Showing posts with label Federal Railroad Administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal Railroad Administration. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2009

What's Wrong With Cap Metro ... and What's Right

From Austin Chronicle, April 24, 2009...

To say that the month of March went poorly for Capital Metro is putting it mildly.

In midmonth, after already a half-year's delay, the agency announced that its new MetroRail commuter rail line would not meet its planned March 30 launch date due to a labor subcontractor's violation of Federal Railroad Administration safety rules. Rail service would finally begin about a month later, the agency said.

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Obama's high-speed rail plan includes Texas

From Austin Business Journal, April 16, 2009...

President Obama has unveiled new components of a plan to build a nationwide high-speed rail system that includes Texas.

The plan could use $8 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as well as up to $5 billion over five years from the federal budget as a “down payment” to help create passenger trains.

The Federal Railroad Administration is expected to begin awarding its first round of grants by late summer.

The report from Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood identifies 10 major corridors where high-speed rail would work.

The planned corridors are in California, Washington-Oregon, Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas, the Gulf Coast including New Orleans and Atlanta, Florida, the Great Lakes centered on Chicago, the Southeast including the Carolinas and Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York and Northern New England.

In Texas, the South Central High-Speed Corridor, would link Dallas-Fort Worth; Austin; San Antonio; Texarkana; Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Okla;. and Little Rock, Ark. A separate line would connect Houston with New Orleans, Mobile and other cities in the Southeast.

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