BOSTON — Fare gates are coming to Boston’s three busiest commuter rail stations in an effort to improve fare collections. Keolis Commuter Services, which operates the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter trains, will install the gates at North Station, South Station, and the Back Bay station in 2020, the Boston Globe reports, with North Station […]
KENT, Wash. — Sound Transit will receive a $790 million grant and $639 million low-interest loan to extend its light rail system from SeaTac to Federal Way, Wash. Construction is slated to begin in 2020. The federal funds will provide about 25% of the money needed for the estimated $3.1 billion project. Other funding will […]
All this month — December 2019 — Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and images of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. Please enjoy this photo gallery of images from the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include Rio Grande diesel- and steam-powered freight trains through time. You might […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is considering airline-style nonrefundable fares and ticket-change fees, according to a leaked memo. The tech website BGR, quoting from a paywalled Business insider report, says the changes could come as soon as January. They would make the lowest-priced “saver” fares nonrefundable and non-changeable 24 hours after purchase, and impose a 25% cancellation […]
A Google Maps 3D view shows a portion of the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, idle since 1982. Work is advancing on selection of station sites for a rail line that would revive the route across San Francisco Bay. Google Maps REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Sites for possible Redwood City stations on a new Dumbarton commuter rail […]
An inbound Metra BNSF train pauses at the Metra station in Clarendon Hills, Ill., in September. The station will be torn down in January to allow for construction of a new building. TRAINS: David Lassen CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. — Groundbreaking is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020, for the downtown revitalization project including a new Clarendon […]
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ridership on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s new service from its Gillette Stadium station is well under the target figure to retain the pilot program, the Attleboro, Mass., Sun-Chronicle reports. Through seven weeks, an average of 70 people per day are using the station, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisa Battison, who said […]
NJ Transit and Amtrak trains stop at the Newark Airport station. At a Thursday hearing on NJ Transit, one expert testified that road access to the station — which currently connects only to an airport monorail — would be a valuable addition. Ralph Spielman TRENTON, N.J. — The need for new funding sources is crucial […]
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — MARC commuter train service continues without change into West Virginia, even though a deadline for West Virginia to fund the service has passed, with a local legislator saying negotiations are continuing. MARC’s Brunswick line from Washington, D.C., serves two West Virginia communities — Duffields and Martinsburg — even though West Virginia has never […]
A Newark-bound NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line train arrives at Newark Penn Station in June 2019 with ALP45-DP No. 4519 at the point. NJ Transit has approved a bond issue to pay for 17 more of the locomotives as well as 600 buses. Ralph Spielman NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit’s board has approved a bond […]
A Coaster commuter train climbs Miramar Hill near San Diego in January 2016. Coaster and Amtrak service to San Diego will be disrupted this week by work to address bluff erosion in Del Mar, Calif. TRAINS: David Lassen DEL MAR, Calif. — Work to stabilize eroding coastal bluffs in Del Mar will disrupt Amtrak Surfliner […]
GLEN BURNIE, Md. — A $4.7 million renovation of the Amtrak and MARC commuter rail station at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is now complete. The 14-month project began in August 2018, and provides expanded seating, with charging stations for phones and other personal electronics, new ticketing facilities, improved restrooms, and refreshment and snack options. […]
