Southern Rail Commission

Transit Briefs: BART; TTC/TransLink; SRC

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) has awarded ICF a contract for up to $30 million to provide environmental services for Link21. In addition, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Vancouver’s TransLink are installing antimicrobial copper coatings on high-touch vehicle services as part of a pilot; and the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) will award federal grants to four cities for passenger rail station upgrades in anticipation of Amtrak’s Gulf Coast service restoration.

STB Will Consider Amtrak Gulf Coast Case

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Aug. 6 concluded that the matter of Amtrak providing Gulf Coast service over host freight railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) “is ripe for adjudication.”

FRA’s Bose Backs Interstate Rail Compacts

Interstate rail compacts “deliver results and hold tremendous promise in advancing passenger rail development,” FRA Acting Administrator Amit Bose said during a recent quarterly meeting of the Southern Rail Commission (SRC).

Gulf Coast Service? Not So Fast, Say CSX, NS

“Unripe.” That is what CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) have called Amtrak’s application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) asking for an order requiring the freight railroads to permit access for twice daily round-trip passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, starting on or about Jan. 1, 2022.

New Orleans-Mobile Amtrak Service in Development

There is a good deal of controversy swirling around proposed new intercity passenger rail service between New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala., involving Amtrak, two Class I railroads, a multi-state agency and a major Alabama port.

Wicker establishes rail service restoration task force

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) on Feb. 16, 2016 announced that a new group has been established to study the return of passenger rail service between New Orleans, La. to Orlando, Fla. along the Gulf Coast. This line of service was lost after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.