DC Metrorail will return some 7000-series cars to service

Logo of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission

WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail will return 64 of its long-sidelined 7000-series railcars to service this summer as it continues work to automate wheel inspections that would allow use of all 748 of the Kawasaki-built cars, easing the agency’s equipment shortage. The Washington Post reports the independent Washington Metrorail Safety Commission will accept Metro’s plan for […]

Read More…

Amtrak invites press to inspect new-generation Acela

High speed trainset at station platform

PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak opened a second-generation Acela high-speed trainset for press inspection Monday at 30th Street Station, giving a look at the interiors of the first-class, business-class, and café cars that will make up 28 160-mph trainsets projected to enter service between Boston, New York, and Washington late next year. Parked at an underground boarding […]

Read More…

San Diego Trolley equipment finds new life in Argentina

SAN DIEGO — Metropolitan Transit System is donating up to 39 second-generation light rail vehicles to Mendoza, Argentina, as it makes way for a new order of trolleys. The Siemens SD100 vehicles, which began entering service in 1995, will become part of the Metrotranvia Mendoza light rail fleet. “As MTS modernizes its Trolley fleet, we […]

Read More…

MBTA pulls cars from service after brake issue

Rapid transit trainset in factory

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has removed its newest rapid-transit equipment from service after a car was disabled by braking problems. NBC Boston reports 64 Orange Line cars and six Red Line cars built in Springfield, Mass., by an affiliate of China’s CRRC were pulled from service for inspections “out of an abundance […]

Read More…

SEPTA seeks proposals to replace trolley cars

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority logo

PHILADELPIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority has begun the process of replacing its 40-year-old Kawasaki trolley cars, issuing a request for proposals for 100 new rail vehicles. WHYY reports the agency seeks larger vehicles, with a capacity of 65 as opposed to the current 45, and will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities […]

Read More…

News photo: D&I railroad buys two Hawkeye Express cars

Black and yellow bilevel passenger cars at end of train

DELL RAPIDS, S.D. — The D&I Railroad has purchased two gallery passenger cars from the former Hawkeye Express football-train service for use in future events. The cars are shown on on a D&I train at Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 10, 2022. The D&I is a 138-mile short line operating on former Milwaukee Road trackage […]

Read More…

News photos: Passenger cars on display at Pullman Railroad Days

People in line at passenger car door

CHICAGO — The Pullman Historic Foundation’s “Railroad Days 2022” at Chicago’s Pullman National Monument, which began today (May 14, 2022) and continues Sunday, May 15, features tours of railcars built at the factory before it closed in 1981, as well as tours of the factory, Hotel Florence, the company-town neighborhood built in the 1880s, and […]

Read More…

North Carolina museum transports 10 cars to its property

BONSAL, N.C. – The North Carolina Railway Museum is orchestrating the 5-mile highway movement of 10 landlocked railroad cars — both passenger and freight — from a nuclear power plant site to its headquarters here. The cars were the subject of NCRM’s “Save the Ten” campaign, which successfully raised nearly $200,000, $50,000 of which came […]

Read More…

Unusual rolling stock: What IS that?

A bottle-shaped freight car used to carry molten steel.

Unusual rolling stock: There is no doubt that today’s trains are just not as colorful as those of a few decades ago. But just when you’re cradled into thinking variety is a thing of the past, a piece of rolling stock pops up to make you take a second look. Here’s a few samples of […]

Read More…