The Chicago Transit Authority Board
voted to adopt the locally preferred alternatives proposed for the Red, Orange
and Yellow Line extension projects. Following the steps required by the Federal
Transit Administration in order to apply for funding, the CTA studied all of
the potential options available for each of the projects, and has narrowed it
down to one viable option for each proposed extension.
Funding for two area
bridge projects is now in place, according to state Sen. James Seward,
R-Milford, local newspapers report. Work is expected to begin shortly on both
the Pony Farm Road Bridge in Oneonta, N.Y., and the Brooker Hollow Road Bridge
in East Worcester, N.Y., Seward said in a media release. The projects each have an
estimated cost of about $600,000.
Renovations to the Amtrak
and Virginia Railway Express train station in Fredericksburg, Va., are planned
to begin in spring 2010, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reports. Federal
funds set aside by Virginia 1st District Rep. Jo Ann Davis before her death in
2007 are waiting to be applied to the project. It will improve the appearance
and structure of the railroad overpasses that cross Caroline and Princess Anne
streets.
Jim Coston is betting
that the billions of federal dollars aimed at a high-speed rail system could
reassert Chicago’s place as the nation’s rail center — and jump-start his
attempt to resurrect a business that flourished here a century ago: building
passenger rail cars Crain’s Chicago Business reports.
The historic train depot at
West Fifth and Orange streets in Chico, Calif., will see a pair of improvements
due to federal and local projects, the Chico Enterprise Record reports.
Amtrak will use $509,000 in
federal stimulus dollars to build a 550-foot concrete platform along the
railroad tracks. The city of Chico is planning to use up to $150,000 in city
transportation funds to rebuild the wooden deck that runs around the northern
part of the depot building.
Stimulus funding that the
Tomah, Wis., Amtrak Station is slated to receive will be used to construct a
handicap boarding ramp, the Tomah Journal reports.
The Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey released its latest quarterly milestone report announcing
that it has met 19 of 20 second-quarter 2009 rebuilding milestones. Milestones
for the second quarter included: the installation of more than 2,400 tons of
steel for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the equivalent of 20
Statues of Liberty; the installation of 1,250 cubic yards of concrete – the
equivalent of six miles of New York City sidewalk – bringing the plaza and main
entrance of One World Trade Center to street level; and, competitively bid one
of the largest and most critical work packages for the World Trade Center
Transportation Hub.
Provide more reliable
rail service. Eventually produce faster travel times. That’s exactly what the
Missouri Department of Transportation seeks to do in making applications for a
portion of $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding set
aside for high-speed rail development.
South-side residents and business owners say they don’t want any part of a proposed two-mile-long railroad trench that would run east-west near downtown Fort Worth, saying it would effectively cut them off from downtown, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports.
To relieve the notorious Tower 55 train gridlock in Fort Worth, Texas, one of the nation’s biggest railroads wants to dig a 1.5-mile-long trench and submerge its tracks as they run through a commercial and residential area south of downtown, according to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. The east-west trench proposed by Union Pacific would roughly parallel Vickery Boulevard from Eighth Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway and require buying of 15 properties, partial purchase of 15 more and moving 16 residences and businesses.
Greg Nazarow was named a vice president with Gannett Fleming, an international planning, design, and construction management firm. Nazarow serves as a senior rail operations analyst with Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems, a division of Gannett Fleming specializing in transit and railroad track, signal, communication, and electric traction design.
Prince Rupert’s ship has finally come in, but it was expected 100 years ago, the Daily Commercial News reports. In 1909 this port in northern British Columbia was being groomed to become a major transportation hub and a large, vibrant city. Although it has the deepest, ice-free harbor in the world, it was a large iceberg that crushed that Prince Rupert dream.
CN is developing a fast-growing business supplying jet fuel to airlines serving Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport. The effectiveness of CN’s rail pipeline for jet fuel to Pearson prompted the construction of a C$65-million new Jet Fuel Rail Offloading, Storage and Distribution Facility near the airport, adjacent to CN’s Malport rail yard in northwest Toronto. On July 21, CN and airline and supplier representatives celebrated the official opening of the terminal.
