Various construction crews
are working on the last 13 miles of railroad track in the New Mexico Rail
Runner Express corridor replacing the train’s current system of signals with a
new Centralized Traffic Control System. The CTC will assist train dispatchers
in moving trains more efficiently, thus enhancing the safety of the corridor
while also improving on-time performance for the New Mexico Rail Runner
Express.
A rail project set to start
construction In November will let the Port of Vancouver better handle long
trains and reduce delays as it loads and unloads cargo, port officials say. The
Terminal 5 project, currently out to bid, will add nearly seven miles of track
on recently acquired port property, the Daily Journal of Commerce reports.
Los Angeles Metro will hold five
community meetings in October to update the community on the findings of the
Alternative Analysis Study for the Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor. The
study, launched in September 2008, is examining potential transit service along
the Metro-owned Harbor Subdivision.
WVCO
Railroad Division has recently earned praise in the UK. The company’s best
selling product, SpikeFast,
won first place in the "Change Challenge Cup," a competition put on by Platform magazine.
(The following editorial
appeared on the Charleston Daily Mail Website.)
Americans have read a lot
of negative news in the past few years about the economy of the nation they love.
It would be easy to become discouraged and pessimistic.
An independent panel of
rail transit safety experts has concluded that the new Metro Gold Line to East
Los Angeles has been designed and built to operate safely. The report comes as
Metro continues testing trains and training operators for service, which is
expected to begin this fall on an extension of the Metro Gold Line, which now
connects downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.
The village and Robert E.
Hamilton Consulting Engineers recently hosted an open house for the public to
review information concerning the designation of a "quiet zone" along
the Canadian National Railway tracks in Frankfort, Ill., according to the Joliet
Herald News.
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.
