With service expected to launch early next year, Phoenix Valley Metro’s 1.6-mile Northwest Extension Phase II project is now in the testing phase. (Phoenix Valley Metro Photograph)

Transit Briefs: CTA, MARTA, Phoenix Valley Metro, SacRT, Tri-Rail, TTC

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is developing a chatbot for customer assistance on its website. Also, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) advances its Five Points Station Transformation Project; Phoenix Valley Metro readies for the Northwest Extension Phase II project’s 2024 launch; the first of Sacramento (Calif.) Regional Transit District’s (SacRT) new Siemens Mobility SD700s enter the final testing phase; Tri-Rail’s commuter rail ridership recovery continues in Florida; and Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) awards a radio communications coverage contract for a subway system pilot project.

(Collage Courtesy of TCR Rail Systems)

Rail Investments Acquires TCR Rail Systems

Simpsonville, Ky.-based TCR Rail Systems has been sold to Rail Investments, LLC, according to RR Mergers & Acquisitions, which facilitated the transaction. With a 98,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehousing facility, TCR Rail Systems

(Photograph of East Palestine, Ohio, Courtesy of NS)

NS Advances East Palestine Assistance Program

With most of the “intensive” remediation work complete following Norfolk Southern’s (NS) Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the Class I on Dec. 5 reported turning its focus to long-term initiatives,

(Maryland DOT Photograph)

MDOT Tightening Budget Belt

The state of Maryland’s six-year transportation spending plan includes some $3.3 billion in proposed cuts across modal administrations to address “declining revenue projections,” it reported Dec. 5.

President Joe Biden joined elected officials from Nevada and California to formally announce that the Nevada Department of Transportation has received $3 billion in funding from the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program for Brightline West. (Brightline West Photograph)

Brightline West Lands $3B HSR Project Grant (Updated 12/8)

Brightline West will advance its 218-mile high-speed rail (HSR) project linking Las Vegas and Southern California with a new $3 billion grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Earlier this year, the

(Koray) Mert Yilmaz, President of Engineered Products, A. Stucki Co.

Yilmaz Appointed A. Stucki Co. President, Engineered Products

A. Stucki Co. has tapped (Koray) Mert Yilmaz as President of Engineered Products for railroad rolling stock, serving the leasing, manufacturing, railroad and shipper markets.

Pictured, Left to Right: Paulo Faria, Design Director for Transportation Architecture, HDR; Martin Ellwood, Senior Project Director, HNTB; and Hayes Morrison, Undersecretary, MassDOT.

People News: HDR, HNTB, MassDOT

Paulo Faria rejoins HDR as Design Director for Transportation Architecture. Also, HNTB appoints Martin Ellwood as Senior Project Director, supporting rail infrastructure projects; and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) elevates Hayes Morrison to Undersecretary.

(Shutterstock.com/ TierneyMJ)

UMD Issues Call for Papers on Rail Cybersecurity

The University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) is seeking papers on cyber and digital information in railway engineering and operations for a short course and workshop, to be held March 7-8, 2024.

In August 2021, the STB Office of Environmental Analysis issued a Final EIS for the Uinta Basin Railway project, identifying the 88-mile Whitmore Park Alternative as the environmentally preferred route, one of three analyzed. It would extend from two terminus points in northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin near Myton and Leland Bench to a connection with the existing Union Pacific Provo Subdivision near Kyune (see map above).

Report: Court Will Not Rehear Uinta Basin Railway Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Dec. 4 denied a petition to rehear challenges to its August 2023 decision that halted the Uinta Basin Railway project in

“Nonpolice community service officers” at Metro Transit in Minneapolis/St. Paul began checking fares Dec. 4 on the Blue and Green light rail lines. (Metro Transit Photograph)

Transit Briefs: Metro Transit, SCVTA

Metro Transit in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., launches a fare enforcement program. Also, more affordable housing will be built on Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA)-owned property.

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