Austin commuter rail operations suspended because of weather
Austin, Texas, transit agency Capital Metro has suspended commuter rail service Monday and Tuesday because of the winter storm hitting the state. After shutting down all operations at 8 pm. Sunday, some services resume this morning and will from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. both days, but several bus routes have also been shut down. More information is available here.
MTA employees seek stiffer penalties for spitting on transit workers
New York transit workers are calling for passage of legislation that would increase penalties for those who spit on them, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has included in his preliminary state budget proposal. SILive.com reports the proposal would upgrade spitting on a transit worker from a violation punishable only by a fine to a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison. Officials of eight unions representing Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers gathered at New York City Hall on Friday to address the legislation, which would also expand the definition of workers covered to include customer service workers, signal maintainers, track cleaners, and supervisors.
Housatonic Railroad tells STB it will object to planned abandonment of Beacon Line
The Housatonic Railroad has informed the Surface Transportation Board it will oppose and object to Metro-North Railroad’s plan to abandon its Beacon Line as part of a filing objecting to a portion of Metro-North’s request for waivers and exemptions as a prelude to the abandonment application. The Housatonic filing objects to a portion of the Metro-North filing requesting a waiver of description of the property, noting that Metro-North has been responsible for maintaining the route, and that condition of the property is significant in a board review of the application. Metro-North indicated its intent to abandon the route, a 41-mile segment of the former New Haven Maybrook Line, in a filing last week.
