Railroad News

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) yesterday announced it will host public outreach events this month to gather feedback on its transition to a paperless fare payment system by 2020. 

The plan calls for ending the sale of paper magstrip tickets and transition to Clipper-only fare payment. The Clipper is a reloadable fare card used by BART and other San Francisco-area transit agencies, BART officials said in a press release. 

Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Phil Murphy of New Jersey yesterday announced appointments to represent their states on the Gateway Development Commission, which will oversee construction of the Hudson River Tunnel project.

Representing New York will be New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, Thruway Authority Project Director Jamey Barbas and former Secretary to the Governor Steven Cohen.

Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) has begun evaluating the possibility of adding high-capacity transit service and light-rail connections to the U.S. Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia.

HRT will work with Michael Baker International and STV Group Inc. to evaluate and identity alternatives for implementing high-capacity transit on the east side of Norfolk, and then prepare a draft environmental impact statement for the project, HRT officials said in a press release.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's (NICTD) last week received the Federal Transit Administration's approval to move the West Lake Corridor commuter-rail extension project to the engineering phase of the federal New Starts Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program.

The West Lake Corridor project would extend the existing South Short Line (SSL) 8 miles south to provide passenger-rail service to Hammond, Munster and Dyer, Indiana. The branch would connect with the SSL and ultimately with the Metra Electric District Line in Chicago, NICTD officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) yesterday issued a notice of funding opportunity for $396 million in grant funding under the State of Good Repair program.

The fiscal-year 2019 program will fund projects that repair, replace or rehabilitate qualified railroad assets to reduce the state-of-good-repair backlog and improve
intercity passenger-rail performance, FRA officials said in a press release.

CSX yesterday announced two senior appointments: Farrukh Bezar as senior vice president of marketing, and Arthur Adams as VP of merchandise sales.

The appointments were made to underscore the company's focus on leveraging its operating model and service product to increase growth in the merchandise segment, CSX officials said in a press release.

CSX yesterday announced two senior appointments: Farrukh Bezar as senior vice president of marketing, and Arthur Adams as VP of merchandise sales.

The appointments were made to underscore the company's focus on leveraging its operating model and service product to increase growth in the merchandise segment, CSX officials said in a press release.

The Seattle Center Monorail today will begin accepting the ORCA card as a fare payment option. The ORCA card is also valid on the Sound Transit Link light-rail and Sounder commuter-rail services.

Enabling use of ORCA on the monorail system will “improve its integration with the region's other transit options and foster greater monorail use to access Seattle Center's many destinations,” Sound Transit officials said in a press release. The Seattle Center is a 74-acre arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) today is marking a quarter century of light-rail service in Denver. 

The agency’s first rail line was the 5.3-mile Central Rail Line, which provided a connection between the Five Points neighborhood and downtown Denver, RTD officials said in a press release.

Microsoft is donating another $223,667 to fund a study of the possibility of building a high-speed rail line connection between Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, according to an online report last week.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant's donation is in addition to its previous contribution to the feasibility study, which is being conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

Norfolk Southern Railway has suspended service in northern Missouri due to the collapse of a heavily traveled rail bridge over the Grand River in Brunswick.

The bridge collapsed Oct. 1 following heavy rains. The Class I's engineering team has assessed the significant damage and repairs are underway, NS officials reported in a service update.

Caltrain and San Mateo, California, officials will host a meeting tomorrow to get public feedback on plans to replace a 25-year-old set-out track in San Mateo that was removed earlier this year to accommodate a grade separation project on 25th Avenue.

In June, Caltrain officials selected two possible options for the replacement project based on a feasibility assessment and now are soliciting public feedback on the alternatives, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit last week issued a request for expressions of interest (REOI) to identify a partner interested in developing transit-oriented development (TOD) projects on agency-owned property adjacent to the 37-mile River Line light-rail system.

The agency seeks to obtain information and feedback to assess the viability of making all or a portion of its River Line station area parcels available for redevelopment, NJ Transit officials said in a press release. 

U.S. Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Greg Pence (R-Ind.) visited rail-industry suppliers this week to discuss transportation infrastructure and legislation that calls for reviving the short-line tax credit.

On Sept. 30, Ruppersberger visited Oldcastle Infrastructure's plant in Edgewood, Maryland. The company manufactures premium precast concrete crossing and track support systems. The company's rail crossings are engineered for freight-, commuter- and light-rail applications.