HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — Orange County has agreed to contribute to funds for a study of possible regional commuter rail service around Durham, N.C. The service could extend into Johnston, Wake, Orange and Alamance counties. Orange County agreed to pay $75,000 of the study’s total cost of $850,000, which is being shared by the participating counties […]
Tag: Passenger/Transit
Private car community ‘disappointed’ with Amtrak observation platform ban NEWSWIRE
As seen from the platform of business car ‘Dearing,’ the 2016 New River Train passes under the New River Gorge bridge near Fayetteville, W.Va., in October 2016. Chase Gunnoe WASHINGTON – Private car owners and operators say they are disappointed of Amtrak’s decision to ban observation deck riding and open dutch doors, despite their efforts […]
VIA settles on dome deployment plan for ‘Canadian’ NEWSWIRE
On one of its last transcontinental trips from Toronto, a Panorama dome is positioned just behind the Canadian’s dining car as westbound train No. 1 crosses the North Thompson River at Kamloops, British Columbia, on May 18, 2019. These single-level domes will run only on certain days between Edmonton and Vancouver, B.C., for the rest […]
Wabtec earns order for PTC work on New Mexico’s Rail Runner NEWSWIRE
WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec was selected to implement the positive train control system for the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, in an order worth $55 million. Building on ongoing design work, Wabtec will provide full-system integration for deployment of PTC on Rail Runner’s full fleet of 18 locomotives/cab cars and nearly 100 miles of track […]
Report: New River Train coming back this fall NEWSWIRE
HUNTINGTON, W.V. – U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin. D-W.Va., says the legendary New River Train is coming back. On Wednesday, Manchin tweeted “I’ve been working nonstop with @Amtrak to preserve #WV’s proud railroading history by keeping the annual New River Train running, and that’s why I’m glad a deal is in place to continue this proud […]
Sound Transit will revise its safety protocol in response to NTSB report NEWSWIRE
Sound Transit’s board chairman says the agency will call in an outside investigator to review its safety procedures in the wake of the National Transportation Safety Board’s findings and recommendations in its own investigation into the December 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment. NTSB had criticisms for multiple agencies and entities including Sound Transit, which owns the […]
WSDOT prepares to remove Talgo Series 6 trainsets ‘as soon as possible’
SEATTLE – The first response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment is the Washington State Department of Transportation’s decision to remove Talgo Series 6 trainsets from service “as soon as possible.” WSDOT, a prime financial sponsor of Amtrak Cascades service on the Vancouver, B.C.-Eugene, Ore., corridor, didn’t specify […]
MTA board hears from PTC contractors about implementation issues NEWSWIRE
Croton-Harmon-bound Metro-North train 725, stopped at Marble Hill Station in the Bronx on May 26, 2018, is on its way from Grand Central. The MTA board heard from key vendors Wednesday on PTC installation on Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. Ralph Spielman NEW YORK — Metropolitan Transportation Authority Patrick Foye called it “radical […]
Musk’s company receives contract to build underground transit system in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has approved a $48.7 million contract with Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to build an underground transit system for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The system, which will require less than a mile of tunneling, will be served by autonomous electric vehicles based on Tesla […]
Washington Metro returns cars to service after door malfunction NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — DC Metro returned most of its 3000-series railcars to service on Wednesday, a day after pulling them because the door on one car opened while a train was in motion. Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said a malfunctioning electrical component caused the doors to open, the Washington Post reports. Twenty-six cars with […]
Agencies react to criticisms of mistakes leading to 2017 Amtrak Cascades crash NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The National Transportation Safety Board wasn’t stingy in handing out criticisms or recommendations for changes in the aftermath of the December 2017 Amtrak Cascades derailment, so those on the receiving end have a lot of work ahead of them figuring out if and how they’ll respond to the safety board. For the Washington […]
Amtrak suspends ‘Missouri River Runner,’ ‘Southwest Chief’ service NEWSWIRE
The westbound Southwest Chief passes through Brookfield, Ill., on May 15, 2019. Chief service is temporarily suspended in Kansas because of a BNSF route closure. TRAINS: David Lassen KANSAS City, Mo. — Amtrak has temporarily suspended service on its Missouri River Runner between Kansas City and St. Louis, and on the Southwest Chief between Kansas […]
