The collapse of the Union
Pacific railroad bridge in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, during last year’s historic
flood has cost the Iowa Northern Railway, the primary user of the span,
millions of dollars. Farmers, grain cooperatives and ag manufacturers have also
suffered economic and efficiency losses due to costly detours, according to the
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
Before highways, there were
railroads – Houston’s first circulatory system. Civic boosters bragged in the
1920s that Houston was the place "where 17 railroads meet the sea." The trains
hauled cotton and grain. Downtown had three passenger stations, the Houston Chronicle
reports.
The
Illinois Commerce Commission’s Transportation Policy Committee will host a
policy briefing on a proposed high-speed rail corridor from Chicago to St.
Louis at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 9, in hearing room A of the ICC’s
Springfield office. The ICC is located at 527 E. Capitol Avenue.
Picture Lewis and Clark
splitting up at some point between present-day Umatilla and Boardman and racing
to the Pacific Ocean, the East Oregonian reports. Two contemporary economic
explorers, the general managers of the ports of Umatilla and Morrow, are doing
just that. Their goal, however, is developing a better shipping route from the
mid-Columbia River to Puget Sound.
The State of Illinois is in
a rush to swallow up Federal Stimulus money earmarked for the development of
high-speed rail services, the Illinois Statehouse Examiner reports. However, in
the rush to meet the arbitrary deadlines imposed by the stimulus package, state
officials are giving little consideration to the economic impact of communities
along the high-speed rail system.
The Dakota Minnesota
& Eastern dropped its condemnation lawsuit against several Wyoming
landowners in northeast Wyoming, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.
In
addition, the DM&E said current regulatory and economic conditions for its
proposed rail expansion into the Powder River Basin coal-mining district are
not good.
BNSF is pushing Congress to
scale back a requirement for carriers to install automatic-braking systems on
most of their tracks, reports Bloomberg News. "Heavy-handed" legislation
enacted last year would cost Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF almost $2 billion,
Chief Executive Officer Matt Rose said.
The Missouri Department
of Transportation is applying for more than 27 million dollars in stimulus
funds to pay for a new steel railroad bridge in Osage City, Mo., local media
report. This comes as a relief to many history buffs in Boonville, who fought
for the past few years to save the Katy Bridge from demolition.
Sullivan City, Texas, Mayor
Rosendo Benavides traces his finger along a line on the map leading from Monterrey
to South Texas, The Monitor of McAllen, Texas, reports Abruptly, right before
it crosses the Rio Grande near his small town of 4,000, it jags straight east –
running near the river before heading into the United States near Brownsville. That
line – a Kansas City Southern railroad track that stops just across the river
from Sullivan City – offers the best chance his city has to secure an
international bridge, he said.
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.
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.
Although Norfolk Southern Corp.’s planned $129-million intermodal yard won’t be built within the city limits but instead in neighboring Rossville, Memphis’ logistics and distribution industries stand to benefit from the railroad’s decision to expand its local presence, The Daily News in Memphis reports. Not only is the railroad’s sprawling facility dubbed the Memphis Regional Intermodal Terminal, but it will be close enough for Memphis-based companies to gain unprecedented logistical access to eastern cities.
Rockford, Ill., area officials pushing to bring commuter train service Metra to Winnebago County are using Amtrak to help deliver the service – and their efforts threaten to derail DeKalb County’s bid for passenger rail service, according to the Northwest Herald.
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.
