Work required by Alstom Transport
By Jessica A. York/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 08/11/2009
Contractors cut away sections of train tracks Monday on Railroad Avenue just off the Wichels Causeway on Mare Island. They are preparing for utility improvements and redirection and construction of railroad tracks to accommodate planned locomotive renovation at a nearby facility. (Mike Jory/Times-Herald)
What looked like deconstruction of a portion of Mare Island's railroad tracks Monday was actually a partial rebirth for island industrial transport.
For about the past month, Pinole-based Industrial Railways Company workers have kept a low profile as they prepared to redirect track just behind the Mare Island Convention Center over the Wichels Causeway, said company partner Craig Nolan.
On Monday, Railroad Avenue was closed to allow work. A full crew was outdoors under the hot midday sun, cutting into concrete surrounding the track. Island Energy supervisors were overseeing the work, which comes near underground gas lines and will require protection of utility lines.
The contractor is installing a couple hundred feet of track into the long-defunct Building 599 warehouse, soon to house international transit company Alstom Transport. The building, including office and industrial areas, takes up about 112,000 square feet, according to a release by island developer Lennar Mare Island.
The business' arrival on Mare Island will herald the first rail use to the island since the end of March 2008, when Lennar Mare Island discontinued the service. At the time, the developer was facing more than $11 million in rail line improvements to meet California Public Utilities Commission requirements. Four Mare Island companies were using the service at the time.
Alstom Transport has reportedly secured a $13 million refurbishment contract for 66 passenger cars with the California Transportation Department's Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin Corridor. It is expected to begin the restoration work in October. It is responsible for paying for the rail realignment and extension into its warehouse, a Lennar Mare Island spokesman said.
The Amtrak-run trains were originally built by a New York-based Alstom facility in the mid-1990s, according to an Alstom press release. The project is expected to take two years and includes replacement of train door systems and wheelchair lift upgrades.
A spokeperson for Alstom did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@thnewsnet.com.
