NM Rail Runner Express completes Lobo Special Events Platform






The New Mexico Rail Runner
Express is ready to open its Lobo Special Events Platform. More than a year
ago, the University of New Mexico and the Mid-Region Council of Governments
collaborated on an idea to create a special events platform for Lobo Athletics.
The MRCOG then worked with the governor and legislators to procure an
additional half-million dollars in funding, and UNM matched that funding with
another half-million dollars.

NJ TRANSIT slates track work on Pascack Valley Line






Beginning the week of
Sept. 14, NJ TRANSIT will adjust weekday midday service on the Pascack Valley
Line to accommodate necessary track work. NJ TRANSIT crews will make priority
repairs to the Essex Street grade crossing in Hackensack to address damage to
the crossing caused by a motor vehicle. While the track is out of service, NJ
TRANSIT will also perform regular track maintenance on the line.


Illinois high-speed rail plan must benefit all






(The following editorial appeared
in the Springfield, Ill., State Journal-Register.)

We are profoundly hopeful
that today’s Illinois high-speed rail summit in Chicago can bring about a plan
in which this state can have a good shot at federal funds for a Chicago-St.
Louis route without severely damaging this community’s quality of life and
future economic growth. But based on recent correspondence between Union
Pacific and local officials, Union Pacific is going to need a fairly drastic
attitude adjustment if that is to happen. So far, the railroad’s attitude has
been that Springfield needs to quit complaining about its plans because our
objections might jeopardize the state’s shot at $2 billion-plus in federal
stimulus money for high-speed rail. It has been abetted in this attitude by the
Illinois Department of Transportation.

New VIA Rail station for Cobourg, Ontario






At a ceremony in Cobourg,
Ontario, Northumberland-Quinte West MP Rick Norlock, Mayor Peter Delanty and
John Marginson, VIA Rail Canada’s Chief Operating Officer, said VIA plans a new
station with improved and expanded facilities. VIA estimates that it will
invest as much as C$7 million for the new station and related improvements from
recent capital funding for VIA announced by the Government of Canada. C$1
million of the project’s cost will come from the government’s Economic Action
Plan.







PATCO road work to begin at 6 New Jersey stations






PATCO is set to
embark on a three-month project to both repave the roadway and repair concrete
curbs for the access roads at six PATCO Stations in New Jersey. Work is
scheduled to begin on September 14 at the Lindenwold Station, with work then proceeding
west to Ashland, Haddonfield, Westmont, Collingswood and Ferry Avenue. At times
the roadwork will require some traffic pattern changes at the Stations.

New UP siding under construction in Missouri






The Union Pacific sidetrack
is under construction west of California, Mo., in the vicinity of Elkhorn
Crossing, the California Democrat reports. When completed in December 2009, the
9,000-foot rail side track will allow two trains to pass, adding capacity and
reducing delays for both rail freight shipments and the Amtrak Missouri River
Runner trains between Kansas City and St. Louis.

Norman, Okla., underpass project cost will increase







Design changes being
mandated by a railroad company will increase the cost of building an underpass
at the Robinson Street crossing in Norman, Okla., by about $1.4 million, city
officials say, according to The Oklahoman. Public Works Director Shawn O’Leary
said the city hopes to use stimulus money to cover most of the increased cost
of the now $26 million project.

 

Open house for Kinston, N.C., railroad improvement






For two hours Sept. 10,
city and railroad officials made themselves available to answer questions
regarding a nine-month train track realignment between Mitchell and North
Independence streets as they host an open house in downtown Kinston, N.C.,
local newspapers report.

Port starts repair work on Oregon rail line






The Oregon International
Port of Coos Bay will begin repairs this week on a series of tunnels whose
deterioration led to the September 2007 closure of the 110-mile Coos Bay line
formerly operated by Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, The News-Review in Roseburg, Ore.,
reports. The work is the first stage of a rehabilitation project to get the
rail line back in operational shape. Officials hope the line could be running
again by the second or third quarter of next year.

Railroad relents on Illinois platform, tower project







Union Pacific railroad
officials responded to Braeside neighborhood residents’ concerns and agreed to
move the massive platform and communications tower being built next to the
railroad tracks on the south east side of Highland Park, Ill., Pioneer Press
reports. City leaders requested a meeting with the railroad company after a
group of residents attended the Aug. 24 City Council meeting and spoke against
the construction that created an unsightly streetscape along the once heavily
tree-lined railway.

CTA approves cameras for all train stations






The CTA moved to equip all
144 rail stations with security cameras, the Chicago Tribune reports. The
agency’s board approved a $4.3-million contract with Teleste Corp. of
Georgetown, Texas, to install cameras and related equipment.

Gov. Doyle unveils Southeast Wisconsin regional transit proposal






Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle revealed
a framework of a proposal crafted with legislators from southeastern Wisconsin
on a plan to improve bus and rail service in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine
through a Regional Transit Authority, according to The Business Journal of
Milwaukee. The proposal would give Milwaukee County the authority to raise
local sales taxes by 0.5 percent to fund local transit and a commuter rail
line.

 

SEPTA begins work on Route 102 trolley






SEPTA began a massive
overhaul Sept. 8 of the Route 102 Sharon Hill Line-the first phase of various
improvements of two trolley lines funded with $34 million in federal stimulus
grants, the Delaware County Daily Times reports.

MTA Metro-North renews study of Penn Station access






MTA Metro-North Railroad
is streamlining its study of how best to provide direct train service from its
New Haven and Hudson lines into Penn Station in New York City via the east
Bronx and Manhattan’s West Side. An environmental review began a decade ago
with the intent of developing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a
"Preferred Alternative" pursuant to the National Environmental
Protection Act. Through two screening processes, an initial list of 22 service
alternatives was narrowed to four "Build" alternatives, two
alternatives for Hudson Line service to Penn Station and two alternatives for
New Haven Line service to Penn Station.

B.H.I.T., Inc., acquires The Wood Energy Group






B.H.I.T., Inc., a publicly
traded
railroad support services company headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., has acquired 100 percent of
the equity securities of The Wood Energy Group, Inc. for $6.4 million, plus
customary closing adjustments.

Los Angeles Metrolink struggles with reforms






As the anniversary of the
Sept. 12 Chatsworth train disaster approaches, officials with Southern
California’s sprawling commuter rail service are facing a vexing array of
technical, financial and potential legal challenges as they struggle to deliver
on pledges of trailblazing safety reforms, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Fight imperils high-speed rail in Illinois






Springfield, Ill.,
officials’ public fight against additional train traffic along the Third Street
corridor could derail the entire plan to provide high-speed rail service
between Springfield and Chicago, a vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad
told the State Journal-Register. Alternatively, railroad vice president John
Rebensdorf warned in an Aug. 28 letter to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the
railroad could carry out its plans unilaterally, and Springfield could "become
the bottleneck of the new high speed passenger rail route."

"

Celebrating 100 years of Canada’s Spiral Tunnels






Canadian Pacific and the
Royal Ontario Museum celebrated the 100th birthday of the Burgess Shale and the
Spiral Tunnels – two national icons in Yoho National Park of Canada. 1909 marked a year of
incredible discovery and an awe-inspiring engineering marvel leading to 100 years of successful railway operations through Kicking Horse Pass in
Yoho National Park.