The Massachusetts Executive
Office of Transportation said an historic step toward openness and transparency
by releasing to the public the detailed scheduling and geographic data the MBTA
submitted for use in the Google Transit Trip Planner. The initiative is part of
the Patrick Administration’s commitment to comprehensive transportation reform
and creating a modern, efficient, and customer-friendly transportation system,
The San Luis and Rio
Grande Railway will become a major mover of goods and people in the San Luis
Valley if a proposal for stimulus money gets approved, local newspapers report. Valley leaders and
representatives of Iowa Pacific, owner of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railway,
met with Colorado Department of Transportation Commissioner Steve Parker
yesterday for advice on how to successfully proceed with a proposal for
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant.
The sale of a Canadian
National Railroad line to shortline operator Grenada Railway, LLC, has had
local businesses and officials concerned about the future of the rail in Tate
County, Miss., The Democrat reports But after a report by Larry Hart, current
Water Valley mayor and a former railroad employee, things might be better than
they first seemed.
Mid-day 25 years ago August
16, the first Union Pacific and former Chicago & North Western coal train
moved out of Wyoming’s Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB) coal field over a new
107-mile rail line connecting Union Pacific to the region. The C&NW merged
with Union Pacific in 1995. Since the line was opened
between Joyce, Neb., and Shawnee Junction, Wyo., in 1984, several milestones
have been met including the operation of the 100,000th train March 17, 2001 and
the movement of the 200,000th loaded coal train May 10, 2009 out of the SPRB.
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood today said $298.7 million in American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act dollars will go to NJ TRANSIT for 13 projects that will
improve aging infrastructure, help ease daily commutes and generate jobs across
the region.
The New Jersey Department
of Transportation will be closing Sixth Street in Newark as construction
progresses on a project to replace the Third Street, Fifth Street, Sixth
Street, Seventh Street and Roseville Avenue bridge decks over the NJ TRANSIT
Morristown line in Newark, the Star Ledger reports.
Commuters on the Virginia
Railway Express Fredericksburg Line can see that construction has begun on
laying a third track over Franconia Hill, according to Fredericksburg.com. As
hills go, it’s not terribly high: 225 feet above sea level. Franconia Road is
near the crest of the hill in Fairfax County, and the Capital Beltway passes
along the side of the hill a mile farther north.
L.B. Foster Company has
been awarded a $7.6 million contract for 115-pound rail for installation on the
21-mile A-Train transit project linking Denton and Carrollton, Texas. Shipments
of 4,599 tons of 1,600-ft welded rail and 573 tons of 80-ft stick rail were
delivered to the North Texas Rail Group, a contractor joint venture between
Herzog Contracting Corporation and Archer Western Contractors.
Sounder track and signal project
update
Railworks Track Systems
and subcontractors have mobilized and work is well under way on track and signal
improvements along the seven-mile Sound Transit rail corridor between South M
Street in Tacoma, Wash., to Bridgeport Way SW in Lakewood. Portions of unused
spurs and track have been removed while new track and rail ballast are being
delivered on site.
Palm Beach County, Fla.,
has completed a new parking lot adjacent to the west platform at Tri-Rail’s
West Palm Beach Station. The new parking lot provides 118 additional spaces for
passengers and 45 designated spaces for South Florida Regional Transportation
Authority/Tri-Rail and Palm Tran employees. The parking lot also provides
special spaces for scooters and motorcycles, along with bicycle lockers that
will be used as part of a new passenger program/amenity to be launched in the
near future. The new lot, accessible from Clearwater Avenue, opened to the
public on August 18.
The Société de transport
de Montréal informed clients that, after 11 weeks of renovations aimed at
extending the service life of its systems and installations, Charlevoix métro
station once again opened its doors on August 17, as planned.
TriMet and the city of
Portland, Ore., are using $1.6 million of federal stimulus funds to repair
bricks in 20 intersections on Morrison and Yamhill streets in downtown
Portland. As the backbone of Portland’s light rail system, the Morrison and
Yamhill corridors have experienced significant wear and tear and have not had
major repairs in the 25 years since the tracks went in.
Directors of Genesee and
Wyoming Inc., parent company of Huron Central Railway, have agreed to a
tentative deal that will keep the local railroad operating until August 14,
2010, SooToday.com reports. Sault Ste. Marie Mayor John Rowswell tells
SooToday.com that he has received confirmation of the ratification.
Chicago Transit Authority
officials August 14 dedicated the new Wellington station on the Brown Line. The
station reopened to customers July 30 after a 16-month temporary closure for
construction as part of the line’s capacity expansion project.
Construction in downtown
Minneapolis continues as crews work on the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit station
and the Northstar Commuter Rail station. Punchlist work continues at the
commuter stations in Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka and Coon Rapids.
Concrete ties on the Old
Colony commuter rail lines are wearing out far faster than they’re supposed to,
a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority acknowledged
according to the West Bridgewater Times. The lines — Middleboro/Lakeville and
Kingston/Plymouth — have been found to have 4,000 ties that need to be
replaced, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.
The Port Authority Board of
Commissioners authorized a major contract to permanently brace the box that
encloses the MTA’s No. 1 subway line. It will form the foundation of the future
extension of Greenwich Street, which will bisect the World Trade Center site.
The contract will ensure public access to the 9/11 Memorial Plaza on the 10th
anniversary of 9/11, and represents one of the Port Authority’s critical
third-quarter milestones.
Southwest Washington’s
three-member congressional delegation gathered at the Port of Vancouver to
celebrate the opening of a new marine terminal on the former Alcoa-Evergreen
aluminum site, The Columbian reported. Alcoa this spring finished environmental
cleanup of the 218-acre site, making way for the port to complete its purchase
of the two properties in March for a total of $48.25 million. The port is now
ready to develop the site, zoned for heavy industrial use.
The Montreal, Maine &
Atlantic Railway said that it is taking steps to sell or abandon its tracks
between Millinocket and Madawaska, Maine, because they are no longer profitable
to maintain, according to the Bangor Daily News. The company is asking the
state to consider buying the tracks and maintaining them. If that were to
happen, the Maine Department of Transportation and the railway could work out a
deal so the company’s trains would use the rail lines without an interruption
in service.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed
Rendell is trying to land $47 million in federal aid to upgrade Harrisburg rail
freight facilities, the Harrisburg Patriot News reports. The money would help
Norfolk Southern add a third unloading track and install additional parking
spaces for trailers at the terminal along Industrial Road.
