Work underway for new Amtrak/SEPTA station in Pennsylvania

Amtrak logo.

COATESVILLE, Pa. – Work is underway on a new $65 million Amtrak/SEPTA station in Coatesville, the West Chester Daily News reports. Expected completion is fall 2025. The job includes design, station and streetscape construction, and Amtrak track work at Fleetwood Street, just east of the existing Pennsylvania Railroad station building. According to a Pennsylvania Department […]

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Operator in collision of MBTA light-rail trains may have fallen asleep

Overhead view of accident scene involving light rail vehicles

WASHINGTON — An operator who “exceeded maximum authorized speed due to his loss of situational awareness” was the probable cause of a July 2021 collision between two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority light rail vehicles, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Thursday, Jan. 5. The operator, who told authorities that he may […]

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Legislative committee suggests limiting MBTA to subway, bus operations

MBTA purple and silver commuter locomotive. Governor reacts following more close calls on MBTA

BOSTON — A state legislative committee has proposed shrinking the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority as one way to address the agency’s widespread safety issues. Boston.com reports the Massachusett’s legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation has suggested in a report issued earlier this week that the MBTA be relieved of its commuter rail and ferry operations, as […]

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Metro-North Commuter Railroad marks 40th anniversary

MetroNorth_Bridgeport_Lassen

  NEW YORK — New Year’s Day 2023 marked the 40th anniversary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad, which began operation on Jan. 1, 1983, taking over commuter operations from Conrail. Since then, Metro-North has upgraded Grand Central Terminal, acquired more than 800 new cars, and added seven new stations. Ridership had more than […]

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MBTA letter blasts CRRC for manufacturing issues

Subway train at station

BOSTON — Days before the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority removed some of its newest rapid transit cars from service for the latest in a series of mechanical issues, the agency claimed in a letter that the manufacturer of those cars “has completely abandoned its core responsibilities and commitment to lead, monitor, and support quality management,” […]

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20th Century Limited: ‘The Greatest Train Ever Made’

Streamlined diesel locomotives on 20th Century Limited passenger train along river

New York Central’s 20th Century Limited was dubbed “The Greatest Train Ever Made.” In the first half of the 20th century, New York and Chicago were the two largest, most dynamic cities in the U.S. and titans of commerce. Big business demanded in-person company meetings, thus the need for fast travel between New York and […]

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Two NYC electrics are safe, await relocation to museum

Two graffiti-covered electric locomotives on platform

GLENMONT, N.Y. — Two historic New York Central electric locomotives are finally safe after a 4½-hour ballet to lift and shift them 200 feet on a Hudson River island on which they were stranded, dodging a torrent of heavy truck traffic. The Danbury (Conn.) Railway Museum announced Thursday night (Dec. 29) that Phase 1 of […]

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Grand Central Madison opening pushed back into 2023

Two people wearing Yankees baseball caps walking in long corridor

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will miss its self-imposed deadline to begin Long Island Rail Road service to its new station beneath Grand Central Terminal by the end of 2022, the agency has conceded. NY1 reports that opening of the Grand Central Madison station — which will mark completion of the long-delayed and […]

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Maryland agency, CSX reach settlement over Curtis Bay explosion

Smoke rising from coal facility

BALTIMORE — The Maryland Department of the Environment and CSX Transportation have reached a settlement over charges stemming from a December 2021 explosion at the railroad’s Curtis Bay Coal Piers, with CSX required to pay $100,000 for an environmental project in the neighborhood where the blast occurred. The railroad will also pay a $15,000 penalty […]

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