Search Results for: short lines

RTD’s $143.8-million deal with BNSF locks down FasTracks property






Denver’s RTD has reached a
total $143.8-million agreement with BNSF that will move progress forward on two
FasTracks corridors to Arvada/Wheat Ridge and Westminster, Colo.,
according to a column by Kevin Flynn in InDenver Times. The
comprehensive agreement includes $102.7 million for the outright purchase of
railroad right-of-way for the Gold Line and several miles of the Northwest Rail
FasTracks corridors; a lump sum of $36.9 million in relocation funding for BNSF
to move and replace its facilities that are in the way of RTD’s projects; up to
$4 million in direct reimbursements of BNSF’s other costs for additional
construction or relocation that may occur incidental to the projects and
$200,000 for title insurance, closing costs and escrow fees.

Los Angeles asks feds for help in borrowing money for transit






Three decades is a long
time to wait for a train. So Los Angeles is asking the federal government for
help in borrowing $9 billion to speed construction of 12 new mass-transit rail
lines, The Wall Street Journal reports. With Washington’s backing, city
officials say they could make a dramatic improvement to public transportation
in just 10 years — including a dreamy-sounding Subway to the Sea — after
decades of stalled attempts to equip the sprawling metro area with a
comprehensive public-transportation system.

Huron Central will shut down if funds not in place by end of March






Huron Central Railway in
Canada is once again facing a deadline for an essential capital investment for
track improvements needed to keep the line operating beyond August of this year,
Sault This Week reports. Mario Brault, president of Huron Central, said from
his Montreal headquarters that if the federal and Ontario governments do not
announce funding assistance by the end of March at the very latest, the
regional short line rail company operating between the Sault and Sudbury would
be forced to shut down this August.

R. J. Corman Railroad Group receives TIGER grant






Slide 1

The
Commonwealth of Kentucky and the U. S. Department of Transportation said that
R. J. Corman Railroad Group’s Appalachian Regional Shortline Project has been
awarded a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant
of $17,551,028.  This
transportation infrastructure grant will be matched by a 20 percent company
investment of $4,187,758 and by $200,000 from the Commonwealth of Kentucky bringing
the total project investment to $21,938,786. These funds will enable the rehabilitation
of hundreds of miles on five unconnected shortline railroads in Kentucky,
Tennessee and West Virginia. 

Railroad Crossroads






Although
a private company has found it uneconomical to maintain rail lines through
Aroostook County, Maine, it would be uneconomical for mills and other major
employers in the region to be left without rail service. This is the dilemma
facing state officials who are currently grappling with a budget shortfall of
nearly $440 million, according to an editorial in the Bangor Daily News.

New railroad files to buy track in Chadron, Neb.






A new railroad company
based in Alliance, Neb., has filed papers with the federal Surface
Transportation Board to purchase the seven miles of railroad line from Chadron
west to Dakota Junction and to lease 21 miles of line from Dakota Junction to
Crawford. Chadron, Neb., the Chadron Record reports.

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic files abandonment notice






Montreal, Maine &
Atlantic Railway said that it has filed a "Notice of Intent" with the
Surface Transportation Board to abandon certain of its lines. This notice is
required by the STB as a preliminary step in the abandonment process. MMA
continues to provide regular rail service and is continuing to work with Maine
DOT in order to find a solution that would permit continued rail operations on
these lines.

Big plans for Manitoba rail line






A group of farmers from Rathwell,
Man., Canada, and the surrounding area are hoping to purchase a shortline
railway to keep their grain shipments on track, the Central Plains Herald
Leader reports. Harold Purkess, a retired farmer from Holland, who is interim
president of River Hills Railroad Inc., said the organization is made up of a
group of farmers and interested individuals who are investing in the project
and preserving their rail line.

Elgin, Ill., group studying future of transportation






Continuing talks on
making the area more environmentally friendly focused Tuesday night on
expanding the use of trains, buses and bicycles countywide, according to the
Elgin Courier News, The Elgin, Ill., Community Network hosted a discussion at
Gail Borden Public Library that looked at the future of transportation in the
area. Among those attending were representatives from Metra, Kane County
Division of Transportation and Schaumburg-based engineering firm TranSystems,
the company contracted to draft the city’s Bikeway Master Plan.

