Long Beach, Calif., to preserve light rail car that launched service in 1990
The Long Beach, Calif., city council is expected to accept a donated light rail vehicle from LA Metro to be preserved for a yet-to-be-determined use. The Long Beach Post reports the Nippon Sharyo P865 car, No. 100, was used to launch Blue Line service between Los Angeles and Long Beach in 1990. Donated to the city by Metro, it will be transported to storage at the city’s Water Department for future repurposing by the Long Beach Public Works Department for “civic use and benefit to the residents of Long Beach and Los Angeles County,” according to a memo from the Public Works director. Potential uses include a museum, informational hub, education venue, or café. The last of the P865 cars was removed from service in 2018. Two others were donated to the Orange Empire Railway Museum.
New Hampshire legislator introduces bill to modify RRIF program to aid commuter rail project
U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) has reintroduced a bill to amend the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program in a manner which could allow the program to help fund expansion of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail service into her state. The “Invest in American Railroads Act” would set aside $100 million in the program’s annual funding for passenger programs, among other changes. Kuster said in a press release that the changes would help pay for the proposed Capital Corridor project, which would connect Manchester, Nashua, and Concord, N.H., to Boston. The RRIF program was created in 1998, allowing the Department of Transportaiton to fund passenger and short line infrastructure projects, but is “significantly underutilized,” according to the release. Kuster originally introduced the legislation last year, but it did not advance out of committee. Reps. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) are co-sponsors of the bill, available in full here.
Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, air association join forces to get some domestic air travelers onto trains
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and the German Aviation Association have signed an agreement aimed at moving about 20% of the country’s domestic air travelers to trips by train in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. DPA International reports the plan would move about 4.3 million passengers annually from air to rail travel, and will include an increase of train service to and from Frankfurt Airport, the nation’s largest travel hub. The move comes after Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa announced in March they would expand the Lufthansa Rail Express program, which allows seamless transfer from trains to planes, from five to 22 stations. It also comes just days after legislators in France voted to end short-haul domestic flights when a rail-service alternative exists [see “Digest: Biden to nominate Fernandez …,” Trains News Wire, April 13, 2021],
Great idea. Bow if we can get the greedy US Iines to do this.