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Legislation

National Gateway Receives Federal Stimulus Funds through TIGER Program

WASHINGTON — The National Gateway has been awarded $98 million in funding from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant program, part of the so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The federal funds invested in this project will immediately be put to work alongside state and private funds to drive direct and long-lasting benefits in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina — as well as the rest of the nation, officials said. “This grant is a validation of the benefits of freight rail and the prominent role that railroads play in growing our economy and

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Miscellaneous

L. B. Foster Company to Acquire Portec Rail Products

PITTSBURGH — L. B. Foster Co. and Portec Rail Products Inc. announced the signing of an Agreement and Plan of Merger, under which L. B. Foster will make, through its wholly owned acquisition subsidiary, a cash tender offer to acquire all of Portec’s outstanding shares of common stock for $11.71 per share. “The proposed acquisition will bring together two organizations with a rich history of successfully delivering products and services to the global rail industry,” said Stan Hasselbusch, L . B. Foster’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The addition of Portec will complement our existing array of products and furthers

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Miscellaneous

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited Sign Rail Services Agreement

GREENWICH, Conn. — Genesee & Wyoming Inc. said that GWI and a newly formed GWI subsidiary, Western Labrador Rail Services (WLRS), have entered into a long term agreement with Bloom Lake Railway Company (BLRC), a subsidiary of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited (CLM), for WLRS to provide rail transportation services to BLRC. Operated as part of GWI’s Canada Region, WLRS will haul unit trains of iron ore over BLRC’s newly constructed 31-kilometer railway from CLM’s Bloom Lake mine, located in the province of Quebec on the south end of the Labrador Trough, to Wabush, Labrador. The iron ore will then travel

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Miscellaneous

Study: Railroad rates increasing since 2004

WASHINGTON — An independent team of consultants charged with looking at competitiveness in the U.S. rail industry has found that railroad rates have been steadily increasing since 2004, with a particularly steep increase in 2008. But Christensen Associates Inc. found that the rate increases were driven by fluctuating fuel prices and other costs and did not appear to reflect a greater exercise of railroad market power over captive shippers. The updated study, which now includes data from 1987 through 2008, found that a greater share of traffic in 2007 and 2008 moved at rates less than 180 percent of variable costs than in 2005 and 2006. Variable costs include fuel,

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Miscellaneous

WDW Monorail Passengers Stranded After Power Failure

Hundreds of Walt Disney World monorail passengers were stranded for hours following a power outage early this morning, according to published reports. Seven monorails were operating at the time of the power failure, according to a report on WOFL-TV’s Web page. The report indicated one train was empty, three were at stations and three others were between stations at the time of the power outage. The Associated Press reported that firefighters evacuated some passengers from the trains, but the bulk of passengers disembarked after the monorails were towed to stations. — Railfanning.org News Wire

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Miscellaneous

Axion Signs Milestone $957,000 Contract for Construction of Railroad Bridges Made from Recycled Plastic

NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. –Axion International Holdings, a next-generation technology innovator utilizing recycled plastic for high-load industrial products, today announced the completion of a milestone $957,000 contract for the construction of two railroad bridges designed from nearly 100 percent recycled plastics. The U.S. Army has commissioned each of these bridges to be built at Fort Eustis, Va., home of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. The main structural components of these bridges will be made entirely from recycled consumer and industrial plastics using Axion’s proprietary immiscible blending to create Recycled Structural Composites (RSC). With load rating capacities of 130 tons, these bridges

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Miscellaneous

Proposed National Gateway Projects Create Thousands of Job OpportunitiesProposed National Gateway Projects Create Thousands of Job Opportunities

WASHINGTON — The National Gateway initiative will spur thousands of employment opportunities throughout the Midwest and East Coast, creating growth and building the nation’s economic competitiveness. The National Gateway is an $842 million, multi-state public-private infrastructure initiative which will create a more efficient freight rail route between Mid-Atlantic ports and Midwestern markets. Planned improvements that will create job opportunities include raising bridges, increasing tunnel clearances and building new terminals along existing rail corridors to support the movement of double-stacked containers on rail cars. The National Gateway will create more than 50,000 jobs, with almost 10,000 of those jobs created during

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Miscellaneous

National Gateway in the Spotlight as Public-Private Partnerships Gain Significance

WASHINGTON — More than 140 supporters from the public and private sectors in six states have joined together in endorsing the National Gateway, an unprecedented public-private partnership dedicated to revolutionizing the nation’s transportation system, preparing it for the widely predicted growth in global demand. Recently honored as “Competitiveness Project of the Year” by the North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, the National Gateway has emerged as a leading public-private partnership. The project will use intermodal transportation and double-stack trains to improve America’s global market competitiveness, create jobs, reduce transportation-related emissions and alleviate congestion on roads and highways. Public-private partnerships strategically

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Miscellaneous

National Gateway Announces Addition of More Than 50 New Supporters

WASHINGTON — The National Gateway, an unprecedented public-private partnership dedicated to improving the nation’s freight capacity, today announced the addition of nearly 50 new supporters since June 1, 2009, bringing the total number of coalition supporters to more than 140. The National Gateway is an $842 million, multi-state public-private infrastructure initiative which will create a more efficient freight rail route between Mid-Atlantic ports and Midwestern markets. Planned improvements include raising bridges, increasing tunnel clearances and building new terminals along existing rail corridors to support the movement of double-stacked containers on rail cars. The coalition has the support of both public