Friday morning rail news: Weekend rail service to San Diego suspended for maintenance work Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service between Oceanside, Calif., and San Deiego, and Metrolink commuter train service to Oceanside, will be suspended this weekend for the first of two weekends of maintenance work on the North County Transit District’s rail line in San […]
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Thursday midday rail news: Valley Metro orders 14 new Siemens light rail vehicles Phoenix-area transit agency Valley Metro has ordered 14 S700 light rail vehicles from Siemens Mobility to join 11 of the trainsets already in service. The equipment, to be built in Sacramento, Calif., will help accommodate the needs of an expanding system, and […]
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Presidential candidate Joe Biden is set to operate a campaign train across Ohio and Pennsylvania and Ohio on Wednesday, following tonight’s first debate with President Donald Trump in Cleveland. After departing Cleveland, Biden’s train is scheduled to stop in Alliance, Ohio, with a tentative time of 11:45 a.m., according to WFMJ-TV. While Biden will make […]
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MONTREAL – VIA Rail Canada has postponed resumption of its triweekly Halifax-Montreal Ocean and twice-weekly Toronto-Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian indefinitely, according to a news release issued last Friday and Trains News Wire reservation center inquiries. This is contrary to the passenger carrier’s addition of trains to its Quebec City-Windsor, Ontario, corridor. Sleeping car service will […]
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has denied Metra’s request for a declaratory order and proceeding in its ongoing dispute with Union Pacific over Chicago area commuter operations. The decision follows a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruling to keep a UP lawsuit against Metra, noting that the court does […]
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By G. Mac Sebree History of the Pacific Electric Railway By any standard, the Pacific Electric was the largest interurban electric railway in the United States. It boasted more than 1,000 miles of track and had 1,000-plus cars. It played a major role in building up the vast open areas surrounding Los Angeles. The cities […]
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Friday morning rail transit news: Brightline, Miami-Dade move closer to commuter rail agreement Brightline and Miami-Dade County are closer to an agreement on commuter rail operation on the southern portion of Brightline’s route, and a competition is planned to decide where to build stations for the service. The Miami Herald reports a memo from Mayor […]
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More Friday morning rail news: Project manager selected for Chicago-Rockford passenger effort The long-running effort to restore passenger rail service between Chicago and Rockford has moved forward, with the Illinois Department of Transportation hiring engineering services firm WSP USA as the proposal’s project manager. The Rockford Register Star reports state Sen. Steve Stadelman announced the […]
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NEW YORK — Three Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers have been suspended without pay and face potential termination after building a secret “man cave” under the tracks of New York’s Grand Central Terminal. A report by the Office of the MTA Inspector General says the men used the room — complete with big-screen TV, refrigerator, microwave […]
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Thursday afternoon rail news: Las Vegas high speed project seeks approval from STB for modifications to construction plan Xpress West, the Brightline affiliate seeking to build a high speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas, Nev., has asked the Surface Transportation Board to modify its previous approval of the project to allow some […]
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Conductors had a tremendous amount of paperwork to complete, not to mention dealing with unhappy passengers, equipment problems, train schedules, and seating issues. Photo by Norfolk & Western […]
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Tuesday morning rail news: San Diego-area agency seeks STB order protecting maintenance work on eroding coastal bluffs The North County Transit District, which operates the San Diego-area Coaster commuter trains, has petitioned the Surface Transportation Board for an order to keep the city of Del Mar and the California Coastal Commission from regulating maintenance and […]
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