STB orders mediation in Amtrak Gulf Coast
The Surface Transportation Board has ordered meditation in the case involving Amtrak’s application to relaunch passenger-rail service on CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway tracks in the Gulf Coast. The board also is allowing certain Amtrak personnel limited access to specific rail traffic study data so that it can fully respond to issues raised by the board in the recent hearing. In addition, the board’s decision extended the deadline for filing supplemental evidence by 30 days, until July 13th. The proposed service would run between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. [progressiverailroading.com]
Amtrak seeks $200M for Chicago infrastructure
Amtrak is seeking more than $200 million in federal funding in an attempt to fix a series of long-standing deficiencies, capacity limitations, and how trains from the south and east enter Chicago. The passenger operator is competing for a portion of $5 billion available between 2022 and 2026, which it would match with $83.7 million from its annual appropriation and an equal amount from a combination of partners including state and regional transportation departments. If Amtrak is selected, the total of $418.5 million from all sources would fund a number of interconnected projects. [trains.com]
Port Authority rebrands as Pittsburgh Regional Transit
The Port Authority of Allegheny County will now be called the Pittsburgh Regional Transit. According to Pittsburgh Regional Transit officials, the new name and brand “better reflects the services, values, and location of who we are and what we do every day.” Officials say the name PRT, pronounced “part,” represents where they operate and the services they provide. Public information and materials such as schedules, brochures, the website and signage will be redesigned in various stages consistent with the PRT brand over the next year. [wtae.com]
Designs for reimagined NY Penn Station due in July
The governors of New Jersey and New York gave architects and engineers a summer homework assignment: Have designs for a reimagined New York Penn Station to them by the end of July. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday the goal of having a conceptual design in the third quarter of the year for a plan to add light and more public space to the dank subterranean rail station. The governors and regional transit officials outlined the plans during a press conference in the Moynihan train hall. [nj.com]
China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan proj to start in 2023
China’s main planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, has announced that work on a railway between China and Uzbekistan will begin in 2023, 25 years after it was first proposed. The 523 km (325 mi) rail link will link the city of Kashgar in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region with Andijan in Uzbekistan. The link will shorten the rail route between China and Europe by 900 km (560 mi) and cut up to eight days off the time required to transport goods. [globalconstructionreview.com]