Rail grants seen bypassing Texas






The federal government is
about to hand out a river of cash to states willing to build a network of
bullet trains, as the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress seek to
slowly ease the country’s dependence on automobiles and airplanes to make short
trips between its biggest cities, the Dallas Morning News reports. It’s the nation’s
first major investment in true high-speed rail, and among its most significant
pushes to locate trains of any kind far from the East Coast.

Despite suburbs’ attempts to derail plans, CN’s Chicago bypass on track






Nearly one year after the
Canadian National Railway purchased a suburban rail line as a freight bypass
around Chicago, fears of a massive influx of two-mile-long trains rolling
through dozens of neighborhoods haven’t yet materialized, the Chicago Tribune reports.

 But residents and
local officials have complained that train noise and vibrations from the CN’s
more powerful, multiple locomotives are wreaking havoc on home life.



Administration proposes major public transportation policy shift






In a dramatic change from
existing policy, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proposed that new
funding guidelines for major transit projects be based on livability issues
such as economic development opportunities and environmental benefits, in
addition to cost and time saved, which are currently the primary criteria.

Rail stimulus funds to bypass Northeast






The railroad tracks from
Boston to Washington – the busiest rail artery in the nation, and one that also
carries America’s only high-speed train, the Acela – have been virtually shut
out of $8 billion worth of federal stimulus money set aside for high-speed rail
projects because of a strict environmental review required by the Obama
administration, according to the Boston Globe. Because such a review would take
years, states along the Northeast rail corridor are not able to pursue stimulus
money for a variety of crucial upgrades.

Future commuter-rail system is envisioned for the Phoenix






Enough people would board a
train in the Phoenix area’s suburbs that a future commuter-rail system would be
as popular as some of the busiest lines in the West, new studies have found, The
Arizona Republic reports. A trio of yearlong rail studies, in nearly final
form, indicates commuter rail could carry almost 18,000 passengers a day by
2030. Planners at the Maricopa Association of Governments say, based on the
findings, they favor a 105-mile, X-shaped system that could feature 33 stations
and cost roughly $1.5 billion. That’s a little more than the Valley’s 20-mile,
light-rail starter line. The commuter-rail network would use existing freight
track through downtown Phoenix, with lines from Queen Creek to Buckeye and from
Chandler to Wittmann. The northeast Valley, whose light-rail line lacks
funding, would remain without commuter rail.

Flood-damaged track blocking freight, tourists






Workers will begin
repairing train tracks this week after damage from September floods put a major
kink in transportation lines in Walker and Chattooga counties in Georgia,
according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. While crews began repairing
roads and buildings shortly after the waters receded, the rail line between
LaFayette and Summerville remains unusable, according to railway officials. In
spots, the heavy wooden ties hang over a foot or more of space where the ground
has washed out beneath them.

Port of Seattle announces new partners in rail corridor






The Port of Seattle will
be joined by several local agencies in preserving the Eastside Rail Corridor
and placing it in public ownership. King County, Sound Transit, the City of
Redmond, Puget Sound Energy, and the Cascade Water Alliance will partner with
the port in maximizing the corridor’s benefit for the region.

CTA plans $120 million in cuts, efficiencies






As part of developing his
budget recommendations for 2010, Chicago Transit Authority President Richard L.
Rodriguez has announced a series of internal cost cutting measures and
efficiencies aimed at reducing a projected $300-million revenue shortfall that
has resulted from lower than expected tax revenues.

 

Denver Light Rail turns 15






This month, Denver’s
Regional Transportation District is marking the 15th anniversary of light rail
opening in the metro area. Since RTD opened the 5.3-mile Central Light Rail
Line October 7,1994, RTD’s 35-mile light rail system has carried nearly 150
million passenger trips. The light rail network carries an average of about
60,000 passenger trips every weekday, ahead of ridership projections. All four
of RTD’s light rail lines were built on time and on budget, and each exceeded
ridership projections.