Commuter Rail

WASHINGTON –Washington Metro’s Board Planning, Development and Real Estate committee on Sept. 10 gave preliminarily approval to the transit agency’s second system infrastructure and rehabilitation program designed to cover all aspects of maintenance repairs throughout the Metrorail system. This program is scheduled for overhauling the Blue and Orange lines between the Stadium-Armory and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Metrorail stations. The $380 million maintenance project will encompass 24 miles of mainline track and 20 Metrorail stations. “This type of work is vital to maintaining the rail system and keeping the system operating as safely as possible,” said Metro General Manager

NEW YORK — MTA Metro-North Railroad has approved a $7.9 million contract to overhaul six 3,000-horsepower F40 locomotives in use on its West of Hudson service. The overhaul will include new, larger fuel tanks for more efficient operations. This overhaul program will help improve train operations and provide more reliable service for Port Jervis and Pascack Valley line customers, officials said.

NEW YORK — MTA Metro-North Railroad is streamlining its study of how best to provide direct train service from its New Haven and Hudson lines into Penn Station, New York via the east Bronx and Manhattan’s West Side, officials said. An environmental review began a decade ago with the intent of developing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a “Preferred Alternative” pursuant to the National Environmental Protection Act. Through two screening processes, an initial list of 22 service alternatives was narrowed to four “Build” alternatives; two alternatives for Hudson Line service to Penn Station and two alternatives for New Haven

WASHINGTON — Metro officials are investigating an accident that took place mid-morning today, Sept. 10, when a 44-year old Metro employee was struck by a six-car outbound train at 10:40 a.m. between the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Braddock Road Metrorail stations. The male employee, a communications technician in Metro’s Track, Structures and System Maintenance Office, was originally hired by Metro on Dec. 30, 1996. He was taken to a local hospital. It is believed that he sustained serious injuries. A communications technician is responsible for repairs to the communications network that alerts the Operations Control Center of vital

WASHINGTON — Washington Metro officials were notified by the U.S. Department of Justice that $3.4 million in federal funds would be returned to the transit authority to cover expenses associated with providing Metro service for the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. Metro had already received $475,000 in reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, so Metro’s total federal reimbursement was for $3.9 million. “The work of the regional Congressional delegation – Senators Mikulski, Cardin, Webb, and Warner and Representatives Hoyer, Moran, Norton, Wolf, Van Hollen, Edwards and Connolly — to include funding for Inaugural expenses in the FY2009 appropriations bill