Citing a overwhelming number of applications, the Federal Railroad Administration has made a change to the ARRA (American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) high speed rail grant program,
announcing that it expects to award grants this winter, rather than in several rounds.
BNSF opened its Memphis
Intermodal Facility for an advance look by members of its customer advisory
board. The more than $200-million expansion is in its final phases of work.
When fully operational in 2010, the expanded facility will have double the
capacity, reduce emissions and improve air quality. The BNSF Memphis Intermodal
Facility spans 185 acres and will have the capacity to handle one million lifts
per year at full build out.
L.B. Foster Co.
has won a $2.7-million contract to supply rail fasteners, trackwork and new
rail to the Allegheny County Port Authority Light Rail System’s 1.2-mile North
Shore Connector. Then new light rail corridor will travel in two bored tunnels
beneath the Allegheny River to connect Pittsburgh’s city center (Gateway Subway
Station) with North Shore neighborhoods.
As part of his
Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor
Patrick said the Salem commuter parking facility would move forward thanks to a
full funding commitment from the state.
Opening a new rail gateway
for double-stacked containers is taking place across southern West Virginia 20
grueling feet at a time, according to the Charleston Daily Mail. Every weekday,
Norfolk Southern shuts down a portion of its main line between the East Coast
and the Midwest so crews can raise the roofs in the line’s tunnels.
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood had a simple message for the Florida Senate: Get behind
the planned SunRail commuter train in Central Florida, or forget about the
state winning $2.5 billion in federal money for a high-speed train linking
Orlando with Tampa, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Pennsylvania has applied
for $3.1 billion in federal stimulus funds to build high-speed railroad
projects, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Continuing its pursuit of a
portion of the $8 billion available through the ARRA High Speed Intercity
Passenger Rail Program, the Washington State Department of Transportation
applied for more than $1.3 billion in ARRA stimulus funds for the Pacific
Northwest Rail Corridor.
Helping freight trains move
quicker and reducing the time motorists spend waiting for trains to pass are
goals of a $26-million federally funded project announced Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times
reports. Plans were unveiled to add a third main rail line over about three
miles in Blue Island and Alsip, Ill., easing congestion in the busy south
suburban corridor.
The imminent reactivation
of an old railroad route through Gastonia could mean that one or more local
street crossings will be closed to vehicular traffic, the Gaston Gazette
reports. The state-run N.C. Rail Co. wants to eliminate two crossings to reduce
safety concerns and avoid the cost of installing safety devices along the old
Piedmont and Northern railway.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s
Northwest Corridor to Irving/DFW Final Environmental Impact Statement is the
recipient of the Federal Transit Administration’s Outstanding Achievement Award
for Excellence in Environmental Document Preparation. The FEIS provided the
environmental clearances for the first nine miles of the Orange Line extending
from Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Belt Line Station near DFW
International Airport.
Three members of the
Massachusetts Congressional delegation are renewing and amplifying the call for
greater construction oversight of Pan Am Railways’ rail-to-truck auto
distribution yard off Willow Road in Ayer, Mass., local newspapers report.
The future ain’t what it
used to be. Back in 1930, the movie "Just Imagine" dreamed of the
world of 1980, when everyone has a flying car. Other sci-fi scenarios pictured
personal jet packs and individual transit "pods" gliding along
monorails, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Union Pacific and Progress
Rail Services said that the ultra-clean diesel PR30C-LoNOx locomotive being
tested in intermediate line haul service has successfully achieved more than
500 operational hours. The locomotive — powered by a 3516 Caterpillar engine
— has been retrofitted with a state-of-the-art after-treatment system, making
it one of the cleanest locomotives operating in the United States.
There was something poetic
about the pouring rain when Union Pacific and Iowa state officials gathered Oct.
1 to dedicate the new Kate Shelley Bridge across the Des Moines River west of
Boone, Iowa, The Omaha World Herald reports. It was, of course, a stormy night
when the young teenager crawled across a rickety bridge in the dark and rain to
stop a train filled with hundreds of passengers from plunging into a creek. That
was 1881.
Passenger-rail giant Amtrak
has selected a site at the end of Malaga Street, across U.S. 1 and north and
west of the Main Fire Station in St. Augustine, Fla., as the site where a new
railroad passenger terminal should be built, local media report.
RailComm has provided a
wireless remote control yard system at CSX Transportation’s Tilford Yard in
Atlanta, Ga. The RailComm Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) System
remotely controls 17 GETS HydraSwitch machines and a crossing gate. RailComm’s
DOC® system is configured to control all switches individually as
well as provide eNtrance eXit (NX) routing functionality.
(Statement by APTA President
William Millar)
"The ‘Clean Energy Jobs and
American Power Act’ introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John
Kerry (D-Mass.) this week potentially offers important new funding to expand
access to public transportation and improve our daily travels while reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption. APTA supports their efforts to
move our nation toward a vibrant clean energy economy while controlling global
warming.
Sound Transit’s design
for a commuter rail line from Tacoma Dome Station to Lakewood is dividing city
leaders and residents and creating an election-season stir, according to the Tacoma
News Tribune. The debate is likely to erupt again when the Tacoma City Council
holds a public hearing on the master development agreement between Sound
Transit and the city. The council is expected to vote on the issue Oct. 13.
In the Washington, D.C.,
area, the Waterfront-SEU and Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Metrorail
stations will be closed, and the Green Line also will be closed at the L’Enfant
Plaza Metrorail station from 10:30 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 9, through Monday,
Oct. 12, with no service at these stations for three consecutive days. The Blue
and Orange Line at the L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station will not be affected.
Service will resume at all Metrorail stations on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
