WASHINGTON — Ridership for the DC Metro rail system has dropped below an average of 600,000 weekday trips — the lowest figure since 2000, before the original system was completed. The Washington Post reports that the number of average trips for the period between July and December was 595,000, a significant fall from the 2008 peak […]
Amtrak Hiawatha trains meet at Rondout, Ill., in January 2018. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has included $45 million for expanded Hiawatha service in his proposed budget. TRAINS: David Lassen MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has included $45 million for expanded Amtrak Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago in his proposed budget, Wisconsin Public Radio […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the San Francisco-area commuter rail service, will institute a bikes-board-first policy at all stations on Monday, March 11. The procedure allows riders with bicycles to board first on designated bike cars after exiting passengers have disembarked. Other passengers are encouraged to board at non-bike cars to avoid having to wait. Caltrain […]
Spectacular bridges are one of the features of the Chepe Express trip through the Copper Canyon region. Chepe Express The full-height windows are one of the key features of the Terraza lounge car which brings up the rear of the train. The windows can be opened when weather permits. Chepe Express CHIHUAHUA, Mexico — The […]
Amtrak P32 No. 713 leads train 290, the Ethan Allen Express, south out of Albany-Rennselaer toward New York Penn Station. The track coming in from the lower right is where trains from Pittsfield would arrive, and then, with a new engine, head south. Dan Kittay PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An effort to establish “one seat” train […]
Former Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman, in Pueblo, Colo., for the first public test of an ACS-64 locomotive in 2013. Boardman died Thursday at age 70. Bob Johnston Reactions to the death of former Amtrak president and CEO Joe Boardman continue to come in from across government and the transportation world. Here are some additional thoughts […]
This rendering shows the vehicles for the proposed Boring Co. project to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The company is being recommended for a new transit project in Las Vegas. The Boring Co. LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Elon Musk’s Boring Co. may get another chance to build an express-tunnel transit system. The Associated Press reports that Las […]
Joe Boardman, near his home in Rome, N.Y., in 2018. Bob Johnston Reactions to the passing of former Amtrak president and CEO Joe Boardman, who died Thursday at age 70 From Rail Passengers Association President and CEO Jim Mathews: “Joe Boardman believed in his bones that all Americans should have the ability to choose to […]
A Brightline train passes through Lantana, Fla. The company, now Virgin Trains USA, is seeking bonds to help finance its expansion to Orlando, but a meeting on the bond proposal adjourned Wednesday without resolution. TRAINS: David Lassen ORLANDO, Fla. — A meeting to review Virgin Trains USA’s request for $2.7 billion in private activity bonds, […]
Former Amtrak President Joe Boardman seated at his former office in Washington, D.C. Bob Johnston EDITOR’S NOTE: This Q&A interview was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Trains Magazine. It is being re-published on news of his death in March 2019. Since retiring as Amtrak’s president and CEO in 2016 after eight years […]
Two NJ Transit Morris and Essex Line trains meet at the Maplewood, N.J., station. The train on the left is headed to Dover; the one on the right is bound for New York’s Penn Station. The proposed state budget for fiscal 2020 would provide an additional $100 million in funding for the transit agency. Ralph […]
AURORA, Colo. — A light rail vehicle was going more than three times the speed limit when it derailed on a curve in Aurora in January, ejecting a passenger whose leg was severed by the moving train, the Denver Post reports. The Post report on the Jan. 28 derailment is based on a police report […]
