Hotline #907

Work begins on ADA-Compliant Platform Device

Michigan-based engineering firm RLE International, Inc. has developed an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant transition platform that mitigates the gap between Amtrak passenger rail cars and boarding platforms. A prototype of the setback level boarding platform will be installed at the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Amtrak station in early July 2015, with testing to follow soon after.

NARP board member John DeLora, who attended a community briefing unveiling the project, said that surveying stakes have been planted, showing that the project is under way. “The device is described as a mobile shuttle platform, with the boarding area equipped with gates and sensors to prevent operation while anyone is standing on the movable section. The platform is heated for winter use,” he said.

RLE conducted extensive field studies, including riding passenger rail cars while seated in a wheelchair, to better understand what a passenger with a disability experiences.

“RLE said it will use the prototype device from their Sterling Heights manufacturing site. The device will be at 48 inches above the top of the rail,” said DeLora. “When deployed, it will be seven inches from the rail car, while a lightweight carbon-fiber bridge plate will be used to cover the seven-inch gap.”

The test module will be 40 feet long and will have a canopy to give passengers some shelter from the weather, said DeLora. “One unit is currently undergoing environmental testing at temperatures ranging from -30 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius, with water, ice and salt being used,” he said. “If units are installed for the entire length of a train, boarding and station dwell times could be cut by nearly half. This would be a far more cost-effective way to get time out of the schedule rather than upgrading track.”

The prototype test hardware is tentatively scheduled to be removed by July 2017. The unit will be disassembled, taken back to Sterling Heights and evaluated to see if there are unforeseen excess stress points or wear, said DeLora. “East Lansing is the prime candidate for the first permanent unit installation since a new station is being built there.

A perfect storm of opponents to the privately held Texas Central Railway -- which wants to operate high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston—is converging, reports the CityLab blog. They include the groups No Texas Central and Texans Against High-Speed Rail, along with local legislators. Opponents say TCR’s plans take funding away from needed road projects, could potentially misuse eminent domain to get land for the tracks. The bill to approve the effort is sitting in the Texas House Transportation Committee.

TCR President Robert Eckels took these groups—largely conservative in nature—to task for impeding a private business through government regulations. “Unfortunately, in a disturbing development, a group of Texas legislators – all Republicans like me – are actively discriminating among businesses in the free-market and want the state and federal governments to actively pick winners and losers in the Lone Star State.

“Several bills and amendments have been introduced in the Texas Legislature that specifically target high-speed rail, not to further incentivize the marketplace or applaud Texas companies like Texas Central Railway for bringing private solutions to public infrastructure problems. Rather, proposed legislation would deny this particular private enterprise – and often passenger rail in general – the ability to establish operations.

“For background, the Texas Central project is led by private investors based on several years and millions of dollars worth of investment-grade market research that quantitatively proves the viability of high-speed rail between our state’s two largest metro and economic areas. It would represent the first such service in the Americas, and it comes at a time when Texas’ transportation infrastructure sorely needs massive investments to relieve current strain and keep pace with a dramatic increase in demand due to rapid population growth.”

Eckels also points out that hundreds of other companies in Texas have the same access to eminent domain authority that TCR is seeking—including other railroads—and that landowners will still be protected by stringent rules to protect their property rights.

Further complicating matters, the Dallas Morning News reports while the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is a big supporter of the project, DART’s lead lobbyist in Washington, Galt Graydon, also happens to be working for Texans Against High-Speed Rail, the main group opposing TCR’s efforts.

Finally, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s editorial board is supporting TCR’s rail project, saying that “Railroads are common carriers built to fill the need to transport goods and people.” The newspaper accused opponents of the project of being “all over the map” and being “logically inconsistent.”

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y) announced $3 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund the Intercity Passenger Rail Grade Crossing Improvements, Positive Train Control (PTC) Implementation, and Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan Grant program in New York state. The money will advance safety precautions on railways and provide engineering assistance to implement the PTC system on the Hudson Line from Poughkeepsie to Hoffmann's, N.Y., and from west of Schenectady for the Empire and Adirondack corridors.

The New York Times published a major story on an $8.5 billion development of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, which includes air rights that will add three million square feet of extra space to the facility. Under the plan, Union Station will add office space, residential units, retail space, a hotel and parks and plazas.

The public-private partnership that manages Union Station tapped two firms -- Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners and Grimshaw Architects -- to plan the massive project. Beyer Blinder Belle designed the renovation of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, while Grimshaw worked on London’s Waterloo International Terminal.

Speaking of train station projects, federal, state and local officials in Illinois announced $7 million in federal funds to help improve rail service at Chicago's Union Station, reports Progressive Railroading. The city will use the money for two projects: conduct a terminal planning study and create a plan to boost capacity at the 90-year-old station. The project is needed as Union Station, the third-busiest rail terminal in the nation, is already operating at near-full capacity.

The key to improving service on Indiana’s Hoosier State passenger rail line is good marketing, said Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific Holdings, which operates the line. A story on JCOnline reports that his other plans include offering travel packages on the Hoosier State, hiring a marketing manager who will plan trips around collegiate and professional athletic events and eventually running 12 passenger trains a day, contingent on installing side tracks and upgrading existing CSX Corp. tracks so passenger and freight trains can run concurrently.

The mayor of San Jose was among those who took part in a Stand Up 4 Transportation rally at San Jose State University to get Congress to renew the $105 billion Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), set to expire on May 31, 2015, reports CBS San Francisco. The American Public Transportation Association says the U.S. needs about $160 billion in funds to repair its public transit and road systems, and San Jose city officials want funding for a proposed multi-billion-dollar extension for the BART commuter train system.