WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced a total of $25 billion in Federal funding allocations to help the Nation’s public transportation systems respond to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Funding is provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed by President Donald J. Trump […]
More Thursday rail news: — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has begun taking temperatures of its employees in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. WCVB-TV reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak told employees in an email that the procedure was to begin Wednesday with those involved in bus operations and will […]
Thursday morning rail news: — The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority has released the draft Environmental Impact Report for a project to extend Amtrak San Joaquin service and Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail service to Sacramento, beginning a 45-day period of public comment on the plan. The project involves improvements to Union Pacific’s Sacramento Subdivision […]
An image of a Bombardier-built Regio 2N train. Bombardier via Globe News Wire BERLIN — Bombardier Transport, a world leader in the rail technology sector, has received a firm order for 19 Regio 2N, double deck vehicles (114 cars) from the French National Railway Company (SNCF) on behalf of the Region Auvergne-Rhône Alpes. This additional […]
CHICAGO – Metra has released Boise-built MP36PH-3S locomotive No. 402 in a special paint scheme honoring the state of Illinois and the six counties that the agency provides commuter rail service in. Our video shows the locomotive on a shake-down run on train MX03 from Chicago to Joliet following its release from overhaul. The train […]
The Wabash Valley Railroad Museum successfully moved a 1922 New York Central boxcar from Greencastle, Ind., to the museum on Tuesday. Wabash Valley Railroad Museum More Wednesday rail news: — The Wabash Valley Railroad Museum successfully completed the move of a 1922 New York Central boxcar from Greencastle, Ind., to the museum in Terre Haute […]
The Metra station in Mount Prospect, Ill., is one of 11 closed by Union Pacific over coronavirus concerns. TRAINS: David Lassen Wednesday morning rail news: — An increasing number of workers either with confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus or self-quarantining because of possible exposure have left New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority struggling to maintain […]
A Rocky Mountaineer train arrives in Kamloops, British Columbia, in October 2018. The passenger operator has delayed the start of its 2020 season. Bob Johnston More Tuesday morning rail news: — Rocky Mountaineer, the luxury rail operation from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the Canadian Rockies, will delay the start of its season until July 1. […]
Tuesday morning rail news: — Eight workers for New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority are now reported to have died of complications from the COVID-19 virus, Spectrum News reports. As of Monday, the agency has 333 confirmed cases of the virus and 2,700 workers in quarantine. While the MTA has acquired 75,000 disposable surgical masks for […]
More Monday morning rail news: — While Strasburg Rail Road passenger operations have been suspended because of the COVID-19 virus, the short line’s freight traffic is up 169% in March, Lancaster Online reports. The 4.5-mile railroad has handled 43 incoming freight cars this month, 27 more than the same month a year ago, with another […]
A Monday morning update on the latest COVID-19-related cuts in rail service: — VIA Rail Canada will dramatically reduce operations as of Tuesday, operating only one train per day on each of its routes in the Quebec City-Windsor, Ontario, corridor, with those trains stopping at every station. Elsewhere, its Montreal-Jonquiere, Quebec; Montreal-Senneterre, Que; and Sudbury-White […]
A shortage of workers is leading Amtrak to limit California Zephyr service to the Chicago-Denver portion of its route, effective today. The Zephyr becomes the first of Amtrak’s long distance trains to see a change in service because of the coronavirus outbreak. An email to Amtrak employees says a worker on the route has tested […]
