In collaboration with various sectors of the rail industry, the Association of American Railroads says that the nation’s major freight, intercity passenger, commuter railroads and rail supply companies expect to hire more than 5,000 veterans in 2012. The rail industry’s commitment is part of the White House Joining Forces initiative, a nationwide effort to recognize, honor and support America’s veterans and military families.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a law to begin the next phase of the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program, which is designed to create jobs, strengthen the transportation system and support economic growth across Illinois.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in California has continued track improvement work on the Muni Metro system. From July 13 to July 16, SFMTA will install new track switches on the L Taraval Line between 22nd and 23rd avenues and at 35th Avenue.
Hennepin County, Minn., broke ground on its multi-million dollar Interchange project.
The Charlotte Area Transit System in North Carolina has received approval from the Federal Transit Administration to enter Final Design for the 9.3-mile LYNX Blue Line Extension (BLE) light-rail project. This allows the project to be developed from the 65 percent to the 100 percent design level and complete preparation of final construction plans, right-of-way acquisition, construction cost estimates, bid documents and utility relocation.
A new report issued by Amtrak summarizes and updates the ongoing planning efforts to expand capacity on the Northeast Corridor rail network to accommodate more trains operating at faster speeds with significantly reduced trip times and improved service reliability, while also developing 220 mph next generation high-speed rail.
The California Legislature’s vote to approve funding for the Caltrain Modernization Project as part of the California High-speed Rail Authority’s effort marks a milestone in bringing modern electric rail service to the San Francisco Bay area. The bill authorizes $600 million in high-speed rail funds to modernize Caltrain.
New York City Transit will advance rehabilitation of a bridge and perform another round of FASTRACK improvements in the coming weeks.
On Friday, July 6, the California Senate followed the State Assembly in approving funds for the first 130 miles of the planned high-speed rail corridor. Voter-approved bonds to finance the project can now be sold with the bill’s passage.
The OneRail Coalition, a diverse group of rail stakeholders, issued a statement congratulating both parties and the House and the Senate for working together to advance transportation reauthorization legislation, which saves and creates millions of jobs by maintaining federal transportation spending at current levels.
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to fund Phase 2 of the planned rail extension to Dulles Airport. The county’s estimated portion of the project, which will extend Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Silver Line from Reston to Loudoun, is $270 million.
Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) staff recommended to the RTD Board of Directors to move forward with a proposal from Kiewit Infrastructure Co., to complete the I-225 Light Rail Line to Peoria, Colo.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has accepted delivery of its first track geometry vehicle (TGV), a specialized railcar equipped with advanced technology to analyze the condition of rail and track infrastructure and to alert WMATA to potential defects.
The Federal Transit Administration granted the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority a Record of Decision for the $1.37 billion Regional Connector Transit Corridor, officially certifying that the project has now satisfied all federal environmental guidelines.
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, Texas, has completed six miles on the light-rail transit extension. Six miles equals about 64,000 linear feet of track in the ground, leaving nine miles to go.
Ontario, Canada, is moving forward to deliver the largest transit expansion in the city of Toronto’s history, which will help ease congestion and create thousands of jobs.
The Federal Railroad Administration issued a Notice of Intent that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate potential passenger rail improvements on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, Mass. The FRA is leading the planning and environmental evaluation of the NEC, an effort known as NEC Future, in close coordination with the involved states, the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission, Amtrak and other stakeholders.
July 2 marks the beginning of year two of construction on Oregon’s Triment Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge. During the first year of construction, 64 firms worked on the bridge, which is now 41 percent complete. Overall project construction jobs total 1,525.
Both the House and Senate passed “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century,” or MAP-21, on Friday, June 29. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law shortly.
The Denver Regional Transportation District is breaking ground on two expansion projects. The final structure on the West Rail Line that will serve Denver, Lakewood, Golden and Jefferson County and the first segment of the Northwest Rail Line between Denver Union Station and south Westminster.