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Rail News: Passenger Rail
9/13/2012
Rail News: Passenger Rail
Chicago Transit Authority awards $220 million contract for Red Line reconstruction
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Yesterday, the Chicago Transit Board awarded a $220 million contract to Kiewit Infrastructure Corp. to reconstruct the Red Line South, one of the largest reconstruction projects in the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) history.
The project, which will begin in spring 2013, calls for rebuilding the 43-year-old Red Line South, including all track, ties, ballast and drainage systems from Cermak/Chinatown to 95th Street, CTA officials said in a prepared statement.
"By the end of 2013, we will provide our customers a south Red Line that is faster, smoother and better than it has been in decades," said CTA President Forrest Claypool.
Kiewit submitted the lowest bid for the trackwork component of the project at $220.1 million, and was found to be "most qualified," CTA officials said. The firm also exceeded the agency's target of 28 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation by using the services of 23 DBE subcontractors.
CTA now is soliciting proposals for the station improvement part of the project, which will include renewal and improvement of eight stations.
The total estimated budget for the project — including design, construction and additional CTA service — is $425 million, agency officials said. The project is part of more than $1 billion in federal, state and local funds being spent on the Red Line, the busiest in CTA's rail system.
Also yesterday, the board approved a "crowding reduction plan" that will add train service to high-demand routes across Chicago starting in mid-December. The additional service will reduce the time between trains and buses and lower peak crowd loads by 10 percent to 15 percent in most cases, CTA officials said.
The service changes will help the system adapt to growing ridership. For the first half of 2012, CTA's rail ridership increased 5.3 percent and bus ridership rose by more than 2 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
The project, which will begin in spring 2013, calls for rebuilding the 43-year-old Red Line South, including all track, ties, ballast and drainage systems from Cermak/Chinatown to 95th Street, CTA officials said in a prepared statement.
"By the end of 2013, we will provide our customers a south Red Line that is faster, smoother and better than it has been in decades," said CTA President Forrest Claypool.
Kiewit submitted the lowest bid for the trackwork component of the project at $220.1 million, and was found to be "most qualified," CTA officials said. The firm also exceeded the agency's target of 28 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation by using the services of 23 DBE subcontractors.
CTA now is soliciting proposals for the station improvement part of the project, which will include renewal and improvement of eight stations.
The total estimated budget for the project — including design, construction and additional CTA service — is $425 million, agency officials said. The project is part of more than $1 billion in federal, state and local funds being spent on the Red Line, the busiest in CTA's rail system.
Also yesterday, the board approved a "crowding reduction plan" that will add train service to high-demand routes across Chicago starting in mid-December. The additional service will reduce the time between trains and buses and lower peak crowd loads by 10 percent to 15 percent in most cases, CTA officials said.
The service changes will help the system adapt to growing ridership. For the first half of 2012, CTA's rail ridership increased 5.3 percent and bus ridership rose by more than 2 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
