A look at Monday morning rail news:
— CSX Transportation will reactivate its idled Hulsey Yard in Atlanta, a decision announced just days after city officials drafted a resolution regarding possible future use for the property. Curbed Atlanta quotes CSX spokesman Bryan Tucker as saying the 70-acre facility, formerly an intermodal terminal, will become a transload facility. Neighbors who had hoped the area might be redeveloped with high-density housing and transit will instead see the return of commercial activity, although with only an estimated 20-25 trucks daily, rather than the hundreds of daily moves involved in the yard’s previous usage.
— Four passengers were injured when a South Shore Line commuter train derailed as it arrived at downtown Chicago’s Millennium Station on Saturday morning. The Chicago Sun-Times quotes the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District as reporting the low-speed derailment occurred about 7:50 a.m. The injuries were reported to be minor.
— With voting set to conclude in little more than a week, spending on a ballot initiative to fund Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit is nearing $2.8 million since Jan. 1. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat says the initiative is now the most expensive in area history, with opponents spending almost $1.7 million and proponents raising almost $1.2 million for advertising including television spots and mailers. The measure would extend a quarter-cent sales tax to fund the rail system for another 30 years.
