Metra’s massive
bridge-rebuilding project on the Union Pacific North Line between Chicago and
Kenosha, Wis., got off to a rough start August 23 as commuters got tangled in a
new train schedule complicated by crew mistakes, the Chicago Tribune reports. Delays
and confusion were common complaints as commuters crammed aboard trains, with
some riders inadvertently boarding late-running trains that didn’t make
expected stops.
John Gates Jr., a
successful businessman named August 19 as the new chairman of the Regional
Transportation Authority in the Chicago area, acknowledges he has a steep
learning curve ahead of him about buses and trains, but he intends to use his
financial expertise to bring more private-sector involvement into mass transit,
the Chicago Tribune reports.
Founded during the Great
Depression, and now smack in the middle of the Great Recession, Holland LP is
still on track and showing no signs of slowing, the Southtown Star reports. But
that should come as no surprise because that is exactly what Holland LP does
best – keep things, or more specifically, trains, on track.
The Chicago Metropolitan
Agency for Planning, or CMAP, has unveiled a transportation wish list that has
the Illinois 53 extension and its companion project, the Illinois 120 corridor,
at the top.
A Website for the 75th
Street Corridor Improvement Project (CIP) in the Chicago area has been launched that provides study
information and links to environmental documents, newsletters, project schedule
and upcoming public events.
Barrington, Ill., and other
communities and entities appealing aspects of Canadian National Railway’s
purchase of the Elgin, Eastern and Joliet Railway filed final briefs with the
U.S. Court of Appeals last week, the Barrington Courier Review reports. CN also
filed briefs, appealing certain aspects of the conditions for purchase set by
the federal government.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
announced more than $500 million for critical mass transit infrastructure
improvements throughout Illinois. The funding, provided through the Illinois
Jobs Now! capital construction program, will create and retain an estimated
18,000 jobs and improve traveler safety.
Amtrak is using $115
million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve
tracks, buildings and control systems in Chicago this construction season, as
part of a $1-billion construction program to fund capital projects designed to
rebuild critical infrastructure.
Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp. in
2008 was upheld by an appeals court, which rejected challenges by the Sierra
Club and Metra, the Chicago area commuter rail agency, local media report.
Construction begins next month on a $59 million railroad underpass in Downers Grove, Ill., at Belmont Road, one of the state’s most frequently blocked crossings, the Chicago Tribune reports.
America’s railroads honored
the industry’s safety achievements and celebrated railroads with the best
employee safety records at the annual E.H. Harriman Awards. According to the
Association of American Railroads (AAR), 2009 was the safest year ever for
railroads, with significant milestones achieved across the board in reduced
train accidents, employee casualties and grade crossing collisions
When people got off
Illinois Central trains on South Main Street in Rockford, Ill., during the
early 20th century, they were welcomed by a handsome station, a beautiful
garden, a quaint cottage atop a limestone bluff and the sound of water
cascading over a dam in Kent Creek, according to a column by Chuck Sweeny in
the Rockford Register Star.
Wheaton, Ill., officials
have endorsed permanently closing one of its streets at a rail crossing as part
of a $100-million plan to add new tracks and upgrades along the Union Pacific
line, the Chicago Tribune reports. The City Council approved a resolution
calling for closing the Chase Street crossing, just south of Wheaton College.
An unexpected about-face on
the route to be used for new Chicago-Dubuque Amtrak train service leaves Genoa-
and South Elgin-area leaders feeling bewildered, the Elgin Courier-News reports.
But the decision makes it more likely that a new Metra commuter service could
be set up in coming years from Elgin through Gilberts and Huntley to Belvidere
and Rockford.
Construction on the
Belmont Road underpass in Downers Grove, Ill., will resume in June with a
two-week closure of the street, according to the Downers Grove Reporter.
Lemont, Ill., officials
would like to see more commuter train service for residents this year, and
believe it is a real possibility, according to the Lemont Reporter. But a
number of things must happen first before the hope comes to fruition, including
increased signalization and additional bi-passes along the railroad line to
improve safety and ease freight congestion. There also is the construction of a
train station in Romeoville and the approval from the railway that owns the
tracks.
Illinois is already
investing to make way for a high-speed rail system expected to spread across
the Midwest and hasten commutes between its major cities, The Christian Science
Monitor reports. The projects are in preparation for the $2.6 billion President
Obama promised the Midwest in January to modernize its transportation network
with high-speed rail. That money is part of a larger $11-billion high-speed
rail package made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
A $133-million federal
stimulus project to build a railroad "flyover" at the Metra, Amtrak
and freight tracks in Englewood on Chicago’s south side will untie a knot in
the nation’s rail system and make way for high-speed rail, government and rail
officials said Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Vice President Joe Biden
and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced funding for 191 new
Recovery Act transit projects in 42 states and Puerto Rico that will help
transform the nation’s infrastructure and support thousands of jobs across the
country. In making the over $600 million in new awards, the Federal Transit
Administration met an aggressive deadline to award 100 percent of its Recovery
Act transit formula dollars by March 5.
On
March 5, Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-Ill) joined House Transportation &
Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and IDOT Secretary Gary Hannig for
the groundbreaking on the Englewood Flyover, which is now expected to begin
this year thanks to $133 million in new federal funding.
