Rapido HO TurboTrain 2.0

Color image of man with goatee wearing glasses and blue shirt standing in front of an HO scale model railroad with trains and structures. Title bar is visible in upper left corner.

We’re changing things up for our latest product review video. Trains.com Director David Popp took the Rapido HO TurboTrain 2.0 on the road to run on Gerry Leone’s Bona Vista RR. Learn more about the full-size United Aircraft TurboTrain and our review sample, decorated in early Amtrak colors. Then watch the five-car train pass through […]

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Nova Scotia plans study of light rail, commuter rail options

Map of Halifax, Nova Scotia, area

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — The Nova Scotia government is planning to study the possibilities of developing light rail in Halifax and commuter rail in the area of the province’s largest city, which accounts for 63% of the Nova Scotia population. The government is seeking qualified consultants to carry out a rail feasibility study through a […]

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Texas Transportation Council gives final approval to funding rescue for Heartland Flyer

Passenger train at station

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Transportation Commission has approved last month’s decision by a regional governmental to provide $3.5 million to keep Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer operating for at least another year. The Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in July voted to provide the funding, filling a funding gap created […]

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FTA seeks changes to Capital Investment Grants program

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration will seek to remove one of the environmental components from its Capital Investment Grants program, FTA administrator Marc Molinaro said today (Aug. 21, 2025). The revision will remove “social cost of carbon” calculations from the ratings criteria used to award those grants — the federal government’s largest program to […]

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Philadelphia makes plans for SEPTA cuts

Map of SEPTA rail network showing lines to be cut

PHILADELPHIA  —  The City of Philadelphia has announced measures it will take when the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority begins enacting major service cuts this Sunday (Aug. 24, 2025). Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has announced new transit options for those in neighboring South Jersey. “We all know the best way to keep the region […]

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Metra adding trains on BNSF, UP North lines

Silver and read locomotive on commuter train

CHICAGO — Metra will add service on its most-used route, the BNSF Line, and make changes to two of its Union Pacific lines in September, the commuter operator has announced. On the BNSF Line between Aurora, Ill., and Chicago, the schedule effective Sept. 8 will include two new morning inbound express trains and two afternoon […]

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Amtrak awards contracts for maintenance facility upgrades at three Northeast locations

Computer illustration of planned building at railyard

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has awarded contracts and begun activity preceding construction for modernization of yards in Boston, New York, and Washington to prepare them for the delivery of new Airo trainsets. “These investments are key to introducing our new Airo trains on the Northeast Corridor beginning in 2027,” Amtrak President Roger Harris said in a […]

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FTA says it could withhold funds from New York MTA over subway safety issues

Workers in subway tunnel

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration on Tuesday warned it could take actions against New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority — including withholding 25% of the transit agency’s federal funding — over what the FTA called New York City Transit’s failure to address safety risks for subway track maintenance workers. The FTA issued a special directive […]

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Booking on NextGen Acela trains now possible

Amtrak logo.

NEW YORK — Amtrak is now offering tickets on Northeast Corridor trains that will debut the long-delayed NextGen Acela trainsets, and has announced which trains will feature the equipment, as well as highlighting those trains with a “NextGen” icon on the booking portion of its website and app. The company announced that addition to its […]

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Long Island Rail Road, five unions released from required mediation

Electric multiple-unit commuter train at junction

  WASHINGTON — The Long Island Rail Road could face a strike by or lockout of five unions as soon as Sept. 18 after the National Mediation board announced it had released the commuter operator and those unions from mediation required by the Railway Labor Act. The unions involved are the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers […]

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Congressman says SEPTA cuts could endanger Amtrak’s Keystone Service

blue and silver passenger train passes brick tower

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Congressman says he has been told that Amtrak’s Keystone Service — the Harrisburg-Philadelphia-New York route offering 13 weekday round trips — could be in jeopardy if state legislators don’t address the funding crisis that has the Southeastern Regional Transportation Authority planning major service cuts. The online news site Pennsylvania Capital-Star […]

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