Work continues on West Virginia rail tunnels






When the workers laboring
to raise the roof of the old Cooper Tunnel on the Norfolk Southern main line in
Mercer County, W.Va., see daylight, it’s about time to call it a day, the
Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports. NS is on the home stretch of the Heartland
Corridor project that started in the fall of 2007 and is on track to be
finished later this summer. When it’s done, the Heartland Corridor will enable
NS to move double-stacked freight cars from Lambert’s Point (near Hampton Roads,
Va.) on the Atlantic coast all the way to Chicago on the Lake Michigan shore.

CTA installs security cameras at 24 Green Line stations






Mayor Richard M. Daley and
Chicago Transit Authority President Richard L. Rodriguez announced a
significant development in the agency’s ongoing effort to enhance safety and
security on its rail and bus system. With the installation of cameras at 24
Green Line stations, the CTA’s rail system now has 1,657 cameras at 73 rail
stations.

Bridge projects get back on track






Two bridge projects that
were put on hold about two months ago are back on track, The Medina County,
Ohio, Gazette reports. Bob Sullivan, spokesman for CSX Transportation, said the
company is working to secure funding to proceed with work on the bridges over
the tracks at Rivers Corners Road in Homer Township and at Pawnee Road on the border
of Homer and Harrisville townships. The project includes rebuilding the bridge
at Rivers Corners to allow for taller, double-stack trains to pass underneath,
and demolishing the bridge at Pawnee and vacating the road with a detour at
Simcox Road.

Pittsburgh North Shore intersection to close






North Shore construction
work will cause much of the intersection of Allegheny Avenue and Reedsdale
Street in Pittsburgh to close starting Jan. 25. The closing is due to the
ongoing construction of the North Shore Connector light rail project. The
intersection is scheduled to remain partially closed through Feb. 10.


Caltrain construction, maintenance update, Jan. 23-29






Work on Caltrain’s Grade
Crossing Improvement Program, which will enhance safety at 25 grade crossings
in San Mateo County, will continue at the following locations: Main Street,
Redwood City, Jan. 24-25; Watkins Avenue, Atherton, Jan. 24-25; Fair Oaks
Avenue, Atherton, Jan. 25-28; and Oak Grove Avenue, Menlo Park, Jan. 24 – 25 Throughout
the project area, at least one lane of the impacted street will remain open.
Flagmen will direct traffic and pedestrians around the construction.

Axion begins construction on railroad bridges made from recycled plastic






Axion
International Holdings, Inc., a next-generation technology company utilizing
recycled plastic for high-load industrial products, said that demolition has
begun of the current structures at the Ft. Eustis Army Transportation Corp.
military base in Virginia in order to replace those spans with two new railroad
bridges made almost entirely from Axion’s 100-percent recycled plastic
structural products.

Village of Frankfort, Ill., works to quiet trains






Frankfort, Ill., trustees
this week hired an engineering firm to design safety devices at the village’s
Canadian National Railway crossings, the Chicago Tribune reports. The $14,000
contract was awarded to Hamilton Consulting Engineers to plan and supervise
construction of safety features, such as lights and crossing gates, at the
street-level railroad crossings in Frankfort, Trustee Dick Trevarthan said. Six
of the crossings are public and one is privately owned.

Work begins on new NS yard in Virginia






Norfolk Southern is
clearing land for a planned intermodal train terminal even as attorneys for
Montgomery County try to block the project’s state funding, the Roanoke Times
reports. A demolition contractor leveled a house Jan. 18 and a barn Jan. 19.
One more house, vacant like the first to go down, is scheduled to be razed, as
well. A silo visible from U.S. 460/11 will come down later this month,
according to heavy equipment operator Randy Dickenson.

BNSF West Coast employees battle mudslides as El Nino lashes out






BNSF employees in the
greater Seattle area have cleared at least five mudslides the week of Jan. 18
after El Niño showered heavy rains on the area, the railroad’s employee
newsletter reports. At one area, between Seattle and Everett, Wash., on the Scenic
Subdivision, crews were working to clear tracks after three separate mudslides
in the same area brought commuter traffic to a halt.

