MISSOULA, Mont. — BNSF Railway has joined the group seeking to restore passenger rail service in southern Montana, a move welcomed because of the railroad’s role as primary host railroad for the proposed service. The Missoula Current reports the railroad is now an ex officio member of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, which seeks […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Demolition crews are tearing down the light rail maintenance building where six Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers died in a mass shooting in May 2021. Work began last Wednesday when Building B at VTA’s Guadalupe rail yard was knocked down by heavy equipment, KNTV reports. VTA board member Cindy Chavez […]
WASHINGTON — Veronica Vanterpool has been appointed as deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, the agency announced May 11. Vanterpool has served as senior advisor in the FTA Office of the Administrator since August 2021, coordinating and directing the agency’s work on climate change, equity, innovation, safety, and workforce development. Previously, she was chief […]
WASHINGTON — Host railroads and Amtrak have not presented enough information to allow the Surface Transportation Board to determine whether two daily passenger round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., would “unreasonably” impair freight operations, board chairman Martin Oberman said Thursday. Oberman made the statement as part of a wide-ranging commentary at the conclusion […]
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Extension of Virginia’s state-supported Amtrak service to the stateline communities of Bristol. Va., and Bristol, Tenn., could cost up to $1.5 billion while attracting up to 15,500 riders annually, according to a new study by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The Bristol Herald Courier reports the study projects one […]
CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. — Authorities have identified 72-year-old Christina Lopez of Downers Grove, Ill., as the Metra passenger killed Wednesday in a grade-crossing accident between a Metra BNSF train and a stalled truck. WMAQ-TV reports that in a Thursday press conference, National Transportation Safety Board vice-chairman Bruce Landsberg said Lopez was killed when she was […]
OTTAWA — Public hearings into Ottawa’s troubled light rail system will be held June 13 to July 8, a commission established to examine the system has announced. The Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry will hold the hearings in a courtroom at the University of Ottawa’s law school, the Ottawa Citizen reports, and will be […]
WASHINGTON — The new general manager named earlier this week by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will not start the job until late summer, the agency announced, leading to the appointment of an interim general manager. WJLA-TV reports Andy Off, an executive vice president at WMATA, will serve as the interim GM of the […]
CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. – A woman passenger was killed here Wednesday morning and four other people were injured when a Chicago-bound Metra commuter train hit a box truck that was stalled at a crossing on the triple-track BNSF Railway main line. Metra train No. 1242 struck the vehicle at Prospect Avenue about 8:10 a.m., according […]
BEVERLY, Mass. – A passenger who fell asleep and missed his station has sued commuter-train operator Keolis, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He injured an arm while trying to leave the train in a storage yard, according to the suit. Filing the action in Salem Superior Court last week was […]
Private cars in town for the Kentucky Derby fill the tracks near Louisville Union Station in 1967. Charles B. Castner photo […]
WASHINGTON — Responding to citizen and District of Columbia criticism that its plan for redevelopment of Washington Union Station was too automobile-centric, the Federal Railroad Administration has revised its blueprint by eliminating a six-story, 1,575-space parking garage, according to the Washington Post. More than a year ago, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and other city […]
