Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority provided an update on its progress to rebuild the system following years of underinvestment. In the six-month period from July 1 to December 31, 2011, Metro spent $307 million on capital projects ranging from replacing railcars, switches, rail and track components to rehabilitating station platforms, escalators and elevators.
Union Pacific Railroad will improve the transportation infrastructure in Colorado by investing nearly $1 million in the rail line that runs in the Grand Junction area. Crews will be stabilizing the railroad track banking along the Colorado River. The bank stabilization project will begin March 12 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of May.
The nation’s mayors renewed their call for enactment of job-creating bipartisan transportation legislation now pending in Congress.
The National Transportation Safety Board made safety recommendations regarding storm water issues that push for greater collaboration between entities affected by these issues. The following recommendation was sent to the U.S. Department of Transportation:
KONE has been chosen by Jones Lang LaSalle and the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) to supply 18 new escalators in Washington, D.C.’s historic Union Station. The escalator modernization project was designed by Newmont Elevator Analysts, Inc. of Stone Ridge, N.Y.
CSX Transportation presented its Partnershipping Award to the Regional Economic Development Partnership in Wheeling, W. Va., in recognition of its efforts to locate three energy-related projects that will be served by CSX. The organization also supported state legislation providing incentives for energy companies investing in the state.
San Francisco-area Caltrain and its partners celebrated the completion of a $61 million station improvement project that will allow it to offer more service now and in the future.
Houton, Texas-area METRO’s ridership is on the rise for a sixth consecutive month, recording a 5.2 percent increase to 6,357,131 boardings in January 2012 compared to 6,043,280 in January 2011.
Washington state regulators approved funds to improve the safety at a railroad crossing in Washougal, Wash.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. reopened the Edith River Bridge in Australia’s Northern Territory following the December 27, 2011, derailment of a Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd freight train in flood waters associated with Cyclone Grant.
The California Transportation Commission allocated $3.7 million to fund safety enhancements to one of Metrolink’s busiest crossings, the Broadway/Brazil crossing in Glendale, Calif.
Union Pacific is enhancing Missouri’s transportation infrastructure by investing $38.2 million in the rail line that runs between Labadie and Jefferson City. The project is in progress and is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which manages transportation in the city, said it has completed the acquisition of the property that will be the future home of the Central Subway’s Chinatown Station.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., and Martin Midstream Partners L.P., have entered into a new joint venture, Pecos Valley Producer Services LLC, to develop a multi-commodity rail terminal in Pecos, Texas.
In Pennsylvania, $23 million in state investments will fund 16 freight-rail improvement projects statewide.
The Seattle-area’s Sound Transit Board of Directors unanimously approved an amendment to the agency’s 2012 budget to provide $24.3 million in additional funding for establishing a shovel-ready plan to extend light rail from S. 200th Street to the heart of Federal Way.
The Metropolitan Council has approved the final piece of the identity and branding framework for the Minneapolis-St.Paul developing transitway network of light-rail transit and bus-rapid transit.
Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff on February 23 visited three stations along the 28-mile Dallas Area Rapid Transit Green Line light-rail expansion project in Dallas, Texas, to see firsthand the economic development resulting from the federal government’s investments in the region.
The final year of heavy construction on the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project is kicking off.
The Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority will take a break from its aggressive schedule of trackwork and rebuilding to accommodate customers traveling during Cherry Blossom season.