Big plans for Manitoba rail line






A group of farmers from Rathwell,
Man., Canada, and the surrounding area are hoping to purchase a shortline
railway to keep their grain shipments on track, the Central Plains Herald
Leader reports. Harold Purkess, a retired farmer from Holland, who is interim
president of River Hills Railroad Inc., said the organization is made up of a
group of farmers and interested individuals who are investing in the project
and preserving their rail line.

BNSF announces $2.4-billion capital commitment program






BNSF
Railway Company announced a planned 2010 capital commitment program of $2.4
billion, which is expected to be approximately $240 million lower than 2009 due
to fewer expected locomotive acquisitions in 2010. BNSF currently expects to
spend about $2.1 billion for track, signal systems, structures, and freight
cars, and to upgrade technologies, including the unfunded mandate for positive
train control. The Company also anticipates acquiring approximately 170
locomotives at a cost of about $320 million. 


Alaska Railroad Billion Slough Pedestrian Walkway update






An Alaska Railroad bridge
crew will complete a new pedestrian bridge connected to the outside of the new
bridge that was constructed in 2007/2008 over Billion Slough at Alaska Railroad
milepost 227.9. This federally funded project includes construction of a new
pedestrian walkway to replace the existing Chase Trail Bridge nearby.

LIRR installing bridges on Long Beach Branch






There will be no train
service along the Long Beach Branch January 23-24 and January 30-31 due to the
installation of two new MTA Long Island Rail Road bridges over Powell Creek and
Hog Island Channel. Buses will serve LIRR customers between Long Beach and Valley
Stream on both weekends. Regular weekday train service will not be affected by
the project.

Oakland Airport Connector project advocates vow to work with FTA






BART has received the
Federal Transit Administration’s letter asking for further analysis of the
Oakland Airport Connector project’s impact on minority communities under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over the past decade, BART has diligently
worked with the FTA to meet all its requirements and as a result, the FTA has
consistently signed off on every aspect of the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC).
In fact, as recently as December, the FTA informed BART it had approved the
project for what’s called "pre-award authority" to continue advancing
the project. It also invited BART to complete the steps to secure award of $25
million in federal New Starts funding and award of $70 million in Stimulus
funds. At the time, there was no mention that additional documentation was
needed.

Holiday weekend work to close Rosslyn, Arlington Cemetery stations






Throughout the President’s
Day Holiday weekend, Metro in the District of Columbia area will close the Rosslyn
Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange Lines and the Arlington Cemetery
Metrorail station on the Blue Line from 10 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12 to closing,
Monday, Feb. 15, while it undertakes a major track rehabilitation project.
Normal service will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 5 a.m. 



Maas to lead TranSystems’ Positive Train Control consulting services






David K. Maas, P.E., assistant
vice president, will lead TranSystems’ consulting services to support rail
industry clients with the implementation of Positive Train Control. He will
direct program management and technical support services including GIS mapping
and track database management services involving data capture, data extraction
and data validation services for track database systems to support PTC
implementation; program management services for commercial power installation
applications for wayside equipment; and related technical assistance and
consulting services to support the rail industry in the implementation of
Positive Train Control.

HRT welcomes public audit of light rail






Hampton Roads, Va.,
Transit welcomed the call for a public audit of the light rail project as a
significant step toward ensuring accountability of The Tide’s management and
oversight, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports.

SMART commuter train plan delayed by economy






It’s unlikely the SMART
rail line linking Sonoma and Marin, Calif., counties will be finished by 2014
as promised to voters because the agency running the train project is wrestling
with a $155-million shortfall brought on by a stumbling economy, the Contra
Costa Times reports.

Elgin, Ill., group studying future of transportation






Continuing talks on
making the area more environmentally friendly focused Tuesday night on
expanding the use of trains, buses and bicycles countywide, according to the
Elgin Courier News, The Elgin, Ill., Community Network hosted a discussion at
Gail Borden Public Library that looked at the future of transportation in the
area. Among those attending were representatives from Metra, Kane County
Division of Transportation and Schaumburg-based engineering firm TranSystems,
the company contracted to draft the city’s Bikeway Master Plan.