Tuesday morning rail news:
— A passenger who traveled on a Chicago-St. Louis train last week has recorded a “presumptive positive” test for the Covid-19 virus, leading Amtrak to remove the trainset for disinfecting and cancel one round trip on Sunday. The State Journal-Register reports that the train in question was the Wednesday, March 4, Lincoln Service train No. 303, a 9:25 a.m. departure from Chicago. The passenger, a woman in her 20s, had flown into Chicago and then took the train to St. Louis; she began feeling ill the next day and contacted authorities. She is the first reported coronavirus case in Missouri.
— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are asking sick people to stay off public transit and suggesting other moves to combat the spread of the coronavirus, including waiting for the next subway train if one is too crowded. WNBC-TV reports that Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Patrick Foye also recommended alternatives such as walking and biking if possible. Foye told a Monday press conference that it is too soon to tell if virus concerns are affecting MTA ridership. Cuomo, who declared a state of emergency in New York on Saturday because of an increasing number of Covid-19 cases, said Sunday that “at this time, there’s no reason to shut down mass transit,” the New York Post reports.
— The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will study a possible extension of commuter rail service to the Cape Cod community of Bourne, Mass., CapeCod.com reports. The area already has summer-only weekend passenger service via the CapeFlyer, a collaboration of MassDot, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and the Cape Cod Regional Trainsportation Authority that began in 2013.
— Violent incidents have increased aboard VIA Rail Canada’s trains in Western Canada since Greyhound ended bus service in much of the region, leaving VIA trains as the only significant ground public transportation option, Global News reports. In the 15 months since Greyhound service ended, security incidents have gone from less than one a month to more than three a month, according to VIA security logs.
— Nadeem Velani, Canadian Pacific’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, has been named Canada’s CFO of the year for 2020 by Financial Executives international Canada, PwC Cnada, and Robert Half. Velani has been CP’s chief financial officer since 2016.
