Although
a private company has found it uneconomical to maintain rail lines through
Aroostook County, Maine, it would be uneconomical for mills and other major
employers in the region to be left without rail service. This is the dilemma
facing state officials who are currently grappling with a budget shortfall of
nearly $440 million, according to an editorial in the Bangor Daily News.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
said that he plans meetings today with political and financial institutions in
South Florida that are interested in bringing to life the long-gone
Jacksonville-to-Miami passenger route along Florida East Coast Rail Road
tracks, the St. Augustine Record reports.
Feb. 16-18, between the
hours of 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., crews will be finishing up work on Caltrain’s Grade
Crossing Improvement Program. Work will take place at the following locations: Oak
Grove Avenue and Peninsula Avenue in Burlingame; Main Street and Chestnut
Street In Redwood City; Villa Terrace Avenue and First Avenue in San Mateo; Encinal
Avenue, Glenwood Avenue, Oak Grove Avenue and Ravenswood Avenue in Menlo Park;
and Fair Oaks Lane in Atherton.
As swirling snow shrouded
eastern Queens, a yellow-and-black diesel train rumbled on the A subway line
towards the Rockaways, lights flashing, sirens sounding, the New York Daily
News reports. It was the peak of the
near-blizzard. Snowdrifts threatened to force suspension of subway service to
the peninsula. And NYC Transit had called in the artillery.
At a recent meeting, the
Moses Lake, Wash., City Council unanimously approved sending letters to
lawmakers requesting federal funding to purchase a segment (Segment 4) of the
Columbia Basin Railroad line that runs through the City of Moses. As part of
the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project, Segment 4 is slated to be vacated
once a new bypass segment (Segment 1) northeast of Moses Lake is built.
The
UNISIG Consortium (UNISIG) has accepted an application for Associated
Membership from MER MEC S.p.A., with effect from January 1, 2010. MER MEC,
based in Monopoli, Bari, Italy, is a developer and supplier of both onboard and
trackside railway signaling equipment. The company becomes the second new
Associated Member of UNISIG since its formation in 1999.
As environmental work
continues for the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 project, Los Angeles Metro
will hold four community scoping meetings on February 22-27 in Pico Rivera,
South El Monte, Montebello and Whittier to review two build alternatives: light
rail transit via State Route 60 and on Washington Boulevard in addition to a
transportation systems management (improving bus services), and a no-build
alternative.
A new railroad company
based in Alliance, Neb., has filed papers with the federal Surface
Transportation Board to purchase the seven miles of railroad line from Chadron
west to Dakota Junction and to lease 21 miles of line from Dakota Junction to
Crawford. Chadron, Neb., the Chadron Record reports.
Burlington Northern Santa
Fe Corporation shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the company’s
acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., securing a path for BNSF Railway to
continue to build upon its position as one of America’s premier freight transportation
companies.
Nearly half of the budget
to build Norfolk’s light-rail starter line is "soft costs" such as consulting,
legal and administrative fees, which are almost twice the norm for this kind of
project, Hampton Roads Transit’s new leader, Philip Shucet, told the Norfolk,
Va., City Council, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
The Puget Sound region’s
largest public agencies will host a Regional Contracting Forum on March 30 at
the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. Each year, more
than 1,000 people attend this annual networking and information-gathering
event. This year the Forum will include one-on-one interactive sessions between
prime and subcontractors for construction and architectural and engineering
services, and agency buyers and vendors. The Forum also serves as a
"one-stop" location for business owners seeking to do business with
government agencies to ask questions that will help them navigate the public
competitive bidding process successfully.
Construction work at
several sites, including the new Puritas Rapid
station, will affect
West Side rail service, say officials of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit
Authority. On Feb. 20-21, all West Side Red Line
train service between
Tower City and Hopkins International Airport will be replaced with shuttle
buses.
As part of the
Patrick-Murray Administration’s commitment to building a more customer-friendly
transportation system, Massachusetts Governor Patrick said that real-time
arrival information will be available on MBTA’s Fitchburg Commuter Rail line
beginning February 11.
For a dollar a year,
Lyndhurst, N.J., officials said the two dilapidated train stations in town will
soon be reverted to the town’s control. It could lead to refurbishment of the
stations and allow the leasing of space in them. Officials said the move would
augment mass transit ridership, give individuals with disabilities greater
access to the trains and bring more traffic to Lyndhurst’s business districts,
the Bergen Record reports.
Construction of a rail
line from Clarksville-Montgomery Business Park in Tennessee to Commerce Park
across Guthrie Highway is part of the infrastructure for the Hemlock
Semiconductor plant is being built there, the Leaf Chronicle reports. As the
project progressed, it became clear that construction would require a wider
right-of-way in some sections because more slope was needed to the new rail bed
and work continued without consent from the new property owner, FWJR Partnership.
Maine transportation
officials say they’ve taken new steps to resolve the potential abandonment of about
240 miles of railroad track in Aroostook and Penobscot Counties, after the
track’s owner indicated it plans to file a notice of abandonment in about the
next two weeks, according to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
The Obama administration’s
recent decision to award $38.5 million in high speed rail funds to New Jersey
is the first step towards a stronger, faster rail system that will reduce
congestion, oil use, and carbon emissions, but there is much still to be done, local
media report. That was the message that New Brunswick’s Mayor Jim Cahill and
New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Program Associate Rebecca Alper made
clear when they gathered at New Brunswick Train Station to release "The Right
Track," a new research report from NJPIRG.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver met
with Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Joseph Szabo in an effort to
get funding for Iowa rail projects back on track, especially a proposed
passenger rail routes from Chicago to Iowa City and Chicago to Dubuque, the Mason
City Globe Gazette reports.
The Jackson County, Miss.,
Port Authority will provide $35,000 for a study on creating a rail line linking
east-central Mississippi to coastal ports, the Hattiesburg American reports. The
Regional Railroad Authority of East Mississippi would oversee about 45 miles of
track from Waynesboro to Lucedale, where existing lines serve port facilities
in Pascagoula and Mobile.
Isanti, Minn., is
moving forward with the Isanti Rail Industrial Park development process, the Isanti
County News reports. During a recent Isanti City Council meeting, it authorized
city engineer Bolton & Menk, Inc. to provide professional engineering
services for the preparation of a conceptual layout and facility plan for the
Isanti Rail Industrial Park.
