Rail news to begin your week:
— Amtrak is working on plans to increase maintenance work on its century-old tunnels under the Hudson River, work which is likely to lead to disruptions in service for Amtrak and commuter-rail passengers. Amtrak executive Stephen Gardner told the Associated Press that the railroad is “trying to balance what we can do now with the impact of doing it now. … If we have to curtail rush hour for the next five years to do some interim work, there’s huge impacts to that.” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told a House subcommittee on Thursday that beginning work now “is the right move.” Longstanding plans for new Gateway Project tunnels under the Hudson have included a major rehab of the existing tunnels after the new tunnels open, but Chao noted the new bore is seven to 10 years off and would cost $11 billion under the most optimistic projections.
— Fort Worth transit agency Trinity Metro announced it had received permission from the federal government to use leftover funding from construction of its TEXRail commuter line to extend the line 2.1 miles to Fort Worth’s medical district and Near Southside neighborhood. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that $38.9 million in federal funding remains, a little less than half the money needed for the extension. Original plans for TEXRail included service to the medical district, but that was cut in a cost-saving move.
— Business leaders in the North Platte, Neb., area have begun discussions with Union Pacific about developing a rail-connected industrial park, the North Platte Telegraph reports. The railroad has been participating in efforts to find a potential location for the rail park, a process complicated by the presence of Bailey Yard, the world’s largest rail yard. The railroad has long felt that a rail industrial park in the area wouldn’t work well with operations in and out of the yard, according to Gary Person, president and CEO of the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corp.
Union Pacific “has long felt that a rail industrial park in the area wouldn’t work well with operations in and out of the yard” at North Platte. How screwed up is a transportation business when it can ignore potential customers?