Railfanning.org News Wire – Page 334

Oberstar, Cummings Release Findings of GAO Report: Railroad Bridges and Tunnels May Also Be at Risk

September 23, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis Aug. 1 focused attention on the condition of the nation’s highway bridges, but a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released last month warns that many of the nation’s railroad bridges and tunnels may also be at risk. While most highway bridges are built and maintained by states and local governments, railroad bridges and tunnels are the property of the railroads themselves and do not receive regular inspections by federal safety officials. Railroads own and maintain some 76,000 bridges and 800 tunnels in the United States. “We just

Rahway Station Dedicated to Tireless Passenger Advocate

September 22, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — Rahway Station has been dedicated to the late L. Richard Mariani to memorialize his leadership and dedication as an N.J. Transit employee to the mission of promoting public transportation and caring for the customer. The Rahway Center Partnership unveiled a plaque during a ceremony at Rahway Station on the Northeast Corridor rail line to honor Mariani’s enduring work on projects to renovate Rahway Station and the plaza that connects the station to the surrounding neighborhood, as well as his significant customer service contributions over the course of his distinguished 26-year career at N.J. Transit. — Special to

N.J. Transit Ridership Reaches 865,000 Trips a Day

September 22, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — N.J. Transit ridership set new all-time highs in Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07), with average weekday ridership reaching 865,000 weekday trips on the agency’s bus, rail and light rail lines. The Corporation’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. The fourth quarter (April-June) showed an overall ridership increase of four percent above the same period last year. Weekday ridership increased 3.9 percent over last year, averaging 890,000 passenger trips—the highest quarterly figure in N.J. Transit ’s history — while weekend ridership increased 4.7 percent to 689,000 trips. In all, N.J. Transit carried more than 64 million

N.J. Transit to Study Initiatives Along Busy Corridor

September 22, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — Initiatives to increase the use of public transportation along the increasingly congested I-78 and Raritan Valley Line corridors will be explored in a study approved today by the N.J. Transit Board of Directors. The study will build upon a North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) study and advance some of the NJTPA recommendations for non-highway solutions to meet the region’s current and future mobility demands. “This study will help N.J. Transit identify opportunities as we look to offer transportation alternatives to residents and employers alike in a growing section of the state,” said NJ Transit Chairman and

Landmark Study Puts Rail Infrastructure Needs at $148 Billion

September 22, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — About $148 billion must be invested to expand the nation’s freight rail infrastructure over the next three decades to make sure that adequate rail capacity exists to meet future demand, according to the results of a first-of-its-kind study to measure rail capacity needs. Released Sept. 20, the National Rail Freight Infrastructure Capacity and Investment Study explores the long-term capacity expansion needs of the continental U.S. freight railroads. “These investments will help the freight rail industry ease highway congestion, reduce stress on highways and bridges, significantly lower transportation-related energy consumption and emissions, and maintain existing capacity for Amtrak and

DOT Digest: FRA Grants to Short Line Railroads and for Rail-Related Research

September 21, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — BTS Releases 2006 Border-Crossing Data. The number of trucks entering the United States from Canada and Mexico was 11.4 million in 2006, 0.5 percent higher than in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. More than 6.6 million trucks entered the U.S. from Canada and almost 4.8 million entered from Mexico. Border-crossing data posted on the BTS website includes numbers of incoming trucks, trains, buses, containers, personal vehicles, and pedestrians entering the United States through land ports and ferry crossings on the U.S.-Canada

FRA Proposed Rule Promotes Adoption of Advanced Train Braking Technology To Improve Rail Safety and Efficiency

September 20, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Advanced brake technology will enable locomotive engineers to significantly improve train control and allow trains to safely travel longer distances between required brake tests under new proposed federal rules, announced U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. “Trains with better brakes mean safer railroad operations and improved rail freight service,” said Secretary Peters, explaining that Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brakes provide improved train control through simultaneous and graduated application and release of the brakes on all rail cars, a significant safety improvement over conventional air brake systems. In addition, Secretary Peters noted that the proposed rule would permit a

Union Pacific Rail Yard Would Include Features Designed to Reduce Brighton Traffic Disruption

September 20, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

OMAHA, Neb. — Traffic disruption at four rail crossings in downtown Brighton, Colo., would be reduced as part of the development of a new Union Pacific (UP) classification yard and intermodal terminal proposed between Brighton and Fort Lupton, Colo. A classification yard and intermodal terminal currently located in Denver would be relocated to the proposed new site between Brighton and Fort Lupton in order to make way for two FasTracks commuter rail corridors, under a possible agreement between UP and the Regional Transportation District (RTD). Plans under consideration include new sidings – a section of track parallel to the main

Union Pacific Railroad Makes Track Improvements Between Des Moines and Kansas City

September 18, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad is spending $8.2 million this year on track improvements between Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City, Mo. Upon completion of the projects, crews will have removed and installed 55,400 ties; spread 10,700 tons of rock ballast to ensure a stable roadbed; replaced the surfaces at 31 road crossings, and replaced 2.5 miles of rail in various curves on the line. Work began on these projects in January and is scheduled to be completed by January 2008. Crews are currently replacing 33,000 wooden ties between Williamson, Iowa, and near Chariton, Iowa, and are scheduled to

NTSB: Chicago Derailment Caused by Ineffective Management and Oversight

September 18, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause of the derailment of a Chicago commuter transit train in the summer of 2006 resulted from the Chicago Transit Authority’s ineffective management and oversight of its track inspection and maintenance program and its system safety program, which resulted in unsafe track conditions. At 5:06 p.m. (CDT) on July 11, 2006, the last car of northbound Chicago Transit Authority train No. 220 derailed in the subway between Clark/Lake and Grand/Milwaukee stations in downtown Chicago. After the train came to a stop, electrical arcing between the last car and