— After initially reporting service would resume Monday, Montreal’s Exo commuter rail service began operating trains on its Candiac line service Friday afternoon, ending a shutdown of more than three weeks because of a blockade by Mohawk protesters at Kahnawake, Quebec, the North Shore News reports.
— Austin, Texas, transit agency Capital Metro announced more details for its proposed “Project Connect” expansion, including a 1.6-mile downtown section of subway operation for two proposed light rail lines. KVUE-TV reports the plans would also add two stations to the existing commuter rail Red Line, and create a new commuter Green Line through east Austin.
— A plan to fund replacement of New Jersey’s aging Portal Bridge, a major trouble spot on the Northeast Corridor, faces new difficulties after the U.S. Justice Department issued an opinion that the funding mechanism would violate the Amtrak Reform Act. Bloomberg reports that the opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel says NJ Transit has no legal right to divert some of the funds it pays to Amtrak for use of the Northeast Corridor to the bridge project.
