Railroad News

MTA Metro-North Railroad yesterday announced it has implemented positive train control (PTC) on almost 90 percent of the Hudson Line in New York.

All Hudson Line trains, including Amtrak and CSX trains, are now operating with PTC between Marble Hill and Poughkeepsie, a distance of 67 miles. 

The Association for American Railroads (AAR) and GoRail yesterday honored U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) with the Railroad Achievement Award for her leadership on federal policies that help ensure the health of the U.S. railroad network.

The ranking member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Granger was presented the award yesterday during a visit to BNSF Railway Co.'s national dispatching center in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board this week voted to electrify its commuter-rail fleet and increase service frequency. 

The board adopted a resolution that instructs MBTA officials to prepare immediately to launch electrified pilot programs on the Providence/Stoughton Line, the Fairmount Line, and a section of the Newburyport/Rockport Line connecting Boston to Lynn, Revere, Chelsea and Everett, local media reported yesterday.

Houston-area voters yesterday approved the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County's (METRO) $3.5 billion bond referendum to fund new transit projects, including a 16-mile extension of METRORail light-rail service to William P. Hobby Airport.

The borrowing will support the METRONext Moving Forward Plan, which the agency developed over the past three years of gathering public input, METRO officials said in a press release.

Railroad, city and state officials gathered yesterday in Columbus, Indiana, to break ground on a $35 million railroad overpass on the city's west side.

The new overpass and cloverleaf interchange at State Road 46 and State Road 11 will enable motorists to avoid being stopped or slowed due to increasing rail traffic that's projected to occur on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks that pass through Columbus, city officials said in a press release.

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U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) officials last week kicked off construction of the new Volpe Center, a 400,000-square-foot federal research facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The project calls for reducing the current Volpe Center from 14 acres to 4 acres, and from six buildings to one building, in order to reduce operating costs and unlock land for development by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USDOT officials said in a press release.

TransLink this month is seeking public feedback on the elevated guideway placement and accessibility of the proposed 10-mile SkyTrain Expo Line extension from the King George Station to Langley, British Columbia.

TransLink officials are soliciting the public's input on three proposed SkyTrain guideway placements, which would run along Fraser Highway either on the north or south side of the roadway, or in the center of the median.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has introduced legislation that would ban smoking on Amtrak trains.

Amtrak has an internal policy that prohibits smoking on trains, but the legislation would make that policy a federal law. Consistent with the railroad's policy, the federal ban would apply to all tobacco use, as well as electronic cigarettes, Carper said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board yesterday awarded a $36 million contract to Daniel O’Connell and Sons Inc. for station and accessibility improvements at Natick Center Station on the Framingham/Worcester commuter-rail line in Natick, Massachusetts. 

The project will include the construction of two elevators, two accessible ramps and two stairways, as well as the replacement of all ground level train platforms with full-length, high-level platforms, MBTA officials said in a press release.

The Kansas City Streetcar Authority last week began passenger service on its newest streetcar, marking completion of the authority’s fleet expansion to six streetcars.

The addition of car No. 806 enables the authority to operate four streetcars every Saturday throughout the year. It also allows the authority to perform regular maintenance on the entire fleet, KC Streetcar officials said in a press release.

The Metropolitan Council, which serves Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, last week announced that Chair Nora Slawik will resign from her post as of Nov. 15.

In an Oct. 31 letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Slawik cited health issues related to the demands of the position as her reason for resigning. 

Virgin Trains USA LLC last week announced that Brightline will build a passenger-rail station at PortMiami by 2021.

The Brightline high-speed passenger-rail service to the PortMiami station also will serve the Orlando International Airport, making it the only intercity rail system in the United States to connect an international airport directly to a major cruise port, Virgin Trains USA officials said in a press release.

The North Carolina and Virginia Railroad Co. LLC (NCVA) has upgraded its 56-mile line to handle 286,000-pound rail cars.

The infrastructure improvements will enable customers to ship and receive 286,000-pound rail cars, which matches the capacity of national railroads and increases the short line's competitiveness, NCVA officials said in a press release.
 
NVCA's previous capacity was 271,000-pound rail-car loadings.