Railfanning.org News Wire – Page 377

STB to Examine Grain Transport

October 14, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board will hold a Nov. 2 hearing to discuss issues related to the transportation of grain by railroad. On Oct. 6, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on rates, competition, and capacity issues in the American rail freight industry. According to the GAO preliminary report, the amount of grain traffic with comparatively high markups over variable cost increased notably between 1985 and 2004. Although GAO reported that changes that have occurred in the rail industry since the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 are widely viewed as positive – with a healthier

Romney Implements Bag Inspections On The MBTA

October 14, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

BOSTON – Gov. Mitt Romney earlier this month directed the MBTA to re-institute regular random bag inspections on the public transit system in order to shake up normal routines and make it more difficult to plan and carry out a potential terrorist act. The MBTA conducted random bag searches for a limited time before and during the Democratic National Convention in 2004. “Terrorism is not a traditional criminal activity,” Romney said. “We are fighting a war against people who have as their objective the overthrow of the United States government. Given that kind of threat, we have to adjust our

Multilevel Rail Cars to Debut on Northeast Corridor

October 14, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. – After months of extensive testing, N.J. Transit will place the first multilevel train into service on Dec. 11 for customers on the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York. “These cars provide much needed capacity to meet our growing demand while we build the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel,” said N.J. Transit Chairman and Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri. “We look forward to customers coming aboard.” “The Port Authority was proud to partner with N.J. Transit by providing $250 million for the first 100 multilevel rail cars,” said Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia. “That investment was the precursor to

Metro Unveils New 6000 Series Train On Green Line

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Earlier this month, Metro officially introduced its first six new 6000 series train on the Green Line. The first three pairs, operating as a six-car train, departed the Greenbelt Metrorail station at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 3, to the Branch Avenue Metrorail station. By the end of the year, 50 of the new cars are expected to be in service, and by the end of 2008, Metro expects to have all 184 of these new rail cars in service. “Once again, the Metrorail system has achieved another milestone in its illustrious 30-year history,” said Gladys Mack, Chairperson of Metro’s

Idlewild Park and Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association Save Historic Landmark

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

LIGONIER, Pa. – Idlewild Park and the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association are working together to preserve the historic Darlington Station. “We plan to restore the building to its 1930s grandeur and re-open it as a museum and resource center focused on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road and related industry,” said Bill McCullough, President and co-founder of the LVRRA. Idlewild Park and Soak Zone, and Kennywood Entertainment, have agreed to sub-divide and grant the property to the LVRRA and the lead grant awarded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation will allow the Association to restore the exterior of the building

Opponents of $2.3 Billion DM&E Loan Voice Concern as Public Comment Period Draws to a Close

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – As public comments came to a close, a distinguished group of national leaders has voiced their opposition to the loan and called on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to deny a Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) proposal. “The American taxpayer is being railroaded again,” George Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom Institute, a public policy foundation dedicated to promoting free market principles, said in a statement during the comment period. “The DM&E railroad has a history of failing to live up to its financial obligations. American taxpayers deserve to know who the money is going to and

Commuter Rail, Bus Rapid Transit Feasibility Study Launched by Tulsa Transit

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Transit’s board of directors has approved a six-month feasibility study on commuter rail and/or bus rapid transit between downtown Tulsa and downtown Broken Arrow. “This has been a topic of discussion for many years in both Tulsa and Broken Arrow, but until this time, there has not been a serious feasibility study,” Tulsa Transit General Manager Bill Cartwright said. “The firm we have retained, Lockwood, Andrews & Newman has completed similar studies in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. They have extensive knowledge in the rail/bus rapid transit field and their studies have resulted in implementation in

NTSB to Consider Two Final Accident Reports

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public board meeting Oct. 17 to consider final accident reports about a pair of crashes. The first case involves an Oct. 15, 2005, collision near Texarkana, Ark. In that wreck, a westbound Union Pacific Railroad train collided with the rear of a standing UP train in a rail yard. The collision resulted in the puncture of a railroad tank car containing propylene, a flammable gas. An unknown ignition source ignited the migrating gas, exploding a house and killing the person inside. Approximately 3,000 residents within a 1-mile radius of the

Amtrak’s Carl Sandburg to Start Running Oct. 30

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Starting Oct. 30, Illinois’ partnership with Amtrak will include an additional train on the Quincy-Chicago corridor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced.The expanded service comes after news that all state-sponsored Amtrak routes posted record ridership levels for Illinois’ Fiscal Year 2006; the expansion also includes additional round-trips on the Chicago-Carbondale line. Tickets for the new trains are now on sale. The expansion is part of a plan to more than double state-sponsored passenger rail service. Round-trips between Chicago and downstate will increase from three daily to seven daily by the end of October. “Amtrak is an affordable travel option,

BNSF, CSX Create High-Volume Intermodal Corridor

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF and CSX today announced plans to create a high-volume rail corridor for reliable intermodal services on the lines connecting California, Atlanta and the rest of the fast-growing Southeast Region. The planned service will initially include two intermodal trains each day between the West Coast and Southeast in each direction. Corridor volume on the line is expected to grow with the overall expansion of the West Coast to Southeast intermodal market. To support the planned service, BNSF will expand capacity on its rail lines connecting Avard, Okla., Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. CSX will expand its