One year to the day after
President Obama signed the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into
law, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will announce Recovery Act awards
to states, tribal governments, cities, counties and transit agencies across the
country to fund 51 innovative transportation projects.
BART has received FTA
Administrator Peter Rogoff’s letter stating that the FTA has rejected BART’s
plan to meet the FTA’s standards of full compliance with Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act. This letter cites no substantive deficiencies in BART’s latest
draft action plan to correct Title VI deficiencies identified in a December
2009 audit. Instead, the basis of the FTA Administrator’s rejection rests
solely on the fact that BART’s plan contains a timetable with an end date
beyond September 30, 2010-the deadline for awarding stimulus fund grants.
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates face a
roadblock on the route toward payoff on their investment in U.S. freight
transportation, Bloomberg reports. Chicago, whose railroads made it hog butcher
for the world a century ago, is a tangle of bottlenecks where a quarter of the
nation’s rail freight stalls while trying to navigate the city.
The city of Winter Haven,
Fla., is moving forward on the Integrated Logistics Center to be developed in
conjunction with the CSX Intermodal Terminal planned for the southern portion
of the city, The News Chief reports. The planning commission discussed during a
workshop Feb. 2 a change in future land use from Institutional-2 as designated
by Polk County to industrial-business park center for the approximately 932
acres. The city annexed the property in 2005 but didn’t assign a land use
designation or zoning.
Balfour Beatty Rail has
taken delivery of an Amberg Technologies GRP Track
Measurement System. The
system was purchased from Amberg’s North American distribution partner, the Kara Company of
Countryside, Ill. Widely used throughout the rail industries of Europe, Asia
and many other parts of the world, the GRP track measurement system is the most
advanced technology available in its class, Amberg notes, and just recently
made available in North America.
The commission for the Bay
Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency voted 11 to 5
to keep $70 million in Stimulus funds with the Oakland Airport Connector Project.
However, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will revisit the issue at a
special February 17 meeting.
The Illinois
Commerce Commission has granted approval for safety improvements at five grade
crossings around the state. ICC OKed the installation of new automatic flashing
light signals and gates and roadway approach grade improvements at the N. 9th
Avenue highway-rail grade crossing of Norfolk Southern track near Litchfield,
Montgomery County The total estimated cost for the new automatic warning
devices is $280,806. The Grade Crossing Protection Fund will be used to pay 95 percent
of the signal installation costs, not to exceed $266,766. NS will pay all remaining
installation costs, as well as all future operating and maintenance costs
related to the new automatic warning devices. All work is to be completed by Jan.
6, 2011.
BART has received the
Federal Transit Administration’s letter asking for further analysis of the
Oakland Airport Connector project’s impact on minority communities under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over the past decade, BART has diligently
worked with the FTA to meet all its requirements and as a result, the FTA has
consistently signed off on every aspect of the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC).
In fact, as recently as December, the FTA informed BART it had approved the
project for what’s called "pre-award authority" to continue advancing
the project. It also invited BART to complete the steps to secure award of $25
million in federal New Starts funding and award of $70 million in Stimulus
funds. At the time, there was no mention that additional documentation was
needed.
Kansas City-based
TranSystems said that Michael J. Sweeney, P.E., has joined the company’s New
York City office as National Transit Market Sector Leader/Vice President in
support of the firm’s passenger rail and transit group. Sweeney has extensive
experience working on the largest and most complex rail/transportation projects
in the United States.
(This editorial appeared January 14
in The Michigan Daily.) Any new infrastructure that will help the environment,
students or the economy is an opportunity that should be taken advantage of.
And a new construction plan funded by the federal government encompasses all
three of these categories. The new public transportation – a railroad that will
run between Ann Arbor and Detroit with stops in the neighboring areas – will
benefit students and residents as they move between Ann Arbor and Detroit, for
business and pleasure, without excessive cost. This new route of transportation
is easy, cheap and environmentally-friendly and officials from both cities
should do everything possible to ensure that the plans come to fruition.
