U.S. District Court Judge
John Kane on March 18 has denied a request by the Colorado Rail Passenger
Association to stop construction at Denver Union Station related to the
FasTracks regional rail-transit project, the Denver Business Journal reported. Construction
on the project has begun, with the contractor, Kiewit Construction, slated to
begin digging an underground bus station at Union Station this week.
After more than 11 years,
TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen said that he will be leaving the Portland, Ore., agency at
the end of his contract to pursue other opportunities. He released the
following statement regarding his announcement: "After 11.5 years at
TriMet, I have decided to pursue other opportunities. And although the Board of
Directors for whom I work hoped I would stay longer, I have informed them that
I will leave at the end of my current contract, June 30, 2010.
Workers were back at the
Hump to clean up the recent trimming job that left vegetation looking "ragged,"
Peace Arch News in British Columbia reports. Phase 2 of trimming started March
1 – a year and a half after protests temporarily halted the first phase – upon
requests from Hump residents.
The biggest empty chunk of
downtown Chicago is for sale, ready for somebody to take a chance on a future
cycle of real estate growth, David Roeder wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times. Buyers
should bring cash, great credit and patience.
Employees with a
sub-contractor for Norfolk Southern are making railroad track crossing
improvements in Sandersville, Miss., the Laurel Leader Call reports.
Workers
with Tubbys Construction Company of Lancing, Tenn., worked at the two railroad
crossings in Sandersville March 18 in an effort to make travel over those
crossings smoother.
The Chlorine Institute
has called on the Federal Railroad Administration to reexamine its rule on the
cost and benefits of implementing positive train control systems. The Chlorine
Institute claims that the FRA analysis of the benefits of PTC was flawed and
that positive train control systems result in business benefits to the
railroads. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Florida Department of
Transportation, through its newly created Florida Rail Enterprise, has selected
HNTB Corporation and Wilbur Smith Associates, in a joint partnership, as its
program manager for passenger rail in the state of Florida. The primary
assignment for this team will be assisting with implementation of Florida’s
high-speed rail program, which recently received a grant award of $1.25 billion
for Phase 1: Tampa-Orlando. This was one of the top awards in the Federal
Railroad Administration’s competition for $8 billion available in American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through the Vision for High Speed Rail in
America program.
When high-speed rail
finally arrives in Central Florida, Orlando International Airport wants to be
ready – with a "Grand Central Station" of terminals that could
include multiple rail lines, food and retail concessions, a hotel and
rental-car counters, officials said March 17, the Orlando Sentinel reports. There
is no estimate yet on how much the terminal would cost or who would pay for it,
though airport leaders said they think state and federal officials should
provide most of the money.
A waterfront rail line in
Philadelphia moved closer to reality as the Delaware River Port Authority
approved a $6.5-million contract for environmental studies and preliminary
design, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The work, expected to take about two
years, is to prepare the way for a proposed $500-million light-rail line in the
middle of Columbus Boulevard between Pier 70 and Girard Avenue.
Consolidated Thompson
Iron Mines Ltd. Said mine site development is near final completion and
production has already begun at its Bloom Lake mine in Ontario. First shipments
of ore from the port at Pointe-Noire will commence in May 2010. As of December
31, 2009, a total of C$463 million had been spent on the development of the
Bloom Lake mine.
Freight railroad officials
are wondering what happened to the tens of millions of dollars from a 2005 bond
issue that was to be invested in rail and port improvements, Albany Times-Union
reports. Just $70 million of the $186 million earmarked has been spent, none of
that in the past two years. Instead, rail officials grouse, state officials
continue to review $200 million in grant requests submitted before Oct. 1,
2008.
Construction crews have
already started the three-year project to replace the Niantic River Bridge in Connecticut,
but onlookers won’t see the substantial work begin for a few more weeks, The
Day reports. Workers have been at Cini Park near the entrance of the boardwalk
since last week, staging heavy machinery and creating a ramp that will allow
them to better move equipment up to the railroad tracks. Amtrak officials said
the significant work will start in April when construction barges are brought
out.
Illinois is already
investing to make way for a high-speed rail system expected to spread across
the Midwest and hasten commutes between its major cities, The Christian Science
Monitor reports. The projects are in preparation for the $2.6 billion President
Obama promised the Midwest in January to modernize its transportation network
with high-speed rail. That money is part of a larger $11-billion high-speed
rail package made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
While it strongly supports
a new regulation that requires railroads to implement technology capable of
making rail movements safer, the Chlorine Institute, Inc. asked the Federal
Railroad Administration to re-issue the rule with a corrected cost-benefit
analysis.
On
behalf of the Alaska Railroad Corporation Board of Directors, ARRC Board
Chairman John Binkley expressed congratulations to ARRC President & CEO
Patrick Gamble on his selection as the new University of Alaska president. "He
is deserving of the trust that the university regents have placed in Pat’s
leadership, management and familiarity with Alaskan issues," said Binkley.
HDR has been awarded a
five-year contract for extensive on-call right-of-way services with Sound
Transit, which provides mass transit in Washington’s King, Pierce and Snohomish
counties.
The Canadian federal
government and the railways must improve safety at high-risk crossings on busy
passenger train routes, according to the country’s transportation accident
investigator, local media report.
State transportation
workers yesterday scrambled to empty the swimming pool-sized hole that opened in
Newton, Mass., beneath MBTA tracks during the weekend rainstorm and will force
thousands of commuters to rely on buses for another week or so, the Boston
Globe reports.
The Canadian National
Railway has made a good start communicating with towns along the EJ&E
railroad, but there’s room for improvement, a federal audit concludes,
according to the Daily Herald. And, it says, municipalities that have not yet
struck deals with CN are critical of how it’s handling the transition.
An agreement is near
regarding improvements around a long-sought railroad overpass in Colton,
Calif., between railroad and local officials, as the overall project’s fate
heads to a state commission, The Press-Enterprise reports.
