Vancouver’s TransLink incentive to expand, and market, rail and transit options. The momentum is likely to continue. TransLink, part of British Columbia Rapid Transit Co., by almost all accounts performed admirably during the 2010 Winter Olympics, held Feb. 12-28 in Vancouver, British Columbia,
Ontario regional transport agency Metrolinx on Friday said it has entered into a C$53 million contract with Sumitomo Corp. of America to supply 12 diesel multiple-units (DMU) trains for the Air Rail Link (ARL) between Toronto’s Union Station and Lester B. Pearson International Airport. Sumitomo will be joined by Nippon Sharyo, Ltd. in the effort.
New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie (pictured), who put the Access to the Region’s Core Trans-Hudson Express commuter rail tunnel on a 30-day hold last month, on Thursday canceled the project outright, asserting that its cost had spiraled from an estimated $8.7 billion into the $11 billion to $14 billion range.
The $9 billion Access to the Region’s Core project is the most ambitious railway engineering and construction undertaking since the Pennsylvania Railroad tunneled under the waters of the Hudson River over a century ago.
Bombardier Transportation announced Monday it has signed aUS$715 million agreement to exercise an option with Metrolinx for 182 Flexitylow-floor light rail transit cars, included in a June 2009 contract. Deliverywill begin in 2013, with completion targeted for 2020.
AMTRAK
After confronting dark clouds for most of its 38-year life, Amtrak has seen a silver lining in the past year-and-a-half. The first break came with the passage of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) in October 2008, which is delivering $14.3 billion over five years.
Texas’ state capital joined the ranks of U.S. cities with rail service Monday as Austin’s oft-delayed 32-mile Capital Metro Red Line opened for service. An observer on the first train reported approximately 40 “real” people (other than dignitaries and media) boarding the morning’s first train out of Leander, Tex., bound for Austin.
As job locations and residential housing patterns shift throughout Chicagoland, Metra continues to thrive, and continues preparing to expand, setting an example other regional railroads might envy.
RailComm has successfully commissioned a Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system for the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s diesel multiple-unit (DMU) rail service in Austin, Tex. The Track Warrant Control portion of the system was launched just 32 days from the signed Notice to Proceed.