MTA Metro-North Railroad
timetables change on Monday, August 30 to accommodate a major, multi-year
Connecticut Department of Transportation catenary and bridge improvement
project on the New Haven Line.
NJ TRANSIT is seeking $885
million in new federal funding for the renewal and replacement of key
infrastructure on the Northeast Corridor, such as aging bridges, power supply
and signal systems between Trenton and New York City, Web site njtoday.net
reported.
No decision is expected on
the location of the Lakeland-area station for the Florida High Speed Rail until
late next year, the Polk County Transportation Planning Organization was told August
12, according to the Lakeland Ledger. Two locations, one near the USF
Polytechnic campus that would be built at Interstate 4 and the Polk Parkway and
the other Kathleen Road, are being considered.
Metra released the final
version of a new schedule for the Union Pacific North line between Chicago and
Kenosha, Wis., that will take effect on August 22. The schedule is being
changed because a major, $185-million project to replace 22 bridges on the line
on the north side of Chicago will require trains to use a single track in the
construction zone.
Ottawa has come through
with some much-needed cash for track improvements to keep the Huron Central
Railway rolling, Northern Ontario Business reports. Sault Ste. Marie MP Tony
Martin has confirmed from federal Transportation Minister John Baird that $15
million earmarked for the northeastern Ontario shortline railway is on its way.
Metra and Alderman Gene
Schulter (47th) are pleased to announce that Metra is ready to move forward
with building a bigger and better Ravenswood Station at its current location on
the Union Pacific North Line. The station overhaul is part of a major
$185-million project to replace 22 bridges on the line.
On or around August 25,
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project crews will dramatically shift the eastbound
lanes south into parking lots of car dealers and other retailers from the Best
Buy area west to the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) interchange. This shift will
create the large construction zone that is needed in the median of Route 7 to
build the future Tysons West Metrorail Station. This change involves both the
Westwood Center Drive/Tyco Road and Spring Hill Road intersections where
pedestrians and drivers will need to pay special attention to new lane patterns
and the wider Route 7 crosswalks.
Generators drown out the
quiet, slow moving Elkhorn River these days. It’s a dramatic difference from
the roaring, rushing water as Norfolk, Neb., flooded in June, local media report.
Beneath a 115-year-old
SEPTA bridge, Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell on August 3 renewed his call for more
money to fix roads and bridges, kicking off a four-day statewide tour to try to
prod the General Assembly to action, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Rendell also sent a letter
to legislators day, asking them to reconvene in Harrisburg on Aug. 23 to come
up with at least $472 million more for transportation.
The best and safest way for
fast-speed rail service to roll into downtown Raleigh is to hop onto tracks
being used by Norfolk Southern, both a citizen advisory task force and city
staff told Raleigh’s City Council, the News Observer reports.
The railroad spawned a
string of towns north of Raleigh, N.C., in the 19th century, and now it
threatens to cut them in half, the News Observer reports. Many residents worry
that Youngsville, Franklinton, Henderson and Norlina will see little benefit
from a plan to run passenger trains between Raleigh and Richmond, Va., at
speeds up to 110 mph. The $2.3-billion project is part of a planned high-speed
rail corridor that would cut nearly two hours from train trips between North
Carolina and the Northeast.
Friday, July 30 to Monday,
Aug. 2, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. each day, crews will relocate utilities and
continue construction on a shoofly at the Santa Clara, Calif., station. The
shoofly is a temporary track for trains to use during the renovation of the
station.
Earlier in July, Norfolk
Southern’s maintenance of way and structures department completed $21 million
in track, signal and bridge work in seven days on one if its primary coal lines
in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Mon Line extends approximately 85 miles from
Pittsburgh to coal mines in Washington and Greene counties. In 2009, almost 42
million tons of coal was transported over this rail line. Approximately 20
trains daily use the Mon Line.
Residents on Ravenswood
Avenue on Chicago’s North Side were so upset by the idea of a Metra station
closer to their homes that they complained to officials, circulated a petition,
formed an association and hired an attorney, the Chicago Tribune reports. Their
efforts seem to have worked.
July 30-August 1,m
Washington, D.C., Metro will make upgrades to its track, platforms and bridges
on the Red, Blue, Yellow and Orange lines to improve reliability and service.
As a result of this crucial work aimed at keeping the railroad in a state of
good repair, riders can expect delays of up to 30 minutes.
Hatch Mott MacDonald recently hired key, high-level
staff members at several of its U.S. office locations. Frank Facciolo joins
Hatch Mott MacDonald’s New York City office as a senior project manager for
rail/transit projects and has 21 years of experience in infrastructure,
transportation, and design-build projects in the N.Y. Metropolitan area and in
California. John Cross joins HMM’s Tallahassee, Fla., office as a senior project
manager with more than 30 years of professional engineering experience in both
the private and public sectors.
Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi
Rell is set to call for one of the state’s biggest bond issues in recent memory
when she proposes selling $260 million in bonds to make improvements to the New
Haven-to-Springfield rail line, the Hartford Courant reports. The money is
intended to attract an additional $220 million in federal aid to begin building
a high-speed train line linking Springfield and Hartford to Amtrak’s busy
Boston-to-Washington route along the shoreline.
Dulles Corridor Metrorail
construction is visible all along the 11.7-mile alignment of Phase 1 of the
23-mile extension of Metro’s existing Orange Line. By early fall, construction
of all five stations between East Falls Church and Reston will be under way.
Crews are building aerial bridges to carry tracks across the westbound lanes of
I-66 near the Dulles Connector Road (Route 267) where the rail extension will
tie into the Orange Line. There is ongoing bridge construction at Pimmit Run and
Magarity Road. Pile driving activities will continue through September all
along the Connector Road as tracks are built at grade level in most areas.
With the Port Authority of
Allegheny County warning of deep service cuts ahead, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed
Rendell on July 21 threatened to use federal highway money to bail out mass
transit systems if lawmakers won’t approve higher taxes and fees, the
Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports.
On July 22, PATCO begins
the process of recycling newspapers, glass and plastic with the placement of
special trash receptacles at the Lindenwold, Ashland and Woodcrest Stations.
The special green receptacles with a recycling decal will be located mostly on
the station platforms although they will be available in other locations. The
program will be expanded to include all other PATCO stations including the four
subway stations in Philadelphia.
