Work on the rule was initiated during the Obama administration but put on pause during the Trump White House. The derailment, fire and chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio, last year, pushed federal regulators to act.
Buttigieg said a second crew member, usually called a conductor, is essential for safety.
“A second crew member is vital to performing safety functions like securing a train with handbrakes, handling track switches that are not remotely controlled, obtaining track authorities, assisting in emergencies and much more,” he said.”
The industry’s principal advocacy organization, the Association of American Railroads, opposes the rule.
“You know, when they pushed against the rules requiring two-person crews at the state level, one of the things the railroad lobby said was the federal government should be the one to make the rule so there’s uniformity across state lines,” Buttigieg said. “So, here we go.”
Train crews used to have as many as five or six workers. But technology and updated labor agreements eventually reduced the typical size to two.
The U.S. Department of Transportation provided $16 million for the Wheeling project. It’s upgrading the sidewalks, stormwater drains, accessibility for people with disabilities, lighting and landscaping.
A long string of cars and trucks crept by as workers operated heavy machinery along Wheeling’s Main Street.
Traffic also slowed for a special guest: Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) secretary and a point person for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law.
The department provided $16 million for the Wheeling project. It’s upgrading the sidewalks, stormwater drains, accessibility for people with disabilities, lighting and landscaping.
After years of neglect, downtown Wheeling is seeing a bit of a revival. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said the transformation looked familiar.
“Look, this is a community that reminds me of my own hometown, which is a place that saw its population peak in the 1960s,” Buttigieg said. “And when I was mayor, we fought hard to come back and to grow again. And I see that same kind of aspiration and that same kind of success building here. But it can’t happen unless you have the right kind of infrastructure. And sometimes taking care of the basics, streets, the sewers, the sidewalks, is the best thing you can do to make sure those businesses have a shot, too.”
Buttigieg participated in a roundtable discussion with local government and business leaders.
He greeted local residents and shook the hands of construction workers. He said infrastructure projects benefit both big cities and small towns. He also said they bridge political divides.
He credited Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, and Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, both from West Virginia, for helping get the infrastructure law through Congress.
“And the point is to get past all the politics and serve every American,” Buttigieg said. “And West Virginia is full of examples of communities that have a ton of potential, are starting to see that potential in a place like Wheeling come to life, but we have to have a good partnership to really get it done.”
More grants are coming, he said. The USDOT recently announced funds for street improvements in Parkersburg, a transportation terminal in Martinsburg and zero-emission transit in Grant County.
Several airports in West Virginia will receive federal funds meant to improve air travel.
Several airports in West Virginia will receive federal funds meant to improve air travel.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded close to $4.5 million for five West Virginia airport projects.
Federal funds are expected to upgrade airports in Wheeling, Clarksburg, Lewisburg, Elkins and Martinsburg.
“Our state will greatly benefit from these grants and I’m looking forward to seeing the difference it will make for our aviation and tourism industries both now and in the future,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito in a statement.
More than half of the money will go to an expansion of the North Central Regional Airport in Clarksburg, where the funds will pay for a new paved runway and terminal.
Other upgrades include repairing runways at the Wheeling Ohio County Airport and the Greenbrier Valley Airport, removing trees at the Elkins-Randolph County Airport and installing a new lighting system at the Eastern West Virginia-Shepherd Field Airport.
West Virginia is slated to receive more than $500 million to repair and upgrade bridges across the state, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Federal officials announced last week that West Virginia would receive the funding over the next five years, starting with $101.3 million for fiscal year 2022, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.
The state has one of the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the country, according to an analysis of federal data by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. The number of West Virginia bridges that need repair increased from 1,222 in 2016 to 1,545 in 2020, the organization found.
The funding comes from a bipartisan infrastructure law passed by Congress in November.
Virgin Hyperloop has selected West Virginia as the home for a $500 million certification center and test track for an innovative — but yet to be authorized by federal regulators — high-speed transportation system. The company, owned by billionaire Sir Richard Branson, announced Thursday that it will locate its new Hyperloop Certification Center on nearly 800 acres of land in the state.
The technology offers high-speed travel at speeds exceeding 600 miles per hour, using magnetic levitation. Passengers would travel in a fashion once only imagined in science fiction, in floating pods moving at speeds twice as fast as a commercial jet flight and four times faster than high speed rail.
Travel time between Pittsburgh and Chicago would be reduced to 41 minutes. Trips from New York City to Washington D.C. would take only a half hour.
Construction on the test track and certification center — which will sit on a former coal mine stretching across Grant and Tucker counties — is expected to break ground in the coming year, with safety certifications expected by 2025 and commercial launch by 2030.
The land, owned by Western Pocahontas Properties and located near Mt. Storm, is being donated to the West Virginia University Foundation in partnership with Hyperloop. WVU and Marshall University will both be involved in developing the project.
Virgin Hyperloop One
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A rendering of what the Hyperloop Certification Center is expected to look like upon completion.
Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson was joined virtually by John Chambers, a West Virginia native and former chairman of Cisco Systems, and U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to make the announcement.
The company picked West Virginia after reviewing applications from 17 other states hoping to host the testing hub. West Virginia has been vying for the project for nearly a year, with officials from Virgin Hyperloop visiting West Virginia University in November last year.
“You took a risk on our state, my home state,” Chambers said to Branson in a video.
Branson congratulated Chambers and other West Virginians as the announcement was made.
“You put more than your best foot forward to try to sort of build an already fantastic innovation center in your state. It could make a big difference in the future,” Branson said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will use the center and six-mile track to establish regulatory standards, while Virgin will run tests on the site. While the federal regulators have not yet authorized the Hyperloop, they recently laid out a framework for regulating such a means of travel.
“Hyperloop technology is one of the many new developments during this historic period of transportation,” Chao said in video. “This wave of innovation also includes drones, electric cars, autonomous vehicles, reusable rockets and quiet supersonic air travel.”
Top officials representing the state celebrated the announcement, including officials from government, business and higher education.
“For years, I have been saying that West Virginia is the best kept secret on the East Coast, and it’s true. Just look at this announcement and all it will bring to our state – investment, jobs, and tremendous growth,” Gov. Jim Justice said. “It’s a true honor and privilege to be selected as the site for the Hyperloop Certification Center and lead the nation in this next step forward for transportation.”
Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin took part in the virtual announcement.
“Virgin Hyperloop’s decision to make West Virginia the home of their Certification Center is a testament to our people and proves that when West Virginia competes, we win,” Joe Manchin said in a news release.
Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito also echoed excitement over the project. Capito also took part in the virtual announcement.
“Over the last several years, West Virginia’s economy has begun to diversify into new sectors,” Capito said. “The announcement that Virgin Hyperloop’s Certification Center and test track will be located right here in our state will help us continue this growth in the knowledge-based economy. I’m glad that Virgin Hyperloop views West Virginia as a state on the edge of the tech economy.”
Virgin Hyperloop also has a research and development test track near Las Vegas, Nevada.
West Virginia University will research new ideas and technologies to improve the safety of pipelines used to transport energy resources.
The research will be supported by a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration.
The research comes as energy companies propose hundreds of miles of pipelines in Virginia and West Virginia, and elsewhere, to deliver natural gas drilled from Marcellus shale deposits.
The funding was announced by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.
