The Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors has approved the 2009
Long Range Transportation Plan that will guide transportation development in
the county through the year 2040, a period in which the county is expected to
experience unprecedented growth.
MTA Long Island Rail Road
Ronkonkoma customers now have 110 new parking spaces available to them thanks
to the completion of the first half of a new lot located on the northeast side
of the station. Work on this western half of the lot began last May.
Continuing its pursuit of a
portion of the $8 billion available through the ARRA High Speed Intercity
Passenger Rail Program, the Washington State Department of Transportation
applied for more than $1.3 billion in ARRA stimulus funds for the Pacific
Northwest Rail Corridor.
Helping freight trains move
quicker and reducing the time motorists spend waiting for trains to pass are
goals of a $26-million federally funded project announced Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times
reports. Plans were unveiled to add a third main rail line over about three
miles in Blue Island and Alsip, Ill., easing congestion in the busy south
suburban corridor.
The future ain’t what it
used to be. Back in 1930, the movie "Just Imagine" dreamed of the
world of 1980, when everyone has a flying car. Other sci-fi scenarios pictured
personal jet packs and individual transit "pods" gliding along
monorails, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
(Below is a letter to The Honorable Peter M.
Rogoff, Administrator,
Federal
Transit Administration
, from the National Association of Rail Pasengers. The letter was co-signed by several other organizations interested in rail passenger service.)
Joined by federal, state and local officials in
united support, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger discussed his submission of the
state’s application for nearly $4.7 billion in federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act funding for engineering, design and construction on California’s
high-speed train system. Pledging a dollar-for-dollar match from state and
local funds, including the high-speed rail bond passed by California voters in
November 2008, the state’s application would generate a nearly $10 billion
investment. This funding would collectively create nearly 130,000 jobs
throughout California.
On October 1, Union
Pacific Chairman and CEO Jim Young, Director of Iowa Department of
Transportation Nancy Richardson and Boone Mayor John Slight will officially
open and name the new railroad bridge just west of Boone, Iowa, that is one of
the highest double-track railroad bridges in North America coming in at 2,813
feet long and 190 feet high above the Des Moines River. After remarks from Young, Director
Richardson and Mayor Slight at the UP depot in Boone, officials and media will
board a train to go look at the new bridge close up. The public is invited to
attend the remarks at the UP depot.
Mass. Lieutenant Governor
Timothy Murray said that the Commonwealth’s comprehensive multi-year rail
transportation agreement with CSX Transportation, the national freight carrier
serving Massachusetts, has been finalized. Lieutenant Governor Murray, who has
been working on this agreement since he was Mayor of Worcester, led the
negotiations for this agreement on behalf of the administration with critical
support from the Governor, Senator John Kerry and Congressman Jim McGovern. Many
of the agreement’s major elements were resolved last year; however, the long-standing
debate concerning liability remained unresolved.
The Obama Administration said
$100 million in Economic Recovery Act funding will go to 43 transit agencies
that are pursuing cutting-edge environmental technologies to help reduce global
warming, lessen America’s dependence on oil and create green jobs.
A flashing railroad
crossing signal will be installed on a potentially dangerous rural intersection
south of Erskine, Minn., according to the Grand Forks, N.D., Herald. The signal at the
intersection of Polk County Road 206 and the Soo Line Railroad tracks is one of
several railroad crossing safety improvements that will be made in Polk County
over the next year.
Norfolk Southern commended
its partners in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee for
their leadership in supporting the Crescent Corridor program to increase rail
freight transportation capacity and improve mobility and the environment.
The leader of the effort to
build the proposed DesertXpress high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern
California said his company has launched a worldwide search for vendors and
suppliers so that construction on the $4 billion project could begin by the end
of March, the Las Vegas Sun reports.
The historic railroad
station north of 23rd Street could be back in service for customers under
proposed passenger rail service in the region, the South Florida Sun Sentinel
reports. Other possible station locations being considered for Vero Beach
include the area of downtown near Pocahontas Park and at the old Diesel Power
Plant south of eastbound State Road 60. Possible start date for the service is
October 2012.
With the money already in
place to build what likely will be two overpasses and one underpass at three
major rail crossings in Galesburg, Ill., there is more good news, The Register-Mail
reports. The state has applied for about $550 million of federal stimulus
money, $52 million for what Illinois is calling its "Galesburg congestion
relief project."
ConnectUs, Inc., said
that it and its coalition of business, labor and environmental groups had sent
letters of support and endorsement to U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood in
support of Florida’s application seeking $30 million for the Preliminary
Engineering and NEPA Environmental studies for the Orlando-Miami corridor.
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.
The first state
applications for "shovel-ready" passenger rail projects are due into the
Federal Railroad Administration on Aug. 24, and FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo
thinks some of the federal grants to follow will need to help freight lines get
ready for more and faster passenger trains, reports The Journal of Commerce.
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.
Commuters on the Virginia
Railway Express Fredericksburg Line can see that construction has begun on
laying a third track over Franconia Hill, according to Fredericksburg.com. As
hills go, it’s not terribly high: 225 feet above sea level. Franconia Road is
near the crest of the hill in Fairfax County, and the Capital Beltway passes
along the side of the hill a mile farther north.
