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BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced Monday (Aug. 25) that portions of the rapid transit Orange Line are now operating at 55 mph as of Sunday, Aug. 24. The increase — from a prior speed limit of 40 mph — is on a four-station section at the north end of the Orange Line, […]
CHICAGO — More evidence of how Amtrak’s equipment is stretched thin surfaced over the weekend when the company was forced to cancel Saturday’s northbound Floridian out of Miami because no locomotive was available to fill in for ailing motive power, according to Amtrak. As a result, the Chicago-Washington, D.C.-Miami through substitute for the Capitol Limited […]
PHILADELPHIA — With action to address its funding crisis still stalled, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority on Sunday (Aug. 24) began enacting a 20% service reduction including the elimination of 32 bus lines and reductions to rail service and other bus routes. The cuts begin as Philadelphia schools, which rely on public transportation for both […]
Trains.com staff members David Popp and Cody Grivno share their techniques for install printed backdrops on the HO scale (1:87.1) East Troy Industrial Park project layout. They use SceniKing paper backdrops and unique craft scissors to seamlessly blend printed scenes—including a river, barn, and tree line—into the painted sky. All of that, plus more scenery […]
Add Boise, Idaho, and Anchorage, Alaska, to a list of locations expressing interest in launching commuter rail service. The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) last week selected commuter rail as its preferred form of future mass transit, based on a study that has been in progress since January 2024. The planned service would […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Amtrak has recognized CPKC as its top host railroad in 2024, the ninth straight year the company or predecessor Canadian Pacific has topped the annual host railroad report card. CPKC was the only railroad to receive an “A” grade on the 2024 report card, although the other five Class I rairloads […]
We’re changing things up for our latest product review video. Trains.com Director David Popp took the Rapido HO TurboTrain 2.0 on the road to run on Gerry Leone’s Bona Vista RR. Learn more about the full-size United Aircraft TurboTrain and our review sample, decorated in early Amtrak colors. Then watch the five-car train pass through […]
We’re changing things up for our latest product review video. Trains.com Director David Popp took the Rapido HO TurboTrain 2.0 on the road to run on Gerry Leone’s Bona Vista RR. Learn more about the full-size United Aircraft TurboTrain and our review sample, decorated in early Amtrak colors. Then watch the five-car train pass through […]
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — The Nova Scotia government is planning to study the possibilities of developing light rail in Halifax and commuter rail in the area of the province’s largest city, which accounts for 63% of the Nova Scotia population. The government is seeking qualified consultants to carry out a rail feasibility study through a […]
In October 1953, a blanket of fog lies over Sherbrooke, Quebec, as Quebec Central G2 4-6-2 2556 awaits departure time of train 1 for Quebec City as a G3 Pacific brings train 39 into the station. Photo by Philip R. Hastings […]
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Transportation Commission has approved last month’s decision by a regional governmental to provide $3.5 million to keep Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer operating for at least another year. The Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in July voted to provide the funding, filling a funding gap created […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration will seek to remove one of the environmental components from its Capital Investment Grants program, FTA administrator Marc Molinaro said today (Aug. 21, 2025). The revision will remove “social cost of carbon” calculations from the ratings criteria used to award those grants — the federal government’s largest program to […]
