The U.S. 80 bridge over
the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Miss., remained in "fair-to-good" condition
in 2009 – so says an early version of the 80-year-old structure’s annual
inspection report, according to the Vicksburg Post. Prepared by Baton Rouge-based
G.E.C., the report comes to the same conclusion as the previous two
assessments.
Four alternatives for state-sponsored
passenger rail service between Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Fort Worth are
detailed in a study released today by Amtrak and the Kansas Department of
Transportation. Start-up costs of
the alternatives, which are in 2009 dollars and based on 100 percent on-time
performance, range from $156 million to $479 million and the annual operating
support range from $3.2 million to $8 million. Annual ridership estimates of
the four alternatives range from 65,900 to 174,000.
Track maintenance on Washington,
D.C., Metro’s Red and Blue lines March 12-14 will cause inbound and outbound
trains to take turns sharing one track. Customers should add 30 minutes to
their trips.
The city of Virginia
Beach, Va., proposed $40-million deal to buy an old rail corridor for a
possible light rail project could cost more because a federal agency is asking
questions about the land’s value, The Virginian-Pilot
reports.
The Association of
American Railroads said that 2009 was the safest year in freight railroad
history, with preliminary year-end data indicating the train accident rate,
employee casualty rate and grade crossing incident rates were all at record low
levels last year.
Global Partners LP will
carry out a multi-million-dollar expansion and tank refurbishment project that
will add 180,000 barrels of ethanol storage capacity and rail access at the its
refined petroleum products terminal in Albany, N.Y. Developed jointly with
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, the project, expected to be operational in
2010, includes modifications that will enable the Albany terminal to schedule
the delivery of 80-car trains of ethanol. Global Partners will connect the
terminal to CP’s adjacent Kenwood Yard rail facility via pipeline. The terminal
and rail facility are strategically located along the Hudson River, providing
access to the global Partners’ terminal network in the Northeast.
BART crews are installing
two new crossover tracks between Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek stations. This
work requires that the agency close the tracks between these two stations on
two weekends: March 26-28 and May 28-30 (Memorial Day weekend). To accommodate
customers, BART will provide a free bus bridge service between Walnut Creek and
Pleasant Hill (in both directions) during both weekends. BART suggests that customers
allow up to 20 additional minutes for the bus detour.
Three decades is a long
time to wait for a train. So Los Angeles is asking the federal government for
help in borrowing $9 billion to speed construction of 12 new mass-transit rail
lines, The Wall Street Journal reports. With Washington’s backing, city
officials say they could make a dramatic improvement to public transportation
in just 10 years — including a dreamy-sounding Subway to the Sea — after
decades of stalled attempts to equip the sprawling metro area with a
comprehensive public-transportation system.
Montana state officials
have accepted the results of a study sponsored by the city of Whitefish of an
underground diesel plume caused by spills at BNSF’s locomotive fueling station
in Whitefish, a Superfund site, the Whitefish Pilot reports. Using $50,000 in
state grant money obtained by the city, Roger Noble and Applied Water
Consulting, of Kalispell, investigated the extent of the contamination in
Whitefish’s Railway District and a neighborhood east of the middle school.
St. Louis
Metro and the
Sierra Club, along with the American Lung Association in Missouri, Sisters of
St. Joseph of Carondelet and other clean air advocates, will participate in a
National Clean Air Day event at the Civic Center MetroLink Station March 16.
Participants will distribute "I Heart Clean Air" postcards and a sweet treat as
a "thank you" to Metro riders for helping to keep the air clean by choosing
transit.
Maine
Gov. John Baldacci provided the details of a $79-million bond proposal that includes
money to save northern Maine’s last major rail line and to fund transportation
projects across the state, the Bangor Daily News reports. Pitching the bond package as a type of stimulus
measure, Baldacci said the additional state borrowing would create or protect
thousands of jobs in the state while investing in much-needed highway and
infrastructure projects.
The Chicago Transit Board approved a revenue-generating contract to place additional Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at rail stations and employee facilities. The ATM contract will generate a total of at least $1.3 million over the next five years. This is in addition to the $4.7 million contract announced at last month’s Board meeting.
Colo Railroad Builders, a leading provider of railroad
construction and maintenance services to shortline and Class 1 railroads, has
added three new offices, one in Kansas and two in Texas.
Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB)
is celebrating its 125th year as a New York City-based international
engineering giant. In 1885, William Barclay Parsons established a consulting
engineering practice at 22 William Street in Lower Manhattan. Since then, PB
has continued to play leading roles on transportation, power, buildings, and
environmental projects throughout the world. Today, the firm is a strategic
consulting, planning, engineering and program/construction management
organization with approximately 14,000 employees in 150 offices on six
continents.
Shovels
will start digging for the Central Corridor LRT line in August east of the
Capitol where work will begin on Robert and 12th streets north of Interstate
94, the Central Corridor Project Office said today. Utility relocations in this
area will be done concurrently with LRT construction.
On March 22, Central Texans
will have a new way to commute as Capital Metro opens its passenger rail line,
Capital MetroRail. Capital Metro said that it will begin passenger service on
the 32-mile Red Line from Leander to Downtown Austin and will offer free fares
the first week of service. There will be nine trips in the morning (six
southbound and three northbound trips) and 10 trips in the afternoon (six northbound
and four southbound trips). The first train will leave Leander Station at 5:25
a.m.
Fulfilling a commitment
to the Long Island City community to end back-riding and shuttle bus service in
as short a period as possible, MTA New York City Transit completed a series of
weekend rehabilitation projects, including major track replacement work on the
Davis Street Curve of the 7 Line. These jobs were completed three weekends
ahead of the projected schedule.
The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry
is resuming normal operations March 10, 2010. Ferry service was suspended
January 4 due to heavy icing in the Hudson River. Ice floes subsequently
damaged the floating dock in Newburgh, N.Y. All repairs have now been
completed.
A short-line railroad
operator that lost a bid last year to operate the restored Piedmont &
Northern Railroad in Gaston County, N.C., is back with another proposal, the
Gaston Gazette reports. Bill Gray, president of
Carolina Central Railway, could not come to terms with transportation officials
on a lease agreement last year. But Gray said he plans to bid again on the
state’s latest request to find a long-term operator for the P&N Railroad.
Some Ramsey, Minn.,
residents living near railroad tracks should be sleeping a little better, the
Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Two of the city’s five rail crossings have
been designated quiet zones where engineers no longer must sound train horns as
they approach. The zones, which went into effect late last month, will extend
more than a mile from Sunfish Lake Boulevard west along the BNSF tracks to
Ramsey Boulevard.
