Scott A. Hartley
WASHINGTON — Eleven projects in nine states have received grants totaling more than $291 million under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. Awards were announced this morning. The program is intended to improve intercity passenger rail performance with repair or replacement of publicly owned assets; many of the projects receiving grants also benefit commuter and freight rail programs.
Some of the projects have been previously announced by local elected officials. Those not previously reported are:
California — $31.8 million to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority for rehabitation of track, structures, and grade crossings along the route used by the Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink commuter trains, and freight trains in Ventura County and northern Los Angeles County.
Massachusetts — $29.3 million to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for track and platform upgrades at Worchester Union Station, along with rehabilitation of two tracks and signals. Platform work will provide Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility and enable multiple trains to stop at Worcester simultaneously.
Maryland — $9.4 million to the Maryland Transit Administration for two storage tracks with catenary and ground power access at MARC’s Martin’s Yard. This will allow for the storage of trainsets currently stored at Baltimore Penn Station, which will allow state-of-good repair work and additional capacity at the Baltimore station.
New York — $2 million to the New York State Department of Transportation for grade crossing upgrades and addition of accessible pedestrian walkways and gates at the Peekskill, N.Y., on Metro-North’s Hudson Line, which also serves Amtrak and freight rail.
Pennsylvania — $15.9 million to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Amtrak, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for signal upgrades on the Amtrak-owned Harrisburg Line between Paoli and Overbrook, Pa. Improvements will allow bidirectional train movement on all tracks and higher operating speeds.
Virginia — $14.4 million to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to replace the double-track Newington Road Bridge with two new double-track bridges to be owned separately by CSX and the Commonwealth and Virginia as part of improvements in the Washington D.C. area. The project will replace a century-old bridge over a single-lane roadway, which will be widened to two lanes, and eliminate slow orders, allowing operating speeds of 60-70 mph.
Previously announced projects in California, Connecticut, Michigan, and New Jersey are outlined in this News Wire article. Additional details on the projects are available here.
