AirTrain JFK, which
connects travelers by rail to and from the airport, is celebrating its sixth
year in operation. Since its first year, ridership on the service has literally
doubled as airport travelers learn that it is the quickest, least expensive way
to get to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Work on Caltrain’s Grade
Crossing Improvement Program, which will enhance safety at 25 grade crossings
in San Mateo County, will continue Dec. 20-23. The schedule includes Fair Oaks
Lane and Watkins Avenue, Atherton and Oak Grove and Ravenswood avenues on Menlo
Park
Track maintenance on the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Red and Blue lines Dec. 18-20 will cause
inbound and outbound trains to take turns sharing one track. Customers should
add 30 minutes to their trips.
Metrorail customers traveling between the
Fort Totten and Silver Spring Metrorail stations should add at least 30 minutes
to their travel time because Metro will be making track circuit upgrades at the
Takoma Metrorail station. Trains will share one track between these locations
the entire weekend from 9:30 p.m. Dec. 18, to closing (midnight) on Dec. 20.
The Association of American
Railroads issued the following statement by AAR President and CEO Edward R.
Hamberger in response to the Senate Commerce Committee markup of the STB
Reauthorization Bill:
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed
a transportation bill that will provide new funding to Tri-Rail, South
Florida’s cash-trapped commuter train, and boost billion-dollar rail projects
in the Central Florida region, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.
The railroad tracks from
Boston to Washington – the busiest rail artery in the nation, and one that also
carries America’s only high-speed train, the Acela – have been virtually shut
out of $8 billion worth of federal stimulus money set aside for high-speed rail
projects because of a strict environmental review required by the Obama
administration, according to the Boston Globe. Because such a review would take
years, states along the Northeast rail corridor are not able to pursue stimulus
money for a variety of crucial upgrades.
To advance the BART to
Silicon Valley Project parking spaces and lane closures will occur while crews
conduct work to identify utilities along Capitol Ave between Trimble Road and Montague
Expressway in Milpitas, Calif., Monday, December 21, 2009, through Thursday,
December 31, 2010, weekdays only, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (excluding lunch from
12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.). Utility investigation activities include quick vacuum
excavation in a one-foot x one-foot hole approximately five to six feet in
depth, extracting the material to expose and survey the utility, to confirm
utility and depth.
Some Beaumont, Texas,
residents are outraged over a construction project near downtown that is
preventing some residents from being able to park in their own driveway, local
media report. BNSF is rehabilitating the tracks along Long Avenue and residents
say the construction is causing problems for the entire neighborhood.
The N.C.
Department of Transportation, North Carolina Railroad Company and Norfolk
Southern have completed the restoration of a nine-mile section of track between
Greensboro and High Point. The new stretch of double track will help alleviate
bottleneck delays, improve freight rail capacity and passenger train
reliability. It will also provide future rail capacity for the
federally-designated Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor as well as NS’s
Crescent Corridor.
The Federal Transit
Administration notified METRO that it has approved Houston’s University
Corridor Light Rail Transit project into the Preliminary Engineering phase of
the FTA’s New Starts program. METRO can now move forward with engineering
activities as publication of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and
approval of a Record of Decision are imminent.
Massachusetts Bay Commuter
Railroad Company said that as the result of a critical ongoing concrete tie
replacement project on the Old Colony Line, a new schedule for the
Middleboro/Lakeville, and Plymouth/Kingston and Greenbush lines will go into
effect on January 11, 2010. These schedule changes better reflect actual travel
times that have resulted following implementation of a 50 mile-per-hour speed
restriction, which is essential for safe travel on the line.
Denver’s Regional
Transportation District Board of Directors voted unanimously to enter into
contract negotiations with Phil Washington to serve as the agency’s new general
manager and chief executive officer.
To provide the latest
information about upcoming service modifications, California’s Santa Clara
Valley Transportation Authority launched a brand new Web page. The goal is to
make it easy for VTA customers to view the new bus and light rail schedules
with one click of a mouse. The detailed and visual information about service
changes can be found on www.vta.org/servicereductions. The new web page includes
a system map and a light rail transit map, specific route changes, and a
Frequently Asked Questions link. VTA’s service reduction will be in effect
beginning Monday, January 11, 2010.
The Bourbon County, Kan.,
Commissioners are working hard to get signals installed at a dangerous railroad
crossing, The Fort Scott Tribune reports. Since earlier this summer, the
commission has been working on getting signals installed at the railroad
crossing on 225th Street, one-quarter of a mile south of Hammond.
Levelland,
Texas, City and Economic Development officials recently broke ground on an $8.6-million
industrial rail park to be built in the 12,866-population town.
As part of the
Patrick-Murray Administration’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval
Patrick joined Congressman John Olver and local elected officials in Leominster,
Mass., to announce the groundbreaking of the first rail improvement project in
Massachusetts supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Metrolinx purchased from CN
the lower portion of the Newmarket Subdivision in central-north Toronto for
C$68 million. The transaction gives Metrolinx end-to-end ownership of the
60-mile-long Barrie-Bradford GO Train corridor between downtown Toronto and
Barrie, Ont. – a first for the government transit agency.
Stella-Jones Inc. has
signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Tangent Rail Corporation, a
provider of wood crosstie supply chain services to the railroad industry. This
acquisition will expand Stella-Jones’ capabilities within the U.S. railway tie
industry and provide the company with creosote manufacturing operations.
Tangent’s sales for the year ended December 31, 2009 are expected to reach
approximately US$175 million.
At the board meeting on
December 10, 2009, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board of
Directors authorized $5.8 million for the construction of Caltrain safety
improvements. These improvements include modifications to railroad crossing
gates, installation of guardrails, fencing, pedestrian gates, emergency swing gates,
sidewalk, crossing panels and tactile warning panels as well as grading
modifications to crossings within the Joint Powers Board owned segment (between
Sunnyvale and Palo Alto).
The final waiting period
has begun for the Final Environmental Impact Statement paperwork required for
the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal in Detroit, Crain’s Detroit Business
reports. The terminal project, between Wyoming and Livernois avenues south of
I-94, has a $445-million price tag in 2006 dollars (for the preferred
alternative) and is designed to consolidate train and trucking infrastructure.
