Rail freight traffic reaches highest level this year






Freight traffic on U.S. railroads reached its highest level
so far this year during the week ended November 21, the Association of American
Railroads reports.

U.S. railroads reported originating 287,087 carloads for the
week, down 6.8 percent compared with the same week in 2008 and down .7 percent
from the same week in 2007. Volume was up 2.1 percent from the previous week
this year. In order to offer a complete picture of the progress in rail traffic,
AAR will now be reporting 2009 weekly rail traffic with year over comparisons
for both 2008 and 2007. Note that the comparison weeks from both 2007 and 2008
included the Thanksgiving Holiday.

In the West, carloads were down 8.8 percent compared with
the same week last year, and 4.8 percent compared with 2007. In the East,
carloads were down 3.8 percent compared with 2008, but up 6 percent compared
with the same week in 2007.

Intermodal traffic totaled 213,382 trailers and containers,
down 3.1 percent from a year ago but up 11.5 percent from 2007. Compared with
the same week in 2008, container volume rose 3.4 and trailer volume dropped
26.8 percent. Compared with the same week in 2007, container volume rose 19.4
percent and trailer volume dropped 16.6 percent. Intermodal traffic was up 2.6
percent from the previous week this year.

While 13 of the 19 carload freight commodity groups were
down compared with the same week last year, increases were seen in nonmetallic
minerals (26.5 percent), grain (8.1 percent), chemicals (8.1 percent), waste
and scrap metal (6.5 percent), grain mill products (6.4 percent) and food and
kindred products (.4 percent). Declines in commodity groups ranged from .3
percent for petroleum products to 22.1 percent for crushed stone, sand and
gravel.

Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending Nov. 21,
2009 was estimated at 32.1 billion ton-miles, down 6.1 percent compared with
the same week last year but up 4.9 percent from 2007.

For the first 46 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported
cumulative volume of 12,325,563 carloads, down 17.3 percent from 2008 and 18
percent from 2007; 8,801,968 trailers or containers, down 15.6 percent from
2008 and 17.9 percent from 2007, and total volume of an estimated 1.32 trillion
ton-miles, down 16.4 percent from 2008 and 16.5 percent from 2007.

MTA Chairman to re-open R/W Cortlandt Street Station






Years after it was closed for what was supposed to
be a six-month project, the Cortlandt Street subway station is partially
reopening Nov. 25, local media report. Northbound R and W trains will resume
service beginning around 3 p.m. that day. Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer Jay Walder and other elected officials will be on hand
for the station’s opening.


NCTD’S SPRINTER Rail Line wins national “Project of the Year” Award






North
County Transit District’s SPRINTER rail line in he San Diego area, Calif., area
has won the 2009 "Project of the Year" from the American Public Works
Association, an international professional association of public agencies and
private companies. APWA cited the SPRINTER as the Transportation Project of the
Year for projects valued over $75 million.

Chesapeake seeks to study joining light-rail line






The Chesapeake, Va., City
Council is curious about light rail and whether it could connect to Chesapeake,
the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports. So on Nov. 24, the council voted 8-0 to
pursue a federally funded study on the possibility of extending light-rail
service to the city.

the
governing body of HRT, take necessary steps towards getting the study approved
and funded.

Tinley Park studng new 80th Avenue Metra station design






Rebuilding Metra’s fourth
busiest stop, the 80th Avenue station in tinley Park, Ill.,, has been near the top of that suburb’s wish list for years, according to the Chicago Tribune. More than $7 million in
Metra, federal, state and local funding was budgeted for the station overhaul,
and Tinley Park officials had a host of things they wanted done.

Connector track promises fewer train delays






Greenville, N.C.,
officials will break ground on a railway connector track Nov. 30 that should
relieve the majority of traffic backups caused by the railroad switching
station, The Daily Reflector reports.  Vehicles are held up as often as three times daily on
Arlington Boulevard, 14th and Evans streets while trains change direction in
that area.

Freight trains will stop for cars






Unlike a normal railroad
grade crossing, at which cars must stop to let trains go by, the one proposed
for the rail spur leading into the Calverton Enterprise Park would be just the
opposite, the Riverhead, N.Y., Times Review reports. A freight train using the
spur would come to a complete stop prior to crossing River Road, a conductor
would get off and check for any cars, and would then signal the train to cross
the street.

Watco’s Boise Valley Railroad begins operations






Watco
Transportation Services, Inc., began operations of a new railroad, the Boise
Valley Railroad on November 23. Additional manpower and locomotive resources
were on hand to provide effective first day service on both the 11-mile Wilder
Branch and the 25-mile Boise Cut-off. Each job left the yard with more than 40
railcars.

Moffitt thankful he could help BNSF






Illinois State Rep. Don
Moffitt called Galesburg, Ill., "the crossroads of America," while delivering
the keynote address at the 31st annual Community Thanksgiving Luncheon,
according to The Register-Mail. Moffitt spoke of things for which he was
thankful. Topping the list was a vision to help BNSF as the foundation of
economic development in Galesburg.



Tri-Rail fund shortfall could end soon






A special lawmaking session
on high-speed and commuter rail inched closer as legislative leaders and the
governor said they are ready to tap surplus money in the transportation budget
rather than raise taxes on rental cars to help pay for the transit projects,
the Miami Herald reports. The surplus money — about $76 million over the next
two years — should be enough to help fill a hole in South Florida’s Tri-Rail
system.

New US 62/US 641 Tennessee River Bridge to open Nov. 25






The new US 62/US 641
Tennessee River Bridge below Kentucky Dam should be opened to traffic Nov. 25,
the West Kentucky Star reports. US 62 and US 641, which run concurrently
through the area, have been closed at the site since September 9 and traffic
detoured via Interstate 24 as the new bridge approaches were completed and
connected to existing highways.

Baltimore subway resumes regular weekend schedule






The Maryland Transit
Administration is advising Metro Subway customers of the completion of recent
track maintenance that had affected weekend service since mid-June. Customer
wait times for weekend trains have returned to the regular schedule of every 15
minutes on Saturdays and Sundays. Approximately one mile of the main line was
single-tracked throughout the four-month long maintenance project that was
completed this month. Weekday operation was not impacted.

D.C. Metro station a catalyst for economic development






Five years ago Nov. 23,
Metro, the District of Columbia and the New York Avenue partners opened the New
York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U Metrorail station on the Red Line. Since its
opening, ridership has climbed at the station each year and the station has
become a catalyst for economic development. 


V-DOT’s commissioner says region’s traffic problems can be solved with light rail






As traffic continues to
build up in Hampton Roads, Va., the money to add more roads or expand them is
drying up on the state and federal level. Virginia DOT doesn’t plan to give a
cent to local cities for road projects for the next six years. Virginia’s
Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer says drivers in Hampton Roads need to
look at alternative transportation like light rail.