Railroad News

The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) reopened service along the entire system three days ahead of schedule on the morning of March 9.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx have awarded a fixed-price contract of CA$254.5 million (US$198.3 million) to EllisDon Transit Infrastructure (EDTI) to design, build and finance the Stouffville Corridor Stations Improvement project.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released a list of recipients of the nearly $500 million in available Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants.

Union Pacific plans to invest $127 million into its Arkansas network in 2018. The Class 1 says the investment will enhance safety, operating efficiency and support customer service.

BNSF Railway is targeting a $90 million capital program for its Minnesota network in 2018. BNSF says maintenance will be the focus of the program with a special attention given to replacing and upgrading rail, crossties and ballast.

California's proposed high-speed rail system will cost $13 billion more and take four years longer to build than original estimates.

"As part of a wide-ranging effort to upgrade the subway system's capacity and reliability, all the winning ideas will be thoroughly vetted and further developed as quickly as possible with future procurements subject to any required MTA Board approval," MTA said. "Given the urgent need to effectuate near term change, the Genius Transit Challenge sought innovative ideas to rapidly modernize the New York City subways signal systems, procure new state-of-the-art subway cars and bring connectivity to underground tunnels and trains. The eight winners were chosen for their ability to deliver quickly maximum positive impact on subway service and customer experience. In some categories, judges gave out multiple awards because more than one proposal had significant promise, or because two proposals utilized similar technological strategies."

More than 100 individuals from approximately 60 National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) member companies helped spread the rail industry's message during the annual Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.

Four rail specific and rail related projects have been awarded a total of $54.5 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. This represents about 10 percent of the $500 million available in the latest round of TIGER funding.

The largest grant, $20 million, was awarded to Baltimore County in Maryland to help TradePoint Atlantic redevelop the former Sparrows Point steel mill site. Officials said this project will help increase commerce and create jobs locally, regionally and nationally. Specifically, TradePoint will make structural upgrades to the terminal's East-West Berth, add an upgraded crane rail system to allow direct transfer of cargo from vessels to rail or trucks, design changes to facilitate transfer of liquid commodities, strengthen the bulkhead and dredge the turning basin and approach channel, in addition to other improvements.

Union Pacific plans to invest $122.3 million into its California network in 2018. The Class 1 says the investment will safety, operating efficiency and support customer service.

TriMet General Manager Doug Kelsey has selected Roland Hoskins as the executive director of maintenance operations.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the Tier 2 environmental assessment for the Northern Lights Express (NLX) higher speed intercity passenger rail project.

Ground was broken Wednesday in Grapevine, Texas, on the $105-million dining and entertainment complex on the TEXRail commuter rail line.

More than 55 individuals are representing more than 30 Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) member companies today at Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.

A federal appeals court has upheld a $1.25 million award to a BNSF Railway whistleblower in a safety violations case.

This weekend, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) crews are set to continue work on the installation of an Automatic Train Control (ATC) signal system.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Metro-North Railroad will send Metro-North crews out this weekend to make improvements to the Port Jervis Line.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) said it has identified more challenges than expected during the BART Silicon Valley Project's first phase.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx have issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for interested parties to build and finance the Lakeshore East - West Corridor Expansion project.

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) has announced a planned private investment of $450 million in Texas' transportation infrastructure that is intended to improve safety, efficiency and customer service.