New boarding platform opens at Washington Union Station

Train at wide concrete platform at station

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has opened a new track and platform at Washington Union Station, expanding the facility’s capacity. Track 22, on the station’s lower level, previously was a storage track with no passenger access. It will primarily serve Virginia Railway Express commuter trains, as well as Amtrak long distance and Virginia trains. The project required […]

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Infrastructure fund to acquire Ohio-based regional Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway

Red, white, and blue locomotive outside shop building

NEW YORK — The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway — at 840 miles the largest independent regional railroad in the U.S. — is being acquired by FTAI Infrastructure in a billion-dollar deal, the companies announced today. FTAI, which owns short line and terminal switching operator Transtar, will pay The Wheeling Corp. $1.05 billion to acquire […]

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Fire in signal bungalow could affect MBTA commuter service for weeks

Logo of Keolis North America

HYDE PARK, Mass. — Damage from a fire caused by a downed Amtrak catenary wire could disrupt service on three Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail lines for several weeks, the MBTA’s contract commuter rail operator said this week. The Aug. 1 incident set fire to a “key signal bungalow” at Read Interlocking, where the […]

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The HO scale Boston & Maine layout

The track plan for the HO scale Boston & Maine model railroad layout

Facts and features Name: Boston & Maine Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 13′-0″ x 34′-9″ Prototype: Boston & Maine Locale: Five villages of Wakefield, N.H. Era: 1909 Style: around-the-walls Mainline run: approximately 90 feet Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: No. 4 Maximum grade: Less than 1% Benchwork: manufactured truss joists with 1 x 4 L-girders and […]

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Nine hospitalized after PATH train fire (updated)

Map of PATH rail lines between New Jersey and New York City

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the Port Authority-Trans Hudson fire that sent nine people to the hospital today (Monday, Aug. 4, 2025). The fire broke out under an eastbound PATH train at the Newport station in Jersey City about 6:20 a.m. The news site Gothamist reports 13 people were […]

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Molinaro confirmed as head of Federal Transit Administration

Man in blue suit and tie standing in front of U.S. flag

WASHINGTON — Marcus Molinaro, a former Republican member of the House of Representatives from New York, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. Molinaro was confirmed by a 71-23 vote on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. Results of the roll-call vote are available here. “I applaud the U.S. Senate […]

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New York’s Interborough Express project enters design phase

Group of people standing in front of locomotive to make announcement

NEW YORK — The Interborough Express, the planned Metropolitan Transportation Authority light rail line linking Brooklyn and Queens, has entered the engineering and design phase. The MTA board this week selected a joint venture of Jacobs and HDR to oversee the project, which will be built along a currently freight-only, 14-mile Long Island Rail Road […]

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Commuter rail fares to rise by 10% in Connecticut

Electric multiple-unit trainset rounds curve

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has reluctantly approved a 10% fare increase for Metro-North Railroad trips beginning or ending in Connecticut — an increase requested by that state’s Department of Transportation to address an $11 million shortfall in the budget passed in June. The same increase — 5% effective Sept. 1, 2025, […]

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Baltimore Streetcar Museum receives funding for new campus project

Aerial-view illustration of streetcar museum with roundhouse and carbarn

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Streetcar Museum has received $165,000 in city funding for its project to develop a new campus at a former Maryland & Pennsylvania roundhouse near its current location. The museum said in a Facebook post that the money, in fiscal 2026 and 2027 from the City of Baltimore Cultural Spaces Capital Support […]

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Crew member, firefighter hurt as SEPTA train catches fire

Screenshot of aerial view of SEPTA train on fire on July 22, 2025.

BREAKING: SEPTA train on fire at Paoli station. @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/ciJ68Oq2eh — Matt DeLucia (@MattDeLucia) July 23, 2025 PAOLI, Pa. — A Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority employee and a firefighter were injured when a Regional Rail train caught fire late Tuesday (July 22, 2025). No passengers were on board at the time. WTXF-TV reports two cars […]

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Newest subway cars debut on NYC Transit’s B line

Subway train on curve in open-air segment

NEW YORK — New York City Transit rolled out its latest generation of subway equipment, the R211 car, on the B Line on Monday (July 21, 2025), marking the fourth route to receive the new railcars and meaning the equipment is now operating in all five boroughs. “I’m thrilled that B train riders from the […]

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FRA to study Penn Station operations as part of redevelopment planning, Byford says

Rendering of open interior area of passenger station

NEW YORK — The Federal Railroad Administration will conduct an independent review of operations at New York’s Penn Station to determine whether expansion of the number of station tracks is needed as part of renovation plans, Amtrak’s Andy Byford said Friday. Byford made his first public comments since being named to oversee the project at […]

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