Portec
Rail Products, Inc., said that it has increased its expansion into China as the
company recently received new customer orders for its Fault Detection and
Friction Management product groups from China. Portec Rail has had a steadily‐growing
presence in China for its Friction Management
products, and has now penetrated the Chinese market with its Fault Detection product
group.
As the result of growing
and anticipated demand for passenger rail service to Castleton State College
and Lake Bomoseen, Amtrak and the Vermont Agency of Transportation said that
state-supported Ethan Allen Express trains will make twice daily stops at the
recently renovated Castleton, Vt., station beginning January 2, 2010. The
southbound Ethan Allen Express, train #292 scheduled to arrive Saturday at
11:02 a.m., will be the first train to officially stop at the station.
The Illinois Commerce
Commission has granted approval for the installation of automatic flashing
light signals and gates and highway approach grade improvements at the 160th
Street crossing of BNSF track located near Galesburg, Warren County. The
estimated cost to install the new automatic flashing light signals and gates is
$518,729. The Grade Crossing
Protection Fund will pay 95 percent of the warning device installation costs,
not to exceed $492,793. BNSF will
pay the remaining warning device installation costs, as well as all future
operating and maintenance costs.
The struggling Bay Area economy just received a big boost thanks to the BART Board, whose vote also means BART customers will finally have a swift, world-class train-to-plane connection between the Coliseum BART Station and the Oakland Airport. After two decades of planning and debate, the Board of Directors voted seven to one to award California-based Flatiron/Parsons Joint Venture the contract to design and build the 3.2-mile automated people mover. The Board also voted seven to one to award Doppelmayr Cable Car, Inc., the contract to operate and maintain the connector once built.
Thirty-nine freight rail companies and users can make upgrades and expand capacity with a $24.5-million state investment from PennDOT’s Rail Freight Capital Budget/Transportation Assistance and Rail Freight Assistance Programs, Governor Edward G. Rendell said.
The American Society of Civil Engineers named the five finalists for the 2010 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement. Established in 1960, the OCEA program recognizes projects for their contribution to the well-being of people and communities, their resourcefulness in planning and design challenges, and their innovative use of materials and techniques.
The Association of American Railroads today released the 2009 edition of Railroad Facts – the premier industry reference book. Railroad Facts contains more than 80 pages of facts and statistics for 2008, as well as historical data on critical aspects of railroad business, including: finance, operations, plant and equipment, employment and compensation, fuel consumption and costs. Railroad Facts contains a profile of each Class I railroad, Amtrak, the two major Canadian railroads and the two largest Mexican railways.
Copies of the publication are available for non-AAR members for $20.00 for one copy; $17.00 per copy for two to ten copies; and $15.00 per copy for orders over 10 copies. The cost for AAR members is $5.00 per copy. To order copies of the book, visit the AAR web site at www.aar.org and go to Resources – Publications – Online catalog.
Norfolk Southern has joined
the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit, membership-based organization
committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for the nation through
cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.
Matthew K. Rose, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, has been named 2010 Railroader of the Year by Railway Age.
Matt Rose is Railway Age’s 47th Railroader of the Year.
Modern Railroads magazine founded the award, one of the most
prestigious in the railroad industry, in 1964 as the “Man of the Year.”
Railway Age acquired Modern Railroads in 1991 and has presented
the award annually since then. Rose will be honored on March 16, 2010,
at Chicago’s Union League Club. He is the first BNSF recipient since
1996, when Santa Fe’s Robert D. Krebs and Burlington Northern’s Gerald
Grinstein were selected for their role in bringing the two western
Class I railroads together.
Railway Age will tell the story of Matt Rose and the remarkable
organization he leads at BNSF with a cover story in the magazine’s
January 2010 issue.
For more information, visit www.railwayage.com.
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.
