CREATE agrees to trim following CN/EJ&E merger

The Federal Highway
Administration, Illinois Department of Transportation, Chicago Department of
Transportation and Association of American Railroads have agreed to
modifications to the CREATE Program in response to changing needs. In
particular, the full Central Corridor, as defined in the original CREATE
Feasibility Plan & Preliminary Screening is no longer required. Major
portions of the southern half of the Central Corridor are being retained,
however, to provide a new direct route (over the NS Chicago Line) for Amtrak
trains from New Orleans and Carbondale into Chicago Union Station, while
minimizing impacts to Amtrak and freight service already using this line. These
improvements are now part of the P4 project.

 

Railroad agrees to stop filling wetlands

Although it maintains the
town has no jurisdiction over its property, the Housatonic Railroad has agreed
to voluntarily abide by the town’s cease-and-desist order and submit a permit
application for wetlands remediation work near the company’s trash transfer
station in Hawleyville, Conn., off Route 25, local newspapers report.

 

NS hub to have berms near school

Preliminary designs of
Norfolk Southern’s $112-million Alabama cargo-loading rail hub call for 15-foot
berms next to McAdory Elementary School and a 16-foot sound wall along the
access road behind the Sadler Ridge subdivision, the Birmingham News reports. The
design will be shown at a public meeting Norfolk Southern is holding at the
Bessemer Civic Center. Some residents of the area and parent of students at the
school are vehemently opposed to the project.

VW building Tennessee rail terminal

Chattanooga-made
Volkswagens just off the assembly line and ready for shipment countrywide will
start their journey at a state-of-the-art terminal unrivaled in the industry, a
consultant told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The terminal will be served
by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.

WMATA installing wireless service in 20 Metrorail stations

Metrorail riders in the
Washington, D.C., area soon will be able to use four major cell phone providers
to make calls or access the Internet from 20 of Metro’s busiest underground
stations. 

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile began
installing hardware at designated Metrorail stations that will allow Metrorail
customers to make calls, send text messages or surf the Web from 20 stations
starting Friday, October 16. 



RailComm DOC® Yard Automation System at CSXT Hamlet facility

RailComm’s DOC®
Yard Automation System has been integrated with the existing RailComm Shove
Track control system at CSX Transportation’s Hamlet facility in North Carolina.
RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) PC-based control
system controls the shove track system and provides wireless remote control
from the yard tower to all equipped switch locations.


MTA NYC Transit 181st-Dyckman repair update

Repair work to remove
debris and any remaining loose brick from the architectural façade of the
ceiling at the 181st Street station is proceeding around the clock, but more
work needs to be completed before 1 train service can resume between the 168th
Street and Dyckman Street stations.

Norfolk, Va., installing power poles for light rail

Hundreds of poles that
will carry electricity for Norfolk’s light rail trains are going up along the
7.4-mile alignment, marking a construction milestone for The Tide, Virginia’s
first light rail system. A small group of poles were bolted into place last
month along a section of track near Norfolk State University, and a larger
group of them will be secured in place in the coming weeks.

UP increasing train speed on line in Kennewick, Wash.

Union Pacific Railroad will
increase the speed of its trains from 10 mph to 20 mph on nearly 12 miles of
its rail line located in Kennewick, Wash. The rail line generally parallels
state highway SR 240 through Kennewick. The increased train speed will take
effect September 1, 2009. Trains currently operate through the area at 10 mph
due to track and operating constraints. 
Recent track improvements will permit the higher speed.


Stimulus Funds Could Save Katy Bridge

The Missouri Department
of Transportation is applying for more than 27 million dollars in stimulus
funds to pay for a new steel railroad bridge in Osage City, Mo., local media
report. This comes as a relief to many history buffs in Boonville, who fought
for the past few years to save the Katy Bridge from demolition.

 

Town feuds with CSX over sign removal






The North Charleston, S.C.
feud with the CSX railroad line got a little hotter this week when an employee
cited during a sign-removal dispute last month apparently failed to show for
his court appearance, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. A bench warrant
was issued for a CSX employee who allegedly played a role in the railroad’s
attempt to remove a sign telling motorists where to direct complaints about
bumpy railroad crossings.

 

Sound Transit update: Yale Avenue on-ramp wall construction

The
weekend of August 22-23, Sound Transit crews in the Seattle area will install a
temporary wall comprised of interlocking metal sheets called sheet piles. The
sheet pile wall will be about 60 feet long by 20 feet high and will be vibrated
into place along the shoulder of southbound I-5 next to the Pike-Pine
reversible HOV ramp. The Yale Avenue on-ramp to southbound I-5 and the right
lane of southbound I-5 between Yale Avenue and Union Street will close from
8:00 a.m.- 11:00 p.m. on August 22 and from 8:00a.m.-1:00p.m.on August 23 to
create a safe work zone during the sheet pile wall installation. The off-ramp
from southbound I-5 to Union Street will remain open. This work is anticipated
to take up to two days to complete. 

 

Vital rail line gets one-year reprieve

Looking forward to
possible economic development in the South County, the Lassen County, Calif.,
Board of Supervisors, Union Pacific and Lassen Valley Railway, an affiliate of
V&S Railways, reached an agreement that will save the Wendel/Flanigan rail
line-a piece of infrastructure that could prove invaluable in the future-for at
least one year, the Lassen Valey Times reports. Union Pacific, the current owner of the 21.77 miles of rail
line, abandoned it in 2007, and planned to sell it for salvage and dispose of
the property.

 

Houston METRO receives design approval for North, Southeast lines

The Federal Transit
Administration gave METRO permission today to enter into Final Design on
Houston’s North and Southeast light-rail lines. The FTA’s approval is the final
prerequisite toward entering Full Funding Grant Agreements on both lines, which
signals the federal government’s commitment to fund its part of the projects.

 

ICC to award grants for rail safety education

The Illinois
Commerce Commission’s Railroad Safety Section has issued a Request for Grant
Proposals for local railroad safety education and enforcement programs. The ICC
recently received a grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to continue
working with local communities and railroads in Illinois to implement railroad
safety education or enforcement programs.

 

New rail loop will enable BNSF to triple traffic capability

John Lanigan, BNSF’s
executive vice president and chief marketing officer, was a keynote speaker at
the groundbreaking of a new rail project to support Vancouver’s Port Terminal 5
expansion in the state of Washington, according to the company newsletter. A
crowd of more than 250 people made up of state and local officials, port and
transportation personnel and area residents attended the official
groundbreaking.

 

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., company relocating facility

A local railway
communications company that has operated in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., since the
early 1970s has announced its closure, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Safetran Systems, on Seventh Street near Haven
Avenue, will close in seven to 14 months and move its operations closer to
headquarters in Louisville, Ken.

 

MBTA offers innovative access to schedule data

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,

 

Colorado railroad seeks stimulus grant

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.