On April 22, the Sound
Transit Board in Metropolitan Seattle updated the preferred alternative for the
East Link light rail project. The preferred alternative was modified to include
a shorter and lower-cost tunnel option in downtown Bellevue, Wash., as well as
a revised at-grade alternative through downtown. Inclusion of the tunnel was
facilitated by the City of Bellevue agreeing to provide up to a $150-million
contribution.
The North County Transit
District in Southern California is recognizing Earth Day 2010 with an
aggressive sustainability campaign that will yield major environmental benefits
by the end of the year. The two-part program includes extensive solar
improvements at District facilities and challenges the public to ride public
transit at least once a week as part of their personal sustainability goals.
A proposal to greatly
accelerate construction of a dozen transit projects and expedite highway improvement
projects in Los Angeles County was approved by the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority Board of Directors. The 30/10 initiative, first proposed by Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, would seek federal assistance to build
within the next decade a series of light rail, subway and rapid bus projects
throughout Los Angeles County. The Board also voted to explore federal funding
or public private partnerships to expedite local highway improvements.
St. Louis Metro
has received notice from the Missouri State Budget Director that the remaining
balance of the $12-million emergency appropriation approved in the last
legislative session will not be disbursed to the Agency by the State of
Missouri.
There will be no train service
between the East Falls Church and West Falls Church-VT/UVA Metrorail stations in
northern Virginia during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, (May 28 to 31), and
the first two weekends in June (June 4 to 6 and June 11-13) as the Dulles
Corridor Metrorail Project will undertake the first in a series of major
construction activities that will eventually connect the new rail line to the
existing Metrorail system.
The Twinsburg Road
railroad crossing in Macedonia, Ohio, will be a little less noisy in the
future, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Macedonia City Council signed off on
a deal that will create a federally sanctioned ”quiet zone” at the tracks,
located in a residential area where Macedonia, Hudson, Northfield Center
Township and Boston Heights meet.
L.B. Foster Co. and Portec Rail
Products, Inc., say they are reviewing their options following a judge’s action
Wednesday enjoining the completion of L.B. Foster’s tender offer to acquire all
of Portec Rail’s issued and outstanding common stock.
Joe Zerzan
joined RailPros, Inc., as a senior signal manger. He has 33 years of railroad
signaling experience, including 17 years with Southern Pacific, and broad
experience as a consulting engineer. He was responsible for signal design
system-wide for Southern Pacific and has directed numerous design and
construction projects for commuter, freight and transit clients.
On April 21, BNSF introduced its new Memphis Intermodal Facility to customers, community
and state leaders during the facility’s grand opening ceremony. BNSF’s Memphis
Intermodal Facility is now fully operational after a $200-million expansion and
rebuilding.
The Association of
American Railroads said that Charles Keltner, a BNSF employee from Fort Worth,
Texas, has been awarded this year’s John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence
Award. U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) also was honored with the
Congressional Chafee Award, which each year goes to a member of Congress who
demonstrates dedication to the environment.
Amtrak testified April 21
before a Senate committee that "the security of our system is our top priority"
and its efforts are focused on defeating or deterring the most dangerous and
likely terror tactics, including use of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on
board a train or at a station and the emerging threat of an active shooter.
The Chicago Transit
Authority is advising customers that trains traveling on the Orange Line
between Midway and the Loop are operating at no more than 35 mph while repairs
are made to the signaling system along the rail line. CTA has a thorough maintenance and
safety system in place and while performing inspections along the Orange Line,
a potential defect with a component of the signaling system was discovered.
Negotiations have begun
with CN on the possibility of producers and investors acquiring the rail line
from Lyalta to Oyen, Alta., the Drumheller Mail reports. The group, operating
under the name Badlands Rail Company, has made an offer to CN.
The Union Pacific is
closing the Ridgely Tower in Springfield, Ill., one of the last manually
operated rail switching towers in Illinois, The State Journal-Register reports.
The tower, south of Sangamon Avenue and west of 16th Street, controls rail
traffic along the Union Pacific/Amtrak line between St. Louis and Chicago and
the Springfield to Peoria line of the Illinois and Midland Railroad. One of
five operators sits in the tower around-the-clock to control rail traffic using
a series of levers.
The Ann Arbor, Mich.,
Transportation Authority (AATA) board of directors took another step forward
this evening in the process of exploring the possibility of countywide public transit.
The board voted 6-1 to approve conducting contract negotiations with planning
consultant Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) to develop a transit master plan for
Washtenaw County.
The Société de transport
de Montréal (STM) said that four new elevators in Henri-Bourassa station will
become operational April 26. These additional elevators will raise the
number of stations accessible to the mobility-impaired to six on the métro’s
Orange line, after Montmorency, de la Concorde, Cartier, Berri-UQAM and
Lionel-Groulx. Bonaventure station is also equipped with elevators allowing
access to both train platforms from the fare collection booth, as the station
does not have an entrance building directly from the street.
Customers can expect
lengthy delays of up to 40 minutes April 23-25 as old track components are
replaced on the Red, Blue and Orange lines in the Washington, D.C., area,
causing inbound and outbound trains to take turns sharing one track on portions
of the rail system.
Riders planning to take the Red, Blue and Orange lines to
area sports events and activities this weekend should add up to 40 minutes to
their travel times.
Sound Transit contractors
will finish installing light rail track switch heaters April 23-25 on the main
tracks near the Link light rail Operations and Maintenance Facility. Link
trains will be delayed starting Friday, April 23 at 10 p.m. through the start
of service Monday morning at 5 a.m.
Wheaton, Ill., officials
have endorsed permanently closing one of its streets at a rail crossing as part
of a $100-million plan to add new tracks and upgrades along the Union Pacific
line, the Chicago Tribune reports. The City Council approved a resolution
calling for closing the Chase Street crossing, just south of Wheaton College.
The federal
Surface Transportation Board directed Canadian National to come before the
Board and explain the significant differences between information on
street-crossing blockages in the Chicago area that the railroad has provided to
the Board and the results of an independent audit conducted by the Board.
