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.
Members of Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 1555 voted to approve the four-year tentative agreement
that their leaders and BART negotiators reached on August 16.
New Jersey has applied for
federal funding to replace the 100-year-old, two-track bridge that carries
Northeast Corridor trains over the Hackensack River in the Meadowlands, the Philadelphia
Inquirer reports. Nearly 500 Amtrak and NJ Transit trains now use the swing
span, known as the Portal Bridge.
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter broke ground on a $9.3-million
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project to renovate the Elizabethtown,
Pa., Amtrak station.
MTA NYC Transit said that
beginning August 24 and continuing until November 13, 2009, there is no express
subway service on the 5 line between the 3rd Avenue/East 149th Street station
and the East 180th Street station. In addition, during the afternoon rush hour,
four of the northbound 5 trains that normally operate to the Nereid Avenue
station will terminate at East 180th Street. Customers traveling on these 5
trains will have to transfer to northbound 2 trains at East 180th Street or
other Nereid Avenue-bound 5 trains for stations on the White Plains Road line.
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.
Construction in downtown
Minneapolis continues as crews work on the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit extension
and the Northstar Commuter Rail station. Punchlist work continues at the
commuter stations in Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka and Coon Rapids. System testing
also continues as crews are testing both the Northstar train system and the LRT
extension.
The Los Angeles Metro Gold Line Foothill
Extension Construction Authority will host a workshop Sept. 15 to inform small
businesses about the more than $600 million in contracting opportunities
available during construction of the light-rail transit line from Pasadena to
Azusa. Presentations by Construction Authority Chief Executive Officer Habib
Balian and others will include information about the project, as well as the
opportunities for small businesses and a procurement schedule.
Joined by local elected
officials from Los Angeles County and nearby cities, Los Angeles City Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa said the completion of exploratory drilling in West Los
Angeles is a key part of the planning and environmental process for the
proposed Westside Subway Extension, a regionally beneficial Measure R
transportation project.
Peter Burling, chairman of
the Rail Transit Authority in New Hampshire, envisions a rail line running
between Boston and Concord, N.H., at speeds of up to 90 mph, the Concord
Monitor reports. The rail would carry Massachusetts shoppers to Nashua and
travelers to Manchester Airport. It would take sports fans to Celtics games and
workers to their jobs in Boston.
Denver’s Transportation
Expansion (T-REX) project, which opened to the public in November 2006, has
completed the final close-out on the project. The transit portion of the T-REX
project is being completed $3.7 million under budget. The Regional
Transportation District’s Southeast Light Rail line was built as a part of
T-REX, which was a combined highway/light rail expansion project and successful
partnership between RTD and the Colorado Department of Transportation. The
project was also completed 22 months ahead of the original schedule and
included several additional enhancements along the corridor that weren’t part
of the original project.
RailComm’s DOC®
Yard Automation System has been integrated with the existing RailComm Shove
Track control system at CSX Transportation’s Hamlet facility in North Carolina.
RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) PC-based control
system controls the shove track system and provides wireless remote control
from the yard tower to all equipped switch locations.
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.
SEPTA has started
renovations to the Girard and Spring Garden stations on the Broad Street
Subway, the transit agency’s largest project funded by the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The Massachusetts Executive
Office of Transportation said an historic step toward openness and transparency
by releasing to the public the detailed scheduling and geographic data the MBTA
submitted for use in the Google Transit Trip Planner. The initiative is part of
the Patrick Administration’s commitment to comprehensive transportation reform
and creating a modern, efficient, and customer-friendly transportation system,
The sale of a Canadian
National Railroad line to shortline operator Grenada Railway, LLC, has had
local businesses and officials concerned about the future of the rail in Tate
County, Miss., The Democrat reports But after a report by Larry Hart, current
Water Valley mayor and a former railroad employee, things might be better than
they first seemed.
L.B. Foster Company has
been awarded a $7.6 million contract for 115-pound rail for installation on the
21-mile A-Train transit project linking Denton and Carrollton, Texas. Shipments
of 4,599 tons of 1,600-ft welded rail and 573 tons of 80-ft stick rail were
delivered to the North Texas Rail Group, a contractor joint venture between
Herzog Contracting Corporation and Archer Western Contractors.
Sounder track and signal project
update
Railworks Track Systems
and subcontractors have mobilized and work is well under way on track and signal
improvements along the seven-mile Sound Transit rail corridor between South M
Street in Tacoma, Wash., to Bridgeport Way SW in Lakewood. Portions of unused
spurs and track have been removed while new track and rail ballast are being
delivered on site.
Palm Beach County, Fla.,
has completed a new parking lot adjacent to the west platform at Tri-Rail’s
West Palm Beach Station. The new parking lot provides 118 additional spaces for
passengers and 45 designated spaces for South Florida Regional Transportation
Authority/Tri-Rail and Palm Tran employees. The parking lot also provides
special spaces for scooters and motorcycles, along with bicycle lockers that
will be used as part of a new passenger program/amenity to be launched in the
near future. The new lot, accessible from Clearwater Avenue, opened to the
public on August 18.
TriMet and the city of
Portland, Ore., are using $1.6 million of federal stimulus funds to repair
bricks in 20 intersections on Morrison and Yamhill streets in downtown
Portland. As the backbone of Portland’s light rail system, the Morrison and
Yamhill corridors have experienced significant wear and tear and have not had
major repairs in the 25 years since the tracks went in.
