Amtrak trains during the holidays in 2024 are facing ridership demand comparable or even greater than 2019 before COVID-19’s dip in 2020. While autos jam highways where public transportation options are scarce, and airlines add flights to accommodate longer trips, Amtrak in the past also rose to the occasion by offering extra trains and expanded […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will offer free shuttle buses, a shuttle train service, and discounted Long Island Rail Road fares during an upcoming closure of the subway A train to the Rockaways under a plan announced this week. The MTA announced earlier this month that A trains would not run between Howard […]
The imposing size, look, and name of New York City’s Hell Gate Bridge fits perfectly in a metropolis where one must “dress to impress” and “go big or go home.” According to Victor Hand in Classic Trains’ Fall 2021 issue, the name can be composed of three separate bridges that are connected by two viaducts […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has joined other elected officials in calling for Amtrak to revise Empire Service schedule changes resulting from the start of East River Tunnel repairs. In a Nov. 13 letter to Amtrak Board Chair Anthony Coscia and CEO Stephen Gardner, Hochul, a Democrat, said Empire Service trains “are […]
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Caltrain’s diesel-powered commuter rail trainsets will find a new life in Peru. The commuter rail operator announced that it has completed an agreement to send 19 locomotives and 90 gallery commuter cars to Lima, Peru, for some $6 million, a deal which also involved the U.S. State Department, Department of Commerce, […]
DeKALB, Ill. — The DeKalb City Council has authorized a state grant to pay for a new study on extending Metra service to the city, Shaw News reports. The $400,000 technical assistance grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation will build on an earlier feasibility study completed in 2023 that addressed financial benefits and potential […]
BOSTON — A 15-day shutdown of part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Green Line is set for December — the last such suspension planned under the agency’s long-running Track Improvement Program, and one expected to remove the final speed restrictions on the MBTA rail transit network. The agency has also slightly revised plans for […]
Many of these vintage structures have survived into the 21st century. However, not all retain their original purpose. The following 10 historic rail stations have been rejuvenated but repurposed without regular passenger rail service. Still, they remain a must-see for travelers and enthusiasts. Ellicott City Station Ellicott City, Md.: Historically the oldest surviving station in […]
NEW YORK — Governors Kathy Hochul of New York and Phil Murphy of New Jersey may be at odds on one transportation front — the launch of New York’s congestion pricing plan — but they’re working together on another: reducing fares on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson rail system for riders with disabilities. Hochul, Murphy, and […]
MONTREAL — Opening of the largest portion of Montreal’s light rail network has been pushed back to fall 2025, the head of the company building the system has said. A 16.6-kilometer (10.3-mile) segment of the Réseau express métropolitain, serving five stations,opened in July 2023. At that time, most of the rest of the 67-km (41.6-mile), […]
WASHINGTON — The federal government will provide $1.5 billion in funding for 19 projects along the Northeast Corridor, the Federal Railroad Administration announced today (Friday, Nov. 15). Leading the list of projects to be funded under the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail is almost $400 million for a project to replace and upgrade the […]
LONGUEUIL, Quebec — The remaining portion of a shelter-in-place order following a Canadian National derailment has been lifted. The Canadian Press reports the lockdown area south of a Thursday morning derailment that led to a chemical spill was lifted at 4:30 a.m. today (Friday, Nov. 15). Eight cars of a CN train derailed in Longueuil, […]
