Digest: Canadian federal budget includes funds for VIA infrastructure projects

Canada’s federal budget includes funds for VIA high-frequency rail, other infrastructure projects

Canada’s federal budget unveiled on Monday includes $4.4 million for continued planning work on VIA Rail Canada’s proposed “high frequency rail” project, which would provide a separate, passenger-only route for part of the corridor between Toronto and Quebec City. Global News reports the budget also proposes $491.2 million over six years, beginning in 2021-22, for VIA infrastructure projects that would support the high frequency rail project, which will cost a projected $4.4 billion. The budget says the $491.2 million would “help reduce bottlenecks, improve fluidity and connectivity, and allow VIA to take an important step toward high-frequency rail in the corridor.”

NJ Turnpike Authority could provide $2 billion to NJ Transit

NJ Transit could receive $2 billion in subsidies from the New Jersey Turnpike over four years under an agreement to be considered next week by turnpike authority commissioners. NJ.com reports Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, told a state budget committee that the turnpike funds could help the address the longstanding need for dedicated funding for the transit agency, which currently relies on year-to-year commitments from the governor’s budget and annual sees money transferred from its capital budget to meet operating costs. The turnpike currently provides $129 million annually under agreements that are set to expire. It provides the funding to subsidize efforts to reduce traffic by getting some commuters to use public transit.

Galveston trolleys to return this summer

The Galveston, Texas, trolley system, idle for more than a dozen years, is slated to return this summer. KHOU-TV reports that city officials say three of the city’s four history railcars — damaged in 2008 by Hurricane Ike — have been restored and will resume service after receiving state and federal certification. The cars are now testing, with operators undergoing 75 hours of required testing before receiving certification. No date for the resumption of rail service has been set. The city currently uses rubber-tired vehicles resembling trolley cars on the route between downtown and the Seawall.