Railway Track & Structures - March 2009 - (Page 6)

I N D U S T R Y T O D AY the Midwest to the Southeast, saving more than 50 miles on NS shipments. Third, CN will haul NS freight between Chicago and Fulton, shortening NS’s Chicago-to-Birmingham, Ala., route by almost 100 miles. As part of the MidAmerica Corridor, CN and NS plan to create a new coal gateway at Corinth, Miss., to better link NS-served southeastern utility plants with CN-served Illinois Basin coal producers. A key component of the new initiative is the West Tennessee Railroad between Fulton and Corinth, which will be upgraded to handle heavier shipments and additional rail traffic. among the benefits of the Metra Union Pacific West Line improvement project. Station work is scheduled to begin this month and conclude near the end of 2010. Metra service will not be disrupted while the project is under way. Completion of the third main line on the route will provide capacity to keep trains moving. Installing two universal crossovers will close a 15-mile gap between crossovers on the line, increasing the use of multiple tracks to bypass rail congestion. The triple-track phase of this project is expected to be completed near the end of 2011 or possibly early 2012. An upgraded rail signal system will allow trains to safely operate closer together and improve train flow. While there are no current plans to increase overall train volume on the west line, other trains will be able to operate while commuter trains are in stations as a result of the upgrades. These improvements will result in up to a 50-percent reduction in passenger and freight train delays, Metra ontime performance will improve, and overall grade-crossing gate downtime will improve by at least 11 percent. Communities also will see fewer trains Metra, UP plan upgrades on West Line near Chicago Improved passenger and freight train flow, an enhanced safety design, and a reduced environmental footprint are December crosstie report Purchases declined by 10 percent in December, but still demonstrated seasonal strength. Normally, the last month of the year represents about 5.9 percent of annual purchases, but 2008 came in at 6.7 percent. Like purchases, production usually falls off in December, but the latest data show an increase of 11 percent. Inventories increased by about one-half million ties. Quarterly market data. Inventories surged during the fourth quarter by 1.4 million ties. This was brought about by unusual strength in production (nine percent increase from the third quarter), while purchases fell 18 percent from a very strong third quarter to a level consistent with the average of fourth quarters from the past five years. Annual market data. During the year, production declined by one percent while purchases grew by three percent. Inventories experienced a midyear dip, but recovered by year end such that the inventory-to-sales ratio is 0.77 compared to 0.81, which represents the average of the past five years. Copyright RTA, 2009 6 Railway Track & Structures March 2009 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - March 2009 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D NRC Smashes Attendance Bridge Inspection Battling Bugs Ballast Fundamentals Vital to Keeping Track in Shape Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - March 2009

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