Railway Track & Structures - November 2007 - (Page 7)

facility is ideally situated to tap back haul export opportunities, filling empty containers on the move back to Asia through Prince Rupert with lumber, panels, wood pulp, paper, as well as ores, plastics and some metal products. The new traffic will not only boost CN business, but also generate new employment opportunities in the Prince George area.” The Prince George Distribution Centre has an 84,000square-foot warehouse and 10 acres of outside storage. A full range of services will be provided by CN WorldWide North America, including product transfer, inspection, consolidation/deconsolidation, inventory control and transportation. CN’s new adjacent intermodal rail yard features two 2,400foot pad tracks, trucking and truck pick-up capabilities and an automated gate system. CN is providing direct, daily rail service from the Prince George facility to the Port of Prince Rupert. PATH to receive $1.3-billion signal upgrade The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey authorized a project that will lead to a capacity increase on the PATH system of 20 percent. The initiative is a key component of the agency’s $1.3-billion program to upgrade the aging rail system to handle the growing regional demand for mass transit. The Board previously approved $809 million to replace PATH’s entire 340 car fleet. Later, the agency approved an additional $500 million, including overhauling the PATH signal system and enabling a significant increase in the number of train movements while improving on-time performance and efficiency. When both projects are complete, the nearly-100-year-old PATH system will have completely replaced infrastructure that is nearly 40 years old, among the oldest in the country. Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said, “We are transforming the PATH system from the oldest rail system in the country into the newest. By bringing PATH into the 21st Century, and investing $2 billion in a new passenger rail tunnel into Manhattan, the Port Authority is demonstrating again its commitment to ensuring that the region’s transportation infrastructure has the capacity it needs to allow our economy to prosper.” The installation of the new signal system is scheduled to begin next year, with completion in 2014. New PATH cars will be phased into the system beginning next year and continuing through 2011. The technology used for the existing 38-year-old signal system, known as a fixed-block system, dates to the early 20th Century, when the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad was first constructed, and it limits PATH’s ability to adapt to increased capacity and service demands. Many components are no longer produced or supported, have exceeded their expected useful life span, and have become increasingly unavailable when replacements are needed. Featuring state-of-the-art automatic train control, the new signals system will improve reliability and efficiency, and allow PATH to run trains closer together, reducing headways and increasing frequency. Safety enhancements will include continuous over-speed protection, which prevents trains from exceeding speed limits, and passengers’ comfort will be improved because trains will travel more smoothly as they arrive and depart stations. www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures November 2007 7 http://www.innotrans.com http://www.innotrans.com http://www.innotrans.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - November 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Seattle Retrofits Downtown Transit Tunnel Switch Stand, Switch Machines Planning M/W with Modern, High-Tech Tools Products & Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - November 2007

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