Sound Transit’s board chairman says the agency will call in an outside investigator to review its safety procedures in the wake of the National Transportation Safety Board’s findings and recommendations in its own investigation into the December 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment. NTSB had criticisms for multiple agencies and entities including Sound Transit, which owns the […]
Read More…
SEATTLE – The first response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment is the Washington State Department of Transportation’s decision to remove Talgo Series 6 trainsets from service “as soon as possible.” WSDOT, a prime financial sponsor of Amtrak Cascades service on the Vancouver, B.C.-Eugene, Ore., corridor, didn’t specify […]
Read More…
Croton-Harmon-bound Metro-North train 725, stopped at Marble Hill Station in the Bronx on May 26, 2018, is on its way from Grand Central. The MTA board heard from key vendors Wednesday on PTC installation on Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. Ralph Spielman NEW YORK — Metropolitan Transportation Authority Patrick Foye called it “radical […]
Read More…
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has approved a $48.7 million contract with Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to build an underground transit system for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The system, which will require less than a mile of tunneling, will be served by autonomous electric vehicles based on Tesla […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — DC Metro returned most of its 3000-series railcars to service on Wednesday, a day after pulling them because the door on one car opened while a train was in motion. Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said a malfunctioning electrical component caused the doors to open, the Washington Post reports. Twenty-six cars with […]
Read More…
SEATTLE — The National Transportation Safety Board wasn’t stingy in handing out criticisms or recommendations for changes in the aftermath of the December 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment, so those on the receiving end have a lot of work ahead of them figuring out if and how they’ll respond to the safety board. For the Washington […]
Read More…
The westbound Southwest Chief passes through Brookfield, Ill., on May 15, 2019. Chief service is temporarily suspended in Kansas because of a BNSF route closure. TRAINS: David Lassen KANSAS City, Mo. — Amtrak has temporarily suspended service on its Missouri River Runner between Kansas City and St. Louis, and on the Southwest Chief between Kansas […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — DC Metro has pulled almost 300 railcars from service after a set of doors on one car opened while a train was in motion. The 286 cars of Metro’s 3000 series, built by Breda and delivered in 1987, represent about 15 percent of the transit system’s fleet. They will remain out of service until […]
Read More…
YORKVILLE, Ill. — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal for a six-year, $41.5-billion infrastructure program in the state includes $100 million for the expansion of Metra service into Kendall County, the Kendall County Record reports. A total of $3.4 billion in the plan is for transit projects, the Chicago Tribune reported earlier this week, with $2.9 […]
Read More…
A view of the wreckage of derailed Amtrak Cascades Train 501 on Dec. 18, 2017. Steve Carter WASHINGTON — The conclusion of an investigation into a 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment has touched off a debate over the safety of non-conventional trainsets. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded Tuesday that the Talgo equipment’s lightweight design was […]
Read More…
Orlando International Airport station platforms await tracks on Jan. 30, 2018. Virgin Trains USA has announced the contractor who will complete trackwork at the airport, as well as those responsible for construction elsewhere on the company’s route between Orlando and West Palm Beach, Fla. Bob Johnston MIAMI — Virgin Trains USA, formerly Brightline, has named […]
Read More…
MESA, Ariz. — Valley Metro has opened the latest extension of its light rail system, a 1.9-mile addition that adds two stations in Mesa. With Saturday’s opening of the Gilbert Road extension, the transit agency now operates 28 miles of light rail in Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix. Work began on the $184 million extension in […]
Read More…