New issues continue to develop while other problem areas are improving, CSX Transportation said in an update today (April 7, 2025) on storm recovery efforts. Also, BNSF has provided an update on one of two weather-related derailments that closed the Thayer South Subdivision in Arkansas. CSX had highlighted three areas as especially problematic in a […]
CHESTERTON, Ind. — The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District remains hopeful that it can open the South Shore Line’s new West Lake Corridor in late August or early September, but that would require shaving more than a month off the contractors’ current estimate. Lakeshore Public Media reports NICTD President Mike Noland told the agency’s board […]
ORANGE, Calif. — Citing “ongoing threats” to service on the Surf Line route used by Amtrak, Metrolink, and BNSF Railway, the Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday (March 31, 2025) submitted an emergency permit request to the California Coastal Commission for stabilization work above the rail line in San Clemente, Calif. The OCTA says the […]
The latest Infrastructure Report Card from the American Society of Civil Engineers gives rail a B- grade, which was above the C average given to American infrastructure overall. The report recommends that railroads continue to harden their physical plants to better resist increasingly frequent, longer duration, and more powerful natural disasters. “Rail lines face considerable […]
BOSTON — Massachusetts’ South Coast Rail commuter operation is now officially in service. The 37-mile addition to the MBTA commuter rail network launched today (March 24, 2025), with the Fall River Herald News reporting that well over 100 people were on hand to catch the first train, a scheduled 4:27 a.m. departure from New Bedford. […]
Some of the nation’s most famous bridges, including four that carry rail or rail transit traffic, are on a list of 68 the National Transportation Safety Board says need to be assessed to determine their vulnerability to collapse if struck by an ocean-going vessel. The list — which includes such landmarks as the Golden Gate […]
CHICAGO — Improvements and 52 stations and replacement of 43 grade crossings are part of Metra’s planned capital projects during its 2025 construction season, the commuter rail operator announced Tuesday, March 18. Track, bridge, and signal work is also on the agenda. “We plan to take full advantage of the construction season to address projects […]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Bridge replacements or repairs for a proposed commuter rail service in Santa Cruz County could cost almost $1 billion, a consulting firm has determined. The news site Lookout Santa Cruz reports staff from the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and engineering firm HDR Inc. told a meeting this week that […]
NEWPORT, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern is set to begin replacing a collapsed bridge today (March 12) on its line between Newport and Asheville, N.C., and should reopen the route closed by Hurricane Helene by the end of the month. New spans for the bridge across the Pigeon River in Newport will be placed today, Blue […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The parent agencies of Virginia Railway Express have approved a $155 million agreement to help purchase the commuter operator’s Manassas Line from Norfolk Southern. The nonprofit news site Virginia Mercury reports the boards of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock River Transportation Commission approved the agreement in separate […]
SAN DIEGO — The effort to determine a new rail route through Del Mar, Calif., will repeat a step — and has a new twist, as well. At a Friday, Feb. 28, meeting, the San Diego Association of Governments restarted the run-up to developing an environmental assessment of the project, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun a pilot program with a division of Google that uses smartphones to help detect potential subway track defects. The program announced Thursday, Feb. 27, builds on TrackInspect, a prototype developed with the Rapid Innovation Team at Google Public Sector. Tested on the subway A line of […]
