Biden Kicks Off Baltimore Rail Tunnel Replacement
President Joe Biden traveled to Baltimore, Md., on Jan. 30 to join Amtrak, U.S. Department of Transportation and the state of Maryland to kick off the Baltimore and Potomac (B&P) Tunnel replacement
Author: Kyra Senese
Chicago, Philadelphia Transit Leaders Sign Deal to Support Minority-Owned Businesses
A first-of-its-kind agreement struck Jan. 9 by the heads of the transit systems in Chicago and Philadelphia is intended to make it simpler for minority-owned companies to do business with both systems.
MassDOT, MBTA approve $18B capital plan
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board of Directors and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal Management and Control Board voted June 18 to approve the five-year $18.3 billion MassDOT and MBTA Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Years 2020-2024.
Claussen new ASLRRA Chair
Doc Claussen, vice chair of Gulf & Ohio Railways, Inc., is the new chair of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).
FTA stymies Gateway tunnels with “medium-low” rating
The $13 billion Hudson River tunnel project, aimed at building two new rail tunnels between New York and New Jersey, is again facing funding problems after federal authorities announced a rating that means the project remains “ineligible for critical grant funding.”
Moffat, Albhaisi join Stantec
Global design and engineering firm Stantec recently added two senior executives to its Transportation Business Line: Barbara Moffat, Vice President Transportation-U.S. West; and Dr. Suhail Albhaisi, Regional Bridge Leader and Senior Principal-U.S. Northeast.
Amtrak elevates Winters to IG
Amtrak’s Board of Directors has elevated Deputy Inspector General and Counsel Kevin Winters to Inspector General, effective immediately. Winters replaces Tom Howard, who will retire after working for 40 years in senior federal accountability positions. Winters has served as Deputy IG and Counsel since 2015, after serving as a senior executive with NASA’s Office of Inspector General for a decade.
BNSF cameras pinpoint rail, wheel problems
BNSF Railway is deploying high-speed onboard cameras capable of recording images, at speeds up to 70 mph, of rail surface defects and other visible flaws like missing bolts, according to a recent report in The Dickinson Press of Bismarck, N.D.
Schumer pushes DOD for new Fort Drum railhead
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader, met with Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan the week of Jan. 7, and reportedly urged the Department of Defense (DOD) to focus on the construction of a new railhead project at Fort Drum in the Army’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Budget Request.
HDR selects Buchanan for Texas projects
Engineering firm HDR has added Brian Buchanan to its transit practice as a transit principal project manager and transit section manager.