February 2009 – Page 4 – Railfanning.org

BNSF to Replace Over 20 Miles of Rail and 50,000 Ties in Texas

February 4, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway dispatched four maintenance crews last month to replace rail and ties between Galveston and Temple, and Alvord and Rhome, Texas. “This project is part of our ongoing effort to maintain our infrastructure to ensure we meet our customers’ needs for reliability and timely service,” said Dave Freeman, BNSF’s vice president, Engineering. “Our continuing maintenance program is an example of BNSF’s commitment to its customers and the communities it serves.” Approximately 130 BNSF employees will work until mid-February replacing more than 50,000 ties and almost 22 track miles of rail. The total cost of these

BNSF Crews to Lay 30 miles of Rail through Missouri and Arkansas

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

FORT WORTH, Texas — At the end of January, BNSF Railway Company planned to begin replacing almost 30 track miles of rail and 15,000 railroad ties in its Thayer subdivision between Teed, Mo., and Memphis, Tenn. “The Thayer project is part of our ongoing effort to maintain a strong railroad to meet our customers’ needs for reliable service,” said Dave Freeman, BNSF’s vice president, Engineering. “Our lines to Memphis through southern Missouri and Arkansas are especially important as they represent a vital link to the southeast for intermodal and coal shipments.” Almost 250 BNSF employees will work until late April

Union Pacific Once Again Surpasses Records for Moving Loaded Coal Trains Out of Wyoming

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has once again surpassed several all-time records for delivering coal out of Wyoming’s Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB). During 2008, Union Pacific set an all-time record by loading 13,212 trains out of the SPRB, 332 more trains than 2006, the previous yearly record. Union Pacific also loaded 204.6 million tons of coal out of the SPRB during 2008, eclipsing another all-time mark set in 2007 by 5 percent. “Our investments in the Joint Line and throughout our coal network continue to pay dividends in terms of our coal train velocity and throughput” said Doug Glass,

MTA New York City Transit Uses Web to Help Reconnect Riders with Their Lost Items

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — Using the internet as a central tool, MTA New York City Transit has streamlined and modernized the way it attempts to reunite bus and subway customers with their lost property. Finally, riders have access to an on-line system they can use to inquire about their lost items and receive an e-mailed response.Retrieving a valued item that has been left behind on a bus or in the subway has long been a taxing and time-consuming endeavor, requiring multiple telephone calls or visits to the Lost Property Unit seeking information about such items. The new system allows customers to

MTA LIRR Achieves Record On-Time Performance For 2nd Year in a Row

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — While serving a record number of passengers, the MTA Long Island Rail Road achieved a best-ever On-Time Performance (OTP) of 95.14 percent in 2008, breaking the previous record of 94.07 percent set in 2007 by more than a full percentage point. The 95.14 percent OTP is the best since modern record keeping began in 1979. The LIRR reached the 95.14 percent milestone in 2008 while operating 245,933 trains – which is 1,368 more trains than last year. “This is the second year in a row the LIRR has improved our on-time reliability, while seeing increases in ridership,”

NYC Subway Rider Report Card Results Are In For Shuttles

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — The 42nd Street S and Rockaway Park S shuttle grades have been tabulated. Trends may be difficult to determine due to the small size of customer responses. In 2007, there were 380 responses for the 42nd Street shuttle and 132 responses for Rockaway Park shuttle. In 2008, there were only 146 responses for 42nd Street and 60 responses for Rockaway Park. The 42nd Street shuttle travels only one stop in the east-west direction between Times Square and Grand Central stations. Keeping the small sample size in mind, the grade for “Overall Performance” for the 42nd Street shuttle

A Line Customers Grade Their Service a “C-Minus” in 2nd Annual Rider Report Card Survey Same Grade in 2007

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK –In MTA New York City Transit’s 2nd Annual Rider Report Card Survey, the A line again received an overall grade of “C-minus,” unchanged from 2007. The customer satisfaction index of 85 percent was, however, slightly lower than 2007’s 87%. Customers sent in 5,839 Rider Report Cards by mail and 171 via the internet, totaling 6,010 responses, to gauge customer satisfaction on the line. Twenty-one separate service attributes were graded on the A line, the longest subway line in the system; it runs from Inwood-207th Street in Manhattan to Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue or Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd. The highest grade

Customers on the E Line Grade Their Service a ‘D-Plus’ in 2nd Annual Rider Report Card Survey

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — MTA New York City Transit released the results from the 2nd Annual Rider Report Card Survey, and the E line again received an overall grade of “D-plus,” unchanged from 2007. However, the customer satisfaction index of 81 percent was three percentage points lower that 2007’s 84 percent. Customers sent in a total of 4,511 Rider Report Card responses – 4,280 by mail and 231 via the internet – gauging customer satisfaction on the line. Once again, 21 separate service attributes were graded on the E line, which runs from the World Trade Center to Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer at

Customers Give MTA Metro-North Railroad Record High Ratings

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — Overall customer satisfaction with MTA Metro-North Railroad in its largest market (inbound customers traveling on its Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines) climbed to 94 percent in 2008, setting a record high for the second year in a row. In addition, it marked the fourth consecutive year that customer satisfaction has increased according to Metro-North’s annual customer satisfaction survey. The survey is conducted each Fall and is jointly sponsored by the railroad and its partners – the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the Metro-North Rail Commuter Council and the Connecticut Metro-North New Haven Rail Commuter Council. Fully half

MARTA: New Economic Forecast Predicts Worsening Budget Crisis

February 3, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

ATLANTA — The latest economic forecast issued in December 2008 for MARTA by the Georgia State Economic Forecasting Center predicts a further worsening of its current fiscal crisis by an additional $10 million, the transit agency said. The forecast also predicts MARTA will experience a cumulative loss of more than $1.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next ten years – that is up an additional $588 million from its fall 2008 report. “This latest forecast truly underscores the magnitude and severity of the economic times that we are currently dealing with,” said Beverly A. Scott, MARTA General Manager