Eastern Maine Railway Acquires ex-Bangor & Aroostook Track

(via the Trains.com Newswire)

ST. JOHN, New Brunswick – Eastern Maine Railway, a subsidiary of Canada’s J.D. Irving Ltd., has purchased 28 miles of ex-Bangor & Aroostook track from the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. The track runs from Madawaska and Van Buren, Maine, and includes the international bridge that crosses the international border from Van Buren into St. Leonard. The deal closed June 17.

Eastern Maine Railway presently operates 200 miles of state-owned track, which Maine purchased in 2011 after MMA announced plans to abandon the lines. The latest acquisition will link Eastern Maine Railway’s operations and a Canadian National line on the Canadian side of the border. The 28 miles was not included in the original deal with the state. At the time of the original deal it was considered viable operation since it served the Twin Rivers paper mill in Madawaska, but since that time the mill has cut back on rail shipments. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway announced a tentative deal to sell the line in late 2011.

“It has never stopped being in discussion,” Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway President Robert Grindrod tells the Bangor Daily News. “Any time a railroad changes hands it requires government approval. It’s taken us this long to get us through that process.”

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Contracts Awarded for MBTA Wachusett Expansion

(via the Trains.com Newswire)

The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has awarded a $22.9 million contract to S&R Construction Enterprises to build the Wachusett commuter rail station in Fitchburg and a $12 million layover facility in Westminster. The agency plans to extend service on the Fitchburg line about 4.5 miles west from its downtown Fitchburg terminal to the new station.

The Wachusett station will be located northwest of the intersection of Massachusetts Routes 2 and 31 in Fitchburg. When completed, it will serve as the northwestern terminus for Fitchburg Line trains on the Pan Am Southern main line, lengthening the Fitchburg Line to 54 miles. The station is expected to draw 400 daily riders and open by the end of 2014.

The layover facility will be just 1.5 miles west of the new station, but has been met with community opposition in Westminster over noise pollution. The facility will have six 1000-foot tracks and replace a similar but smaller yard in East Fitchburg.

Former Boston & Maine Waltham Tower Closes

(via Trains.com News Wire)

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s former Boston & Maine interlocking tower at Waltham, Mass. (see “News & Photos,” December 2012), closed effective 3 p.m., June 1. Until 2012, the tower controlled several interlockings over a 27-mile segment of MBTA’s Fitchburg Line, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad.

Since 2012, Waltham’s interlockings have gradually been transferred to the MBCR Boston West Train Dispatcher, with the final cutover occurring Saturday. Built in 1928, the two-story brick tower likely will remain in use by maintenance forces. The few remaining towers in New England primarily handle moveable bridges and small sections of track.

Connecticut Awards $8 million for Rail Freight

(via the Trains.com News Wire)

HARTFORD, Conn. – Last week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, joined by Congressman Joe Courtney and state Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker, awarded more than $8 million in Rail Freight Infrastructure Program funding. The funding will be released to four regional and shortline railroads to improve and modernize the state's rail freight system. The Central New England Railroad, New England Central Railroad, Naugatuck Railroad, and Providence and Worcester Railroad will repair and upgrade rail lines, roadbeds, crossings, and culverts, as well as other related facilities.

“Improving our freight rail infrastructure is a critical component of strengthening Connecticut’s economy,” Gov. Malloy says. “Upgrades to tracks and crossings for rail freight certainly improve our overall transit system, but also create good jobs and a strong system for future commerce. These improvements will allow more freight to be moved safely at higher speeds, while at the same time ease highway gridlock and reduce air pollution.”

Annually, rail freight companies move 8.5 million tons of freight through Connecticut on more than 625 miles of tracks. 

"This competitive program specifically for freight rail companies will result in short-term improvements with long-term benefits," Commissioner Redeker says. "Freight operators are combining this funding with their own resources; this is a true public/private partnership that will have a positive lasting impact on Connecticut rail transportation.”

The projects funded include:

• $2.46 million for Central New England track and grade crossing signal infrastructure improvements installed between Hartford and Bloomfield on the state-owned line. Grade crossing warning devices will be installed, and surface and track improvements will be made at the Wintonbury Avenue and Mills Lane crossings in Bloomfield.

• $3.58 million for New England Central to upgrade its main line between New London and the Connecticut/Massachusetts state line to accommodate 286,000-pound rail cars. The project includes upgrading switches, making repairs to the Norwich Tunnel, and rehabilitating nine grade crossings. 

• $1.65 million for Naugatuck Railroad to repair the state-owned line between Waterbury and Torrington. Naugatuck Railroad will replace ties and worn rails, and improve a rail crossing at Frost Bridge Road on Route 262 in Watertown.

• $760,000 for Providence & Worcester Railroad to rehabilitate 26 miles of the Norwich Branch between Plainfield and the Massachusetts state line. New ties, spikes, and ballast will be installed, and rail speeds on the line will increase.