Canada’s Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt, has issued a Section 31 Notice and Order to VIA Rail to immediately address safety issues at six railway crossings in the Barrhaven community of Ottawa.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) next week will begin major work on the rehabilitation of the Harrison Red Line station and the Orange Line’s 18th Street Connector, as part of a larger $92 million transportation investment in the Near South Side.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled a six-year, $8.6-billion construction program that he says will improve roads and bridges throughout Illinois while making major investments in public transportation.
The Metropolitan Council voted 14-2 on April 9 to approve the Southwest LRT (METRO Green Line Extension) Project, the Minneapolis area’s third light-rail transit line.
A major tie replacement and track resurfacing project will get underway during the last two weeks of April on Metra’s BNSF Line to Aurora, Ill. Metra said the project is part of an effort to maintain and improve the quality of service.
Amtrak awarded Michael Baker Jr., Inc., an engineering unit of Michael Baker International, a three-year, $4.2 million dollar contract to provide construction management and inspection services for five major projects as part of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Amtrak Hudson Line Improvements Program.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, Regional Rail Authority and Housing and Redevelopment Authority gave approval Tuesday, April 8, to final agreements with United Properties, the Minnesota Twins and Metro Transit for development around Target Field Station, a multimodal transportation station located just to the west of the ballpark in Minneapolis, Minn.
A new report details how the Northeast Corridor (NEC), carrying 750,000 daily Amtrak and commuter passengers, is a critical national asset, an economic engine for the U.S. and contributes about $50 billion a year to the national economy.
Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), launched a new public service advertising (PSA) campaign called See Tracks? Think Train!, which aims to reduce pedestrian and driver injuries and fatalities around railroad tracks by highlighting behaviors that put people at risk.
Kinkisharyo, a North American manufacturer of low-floor light-rail cars, awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to Protran Technology LLC to outfit more than 500 railcars with the Protracker Roadway Worker Protection System (RWPS).
Personnel from VIA Rail Canada will be monitoring the grade crossing area located near Fallowfield Station in Ottawa, Ontario, following several reports of faulty signals. The area encompasses the crossings at Fallowfield Road, Woodroffe Avenue and the OC Transpo Transitway.
The Chicago Transit Authority is changing its procedures concerning the scheduling of rail operators, the result of a comprehensive internal agency review of scheduling procedures following the March 24, 2014 incident at the O’Hare Blue Line station where an operator fell asleep at the controls and launched part of the train into an escalator.
The Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) Committee published a series of recommendations to improve roadway worker projection when trackwork occurs where adjacent track is present. Between 1997 and 2012, 25 percent of roadway worker fatal accidents have occurred on adjacent track.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) began a project in late March to rehabilitate aging rails on San Jose Avenue, adjacent to the Cam Beach Yard near Balboa Park Station.
A peek at Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) priorities for the 2014-2015 budget shows an increased focus on employee safety and keeping aging equipment well-maintained for reliability and passenger safety.
According to the Metropolitan Council, the Southwest Light Rail Transit staff in Minneapolis, Minn., has recommended building shallow tunnels for light- rail tracks and a bridge over a channel between two lakes for the Southwest Light Rail Transit Green Line Extension. Planners also recommended keeping Mitchell Station as the westernmost station in Eden Prairie.
Service on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subways will operate 90 minutes longer on its Red, Orange, Blue and Green Line trains, effective immediately.
Late night service will operate as it does during the day, serving customers at the same stations and stops. The last Red, Orange, Blue and Green Line trains will depart downtown stations at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and approximately 1:00 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights. Extended late night service will operate approximately every 15-20 minutes, with more frequent service in the core of the system.
“Our customers are always asking for more service and I am happy that we are able to bring extended weekend hours to them beginning on March 28,” said MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott. “From students to entrepreneurs to service employees, late night service will allow a wide cross-section of our vibrant population to better travel home from both work and play.”
To help cover the cost of the additional service, the MBTA has launched a sponsorship program and has partnered with leading businesses from the Greater Boston area. The Boston Globe, Boston Red Sox, Dunkin’ Donuts, Suffolk Construction and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association have signed on as the first sponsors of the late night service pilot program. In total, sponsors are contributing more than $1.5 million in support to help cover the estimated $16 million cost of late night service.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) and the Moynihan Station Development Corporation (MSDC) have developed a coordinated transportation resiliency program to help prepare the region for future emergencies, reduce the impact of future storms on vital transportation infrastructure and improve the long-term reliability and resiliency of the public transportation network.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price have announced their support for a high-speed rail route between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston METRO) now has access to the final appropriation of $187.3 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the North and Southeast Lines.