Metropolitan Planning Organization members approved spending $25,000 in hopes of eventually gaining millions to relocate about seven miles of Norfolk Southern tracks in Colbert County, Ala., local newspapers report. The board hired engineering firm Barge Wagner Sumner & Cannon to prepare a grant application that, if approved, would fund the estimated $80-million relocation project. Funds would come from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program. The federal program is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
City and county officials have discussed the need to relocate the tracks away from high-traffic areas in the county. Some city officials say delays and safety concerns created by the railroads tracks have stifled economic development opportunities and are causing stores to lose business. MPO member and Tuscumbia Mayor Bill Shoemaker, who is a former Alabama Department of Transportation engineer, said the railroad relocation discussion has been going on for about two decades.
The most recent cost estimate for relocating railroad tracks that wind through Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals is about $80 million. Before the recovery act was approved, local governments had no means of paying for the project.
Jesse Turner, director of Transportation Planning for the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments, said the $25,000 includes a $5,000 match from Colbert County, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals. He said the relocation project must be approved by the Alabama Department of Transportation.
The federal program, which is known as TIGER, makes $1.5 billion available for large road and bridge projects, passenger and rail freight, public transportation and port infrastructure. Allen Teague, a preconstruction engineer with the Alabama Department of Transportation, said the state plans to submit five projects to be considered for a TIGER grant.
At a ceremony at Toronto’s Union Station, the Government of Canada and VIA announced C$300 million dollars in support for the largest-ever improvement and investment program in the 153-year history of passenger rail service between Montreal and Toronto: VIA’s Canadian National Kingston Subdivision Project.??Totaling more than C$300 million, VIA’s CN Kingston Subdivision Project is a series of infrastructure improvements at eight locations along the 539-kilometer (334-mile), double-track rail line. It will boost capacity by eliminating bottlenecks and greatly reducing delay-causing conflicts between VIA passenger and CN freight trains.
Phase I of the project will allow for the addition of two daily roundtrip frequencies on VIA’s busy Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa routes. The latter operates over the Kingston Subdivision between Toronto and Brockville.
VIA’s CN Kingston Subdivision Project is part of an unprecedented C$923 million investment by the Government of Canada in passenger rail renewal and expansion. Of this amount, C$407 million is under the government’s Economic Action Plan.
Other elements of VIA’s program include expanded, fully-accessible station facilities at strategic locations on the Montreal-Toronto route, major infrastructure and station upgrading on other routes, accessibility projects for travelers with special needs and the complete rebuilding of service-proven locomotives and rolling stock. The program will benefit rail travelers across the entire VIA transcontinental system, from Halifax to Vancouver Island.
Highlights of VIA’s CN Kingston Subdivision Project include: construction of additional (third) main line track to enable VIA and CN trains to pass or overtake each other safely and quickly; extensions to sidings and yard tracks to allow CN freight trains to exit and clear the main line when required; and- other track and signal improvements to smooth the flow of VIA passenger and CN freight traffic, assuring consistent on-time performance for both.
Work on VIA’s CN Kingston Subdivision Project will begin this summer and wrap up in 2011. To date, CN has hired 100 track and signal workers for its portion of the work, which will be performed under contract with VIA. Additional jobs will be created throughout the two-year span of the project within both CN and other private sector companies participating in this project.
The celebration will include a display of about 45 North American Rail Car Operators Association motorcars during an open house at the Harsco facility in Fairmont. The 45 restored cars were originally built at the Fairmont plant and shipped to railroads around the United States and Canada.
THE Hanza Rail Team consortium of Alstom and Dutch partners
Volker Rail, Strukton Rail, and Arcadis, has signed a Euros 170 million
contract to install track, catenary, and signalling on the 50km Hanzelijn
between Lelystad and Zwolle, Netherlands.
