Search Results for: light rail

Metro rehabing Franconia-Springfield parking garage






The parking garage at the
Franconia-Springfield Metrorail station in the Washington, D.C., area at the
end of the Blue Line will undergo a major rehabilitation project beginning October
1, resulting in the temporary loss of up to 220 parking spaces during the 18-
to 20-month project. 

The garage rehabilitation will take place in 12 phases
and includes concrete, structural and electrical repairs of the 12-year-old
facility, which opened in June 1997. Throughout the course of the rehabilitation
project, approximately 220 of the 5,069 parking spaces will be unavailable.

Billings, Mont., businesses, residents hail new quiet zone






Lynda Frost, a
spokeswoman for Montana Rail Link, said trains traveling through downtown
Billings, Mont., were supposed to stop sounding their horns Sept. 18, one
minute after midnight, according to The Gazette. And those are some big horns,
emitting blasts of 96 to 110 decibels, as per federal regulations. A subway
train, at a distance of 200 feet, registers at about 95 decibels, while 110
decibels is comparable to a power saw three feet away.

Park Forest, Ill., CN reach agreement






The village of Park Forest,
Ill., and Canadian National Railway have reached an agreement on mitigation
measures related to CN’s recent acquisition of the old EJ&E Railroad, but
not all residents are happy with the deal, the Southtown Star reports.The Park Forest Village
Board approved the agreement, under which CN will give the village more than $7
million to help with traffic congestion, noise, and other issues stemming from
the EJ&E deal.

SEPTA ‘Elebrates’ end of project






SEPTA is celebrating the
end of an historic project – the reconstruction of the Market-Frankford
Subway-Elevated Line. A fixture of mass transit in the region, SEPTA’s busiest
and oldest heavy rail line has been fully modernized through a series of
initiatives.

Montreal adds elevators at two 2 – Orange line stations






The Société de transport
de Montréal said Lionel-Groulx and Berri-UQAM métro stations are now equipped
with elevators to reach the lower platform levels. As such, the STM is
providing better access to all clients traveling along the Orange line,
particularly those with functional limitations. The installation of elevators
in these two stations, in addition to Cartier, De La Concorde and Montmorency
stations, now brings the number of accessible stations on the Orange line up to
five. Henri-Bourassa, Bonaventure and Côte-Vertu stations will also be equipped
with elevators by early 2011.

Progress seen in LA train safety efforts, but there’s more to be done






One year after 25 people
died in a violent head-on collision between a Los Angeles Metrolink passenger
train and freight train, officials have cobbled together more than $74 million
to pay for an automatic train-stopping system along Southern California tracks
to keep it from happening again, The Riverside, Calif., Press-Enterprise
reports. Though they are pleased with the progress, a lot of ground remains to
be covered to meet a self-imposed 2012 deadline to install such a system on
passenger train routes.

 

Park Forest, Ill., CN appear ready to finalize agreement






By now, those of us who
usually drive between Sauk Trail and Indianwood Boulevard on Orchard Drive in
Park Forest have found new ways to get from here to there, according to a
column by Jerry Schnay in the Southtown Star. The village is replacing sewer
pipes in the area, the start of a three-year project that will eventually
result in the complete renovation of Orchard Drive, including a center turn
lane north of Lakewood Boulevard and two left-turn lanes at the intersection of
U.S. 30 at the north end of town.

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.

PB providing CM services for CTA Blue Line






The
Chicago Transit Authority has awarded a construction management contract to
Parsons Brinckerhoff for a rail replacement and tunnel rehabilitation project
on the system’s Blue Line subway, which connects the downtown business district
with O’Hare International Airport.

D.C. Metro details work to be done during station closures






Starting Sept. 4, at 9:30
p.m., until closing (midnight) on Sept. 7, Metro will undertake a complete
track overhaul on the Blue and Yellow lines that will close the Pentagon City,
Crystal City and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Metrorail stations.
Customers using the Blue and Yellow lines should add 45 minutes to their travel
plans to transfer to a free shuttle bus to get past the affected work area.

FEC’s proposed 200-foot tower stirs opposition in Jupiter, Fla.

The Florida East Coast
Railway wants to build a radio tower twice as tall as the Jupiter Lighthouse
about a football field from Bob Culpepper’s front door on Park Street, the Palm
Beach Post reports. And the former Jupiter mayor and nearby residents on the
north side of the Loxahatchee River are none too happy about it.

BNSF to begin Montana river clean-up

The Environmental
Protection Agency has ordered BNSF to begin removing contaminated sediments in
the upper reach of the Whitefish River by Sept. 25, the Whitefish Pilot
reports. The order follows a finding that the company is responsible for the
river contamination under the Oil Pollution Act, said David Romero, an on-scene
coordinator from the EPA’s Region 8 office in Denver. Romero said he informed
BNSF of the finding in March.

L.A. mayor wants subway work sped up

As workers finished
exploratory drilling for the planned Westside subway extension, Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other elected officials said they want to speed
up construction of the $4.1-billion transit project, which has been scheduled
for completion in 2036, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Houston METRO receives design approval for North, Southeast lines

The Federal Transit
Administration gave METRO permission today to enter into Final Design on
Houston’s North and Southeast light-rail lines. The FTA’s approval is the final
prerequisite toward entering Full Funding Grant Agreements on both lines, which
signals the federal government’s commitment to fund its part of the projects.

 

CN: Train fears not a reality

Where are all the trains? When
Canadian National Railway won federal approval to buy the EJ&E line for
$300 million in December, suburbs worried about the effects of heavy freight
traffic, the Plainfield, Ill., Sun reports.

 

NS soothes pangs over new Alabama Hub

Railroad and economic
development officials are laying tracks to school leaders in hopes of
addressing concerns at McAdory Elementary School that threaten to derail a $112
million Norfolk Southern intermodal hub, the Birmingham News reports.

 

EJ&E merger foes prep for next battle

One appeal of a
controversial railway sale was denied this week, clearing the way for another
— this one in federal court, according to the Fox Valley Villages Sun. On
August 5, the federal Surface Transportation Board rejected an appeal by the
Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC objected to Canadian National Railway
Company’s $300-million purchase of the suburban Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail
line, which the STB approved in December.


Portions of Boush and Bute streets close in Norfolk

Boush and Bute streets are scheduled for partial closures beginning July 21, according to the Norfolk, Va., Department of Public Works. For the next seven days, the closures will take place so that utility work may be done in preparation for light-rail construction. This is the first of two phases of work set to occur in the area.