Friday morning rail news:
Lease agreement means UP 4141 will arrive at Bush museum in spring
Union Pacific’s presidential commemorative locomotive, SD70ACe No. 4141, will arrive at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, this spring following approval of a lease that will allow the museum to expand. KXXV-TV reports the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Thursday approved a $1-per-year lease to allow a 2-acre expansion of the facility, making room for additional displays including the locomotive and a former Marine One helicopter. The arrival date for the locomotive will not be announced because of security precautions, the station reports. Union Pacific announced it would donate the locomotive, pained in a scheme based on that of Air Force One, to the museum in 2019 [see “Union Pacific dontes SD70ACe No. 4141 …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 8, 2019].
SunRail to join Brightline study of shared route to Orlando airport
The advisory commission for Orlando-area commuter railroad SunRail has voted to join a study by Brightline of a proposed link between Orlando International Airport and SunRail’s Meadow Woods station — and has learned Florida’s Department of Transportation will continue to fund and operate the system for another three years while the system is extended. The Orlando Sentinel reports Mike Cegelis, Brightline’s executive vice president for rail infrastructure, told a commission meeting that the study will consider how the two operations would share infrastructure, as well as considerations of scheduling and service levels. One commission member asked that the study also look at the possibility of having Brightline operate the SunRail system. The announcement from the Florida DOT indicated it will continue to be responsible for operations until a commitment to a 12-mile extension between DeBary and DeLand, Fla., is complete. This means Orlando and four surrounding counties do not yet have to assume operation of the SunRail system at an annual cost of about $50 million.
TTC recommendation would shut down Toronto’s Scarborough line seven years before replacement opens
Riders of a Toronto-area rail transit line could see the line shut down seven years before its replacement opens, based on the recommendation of the Toronto Transit Commission. The Toronto Star reports the TTC wants to close down the 35-year old Scarborough RT, a 35-year-old, 4-mile light rapid transit line, in 2023, replacing it with bus service. The line is part of the Toronto subway system but uses small, automated trainsets operating above ground or at grade, unlike the rest of the system. It will eventually be replaced by a three-stop extension of a subway line, but that’s not slated to happen until 2030. A TTC report recommends against a proposed $522 million overhaul of the system, saying it could not guarantee the system would remain reliable until completion of the subway. A Toronto councilor representing the area says transit riders were “sold a bill of goods” when told the current rail line would continue to operate until the subway is completed.
