Digest: New MBTA subway cars have derailed six times near site of recent incident

Car weight may be a factor in derailments by new MBTA subway cars

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s new Orange Line subway cars have derailed six times near Wellington Station in Medford, Mass., since the first new cars entered service, and their weight may be a factor. New England Cable News reports five of those derailments came when moving through MBTA’s Wellington Yard, with no passengers on board. The sixth came last week, when two cars of a train carrying 100 passengers derailed at low speed [see “Digest: Transportation Safety Board of Canada releases report …,” Trains News Wire, March 17, 2021]. That led to the MBTA removing from service Red and Orange line cars being built in Springfield, Mass., by an affiliate of Chinese manufacturer CRRC. The new cars are designed to be more durable, but that also makes them heavier, which may be a problem with the “aging track infrastructure” in the Wellington Yard, an MBTA spokesman said. A project to rebuild the yard’s track and signaling began in 2018 and is scheduled to be finished next summer. The cause of last week’s derailment remains under investigation.

Legislative committee to consider cutting ‘Missouri River Runner’ service to one daily round trip

Amtrak service between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., could be cut from two round trips daily to one under a proposal to be considered by Missouri legislators. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports a House committee could vote this week on the proposal by House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage, Mo.). The state’s Department of Transportation has asked for funds to continue twice-daily service for the route, which had carried about 172,000 people annually before two years of service disruptions. In 2019, service was halted for several weeks as a result of flooding and rerouting of other Union Pacific trains onto the route [see “Full service restored on ‘Missouri River Runner’ route,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2019], and the pandemic led to major ridership reductions in 2020.

Cost of wall for Minneapolis-area light rail project grows by 350%

The cost of a wall separating BNSF Railway tracks from those of the Minneapolis-area Southwest Light Rail project has grown to almost $93 million, an increase of more than 350% over the originally budgeted figure. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports the mile-long wall along a section of the line between downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie, Minn., was required by BNSF, which owns the land. It will be heavily fortified to prevent a collision between freight and light rail trains. It was originally estimated to cost about $20 million. The light rail project, an extension of the existing Green Line, is the most expensive public works project in state history; the most recent estimate places the total cost at $2 billion.