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CHICAGO — Metra is seeking bids for new commuter rail cars and says it is willing to break with 70 years of Chicago rail commuting tradition if it gets a better idea. The agency Wednesday issued a request for proposals for at least 200 new railcars and is urging manufacturers to suggest alternative designs that […]
KENT, Wash. — Sound Transit has begun taking public comment on a controversial proposal to build a maintenance base for light rail on the site of a popular local hamburger restaurant, but the idea has drawn fresh criticism from one significant voice: a board member of the regional transit agency. David Upthegrove, a King County […]
WASHINGTON — At least $232 billion needs to be invested during the next 10 years in public transit, according to a report released this week by the American Public Transportation Association. The study draws from three sources. A U.S. Department of Transportation infrastructure status report, issued in 2015, identifies an $89.8-billion backlog of spending needed […]
A single photo from the 1950s of C&O’s ‘Sportsman’ at a small-city station at Staunton, Va., reveals plenty of small, easily overlooked details. 1 – Freight house Staunton (“Stan-ton”) in 1950 had a population of 19,927. All towns of this significance once had a freight house where less-than-carload (LCL) freight was handled. Warehousemen used a […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Plenty of tasks still to tackle if Cody wants to keep his Chicago & North Western HO scale commuter car project moving forward. From adding rust effects to the trucks and diaphragms to painting the car interior, Cody shows you how! […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Plenty of tasks still to tackle if Cody wants to keep his Chicago & North Western HO scale commuter car project moving forward. From adding rust effects to the trucks and diaphragms to painting the car interior, Cody shows you how! […]
WASHINGTON — More than three years after the Federal Transit Administration took the unprecedented step of assuming direct safety oversight of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Metrorail system, the FTA has returned supervision back to local control. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an independent body established by Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in […]
An MBTA PCC streetcar stops in Milton, Mass., in December 2018. The MBTA has proposed replacing the 70-year-old cars. Justin Franz BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority will hold three public meetings in the coming weeks to gather input about the future of Boston’s historic Mattapan-Ashmont High Speed Line. Earlier this year, MBTA officials […]
ATLANTA — Suburban Gwinnett County is voting today on whether to fund an expansion of the Atlanta-area MARTA transit agency, including an expansion of its heavy rail system, into the county. The referendum asks voters to approve a contract between the county and MARTA that would allow MARTA to take over existing Gwinnett County transit […]
Joe Boardman gets the engineer’s perspective of a Siemens ACS-64 electric on a test track at the Transportation Technolgy Center in Pueblo, Colo., on July 29, 2013. A significant number of Amtrak employees were on hand for Boardman’s funeral Friday in Rome, N.Y. Bob Johnston ROME, N.Y. — More than a hundred current Amtrak employees, […]
WASHINGTON — Twitter wars are common enough between people of opposing political views, some celebrities, or various social-media influencers. But between Amtrak and one of its host railroads? A Wall Street Journal report (behind a paywall) notes that Amtrak and Norfolk Southern have been trading letters about an Amtrak tweet last month in which the […]
CHICAGO—Flooding in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and northwest Missouri has caused delays, truncations and outright cancellations to the Chicago-Emeryville, Calif., California Zephyr and two state-sponsored Missouri River Runner round-trips between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. Today’s eastbound Zephyr is cancelled entirely out of California; Amtrak has blocked sales east of Denver until at least […]
