SAN FRANCISCO — New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its commuter railroads received six of the 12 honors in the American Public Transportation Association’s Rail Safety, Security, and Emergency Management Awards, handed out at APTA’s annual rail conference on Tuesday (July 1), 2025. In Rail Safety, the MTA’s New York City Transit received a gold […]
MIAMI — The new Florida budget signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis eliminates some $200 million in state funding for the proposed Miami-Aventura commuter rail project, the Miami Herald reports. The state money, along with Miami-Dade County funding, was intended to match $389.5 million in federal funds for the 14-mile, seven-station service planned on the […]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Abraham Lincoln — or at least the locomotive celebrating his memory — returned to Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Ill., today (Tuesday, July 1). Union Pacific’s Lincoln commemorative locomotive came to Springfield to celebrate the day Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act authorizing construction of the Transcontinential Railroad — the day UP recognizes […]
NEW ORLEANS — Press events held today from Mobile, Ala., to New Orleans have filled in more details on the launch of two daily round trips of Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service, beginning Aug. 18. The start date and other details were announced this morning [see “Amtrak to launch …,” Trains News Wire, July 1, 2025]. […]
WILMINGTON, Del. — AmeriStarRail, which for some time has been proposing privately owned and operated passenger service on the Northeast Corridor, has gone in a new direction with its latest proposal — literally and figuratively. The company is now proposing a long-distance train that would offer coast-to-coast service in less than 72 hours between New […]
MOBILE, Ala. — Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service between Mobile and New Orleans will launch on Aug. 18, ending the lengthy effort to restore passenger operations on a route that last saw an Amtrak train in 2005. Tickets were placed on sale this morning; adult coach fares will be as low as $15 for full-route service, […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s troubled deal with China’s CRRC for rapid-transit equipment has a new problem: components have been confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Public broadcaster WGBH reports railcar shells and other parts manufactured in China for completion at a plant in Springfield, Mass., have been seized by customs […]
SAN CARLOS, Calif. – Bay area commuter rail operator Caltrain is increasing its base fare by 25 cents as of today (July 1, 2025). The move reflects actions taken after the operator delayed a 50-cent increase in its base fares, scheduled for July 1, 2023, to avoid discouraging riders from returning to public transportation following […]
LONDON — The private train of Britain’s royal family will be retired, King Charles has decided. The first royal train, with special cars commissioned by Queen Victoria, dates to 1869. The current version’s equipment dates to 1977 and was last upgraded in the 1980s; its stock would need to be replaced, and storage and maintenance […]
WASHINGTON – Surface Transportation Board Chairman Patrick Fuchs provided an update today on efforts to clear a backlog of cases that have languished for years. The cases include: Colorado Landowners — Adverse Abandonment — Great Western Railway of Colorado, LLC, in Weld County, Colo.: On Oct. 5, 2022, a group of landowners filed an application […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway’s efforts to serve two shippers located on Union Pacific trackage were dealt a setback today when federal regulators said they were not persuaded that BNSF had the right to reach the customers as part of conditions granted during the UP-Southern Pacific merger. The separate decisions from the Surface Transportation Board, however, […]
WASHINGTON — Beginning Tuesday, July 1, Amtrak is revising rules on how passengers are permitted to utilize first-class Metropolitan Lounges at its major stations. The principal change is that passengers now entitled to access can no longer enter Metropolitan Lounges after arriving unless they are booked in Acela First Class or a sleeping car on […]
