clark/Lake stations will be temporarily suspended as work continues in the
Dearborn subway to remove slow zones. Bus shuttles will operate as a substitute
for rail service making stops at Western/Milwaukee, Damen, Division, Chicago,
Grand and Clark/Lake. CTA customers are advised to allow extra travel time.
Both the Western/Milwaukee and Clark/Lake stations are accessible to customers
with disabilities.,Blue Line trains will
operate normally from Forest Park to Clark/Lake, and from O’Hare to
Western/Milwaukee.

 

T-REX closes out light rail portion $3.7 million under budget

Denver’s Transportation
Expansion (T-REX) project, which opened to the public in November 2006, has
completed the final close-out on the project. The transit portion of the T-REX
project is being completed $3.7 million under budget. The Regional
Transportation District’s Southeast Light Rail line was built as a part of
T-REX, which was a combined highway/light rail expansion project and successful
partnership between RTD and the Colorado Department of Transportation. The
project was also completed 22 months ahead of the original schedule and
included several additional enhancements along the corridor that weren’t part
of the original project.