SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Caltrain on Thursday unveiled its initial plans for electrified service, which call for faster trains and a simplified schedule when electric operation begins in its San Francisco-San Jose corridor. Completion of the ongoing electrification project is currently expected in fall 2024. The plans call for 104 weekday trains, including four trains […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Passenger service commenced for Indonesia’s first high speed rail service on Oct. 2, 2023. The 140-kilometer (87-mile) route connects Jakarta and Bandung, the country’s capital and a popular tourist destination, respectively. The Nikkei Asia reports that the new eight-car WHOOSH train — an acronym for “Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Hebat,” meaning […]
WASHINGTON — Chicago-area commuter railroad Metra has asked a federal court to review the Surface Transportation Board’s decision to approve the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger as well as a subsequent decision that covers post-merger oversight. Metra’s suit, filed on Sept. 29 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday released a 20-year assessment of the transit system’s needs over the next 20 years, calling it an “unconstrainted view of the MTA’s needs, rather than constraining it to meet an arbitrary budget target.” The resulting document, entitled “The Future Rides With Us,” is available here. (A […]
MONTREAL — The Canadian National Railway computer outage that disrupted GO Transit and VIA Rail Canada trains on Tuesday was caused by a software upgrade, CN said on Wednesday. CN spokesman Jonathan Abecassis told CTV News that the railroad had determined the problem was because of “an internal systems upgrade, which affected CN’s ability to […]
MANCHESTER, England — In a speech today (Oct. 4) at the annual Conservative Party conference, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced cancellation of construction of the second stage of the planned high speed rail project known as HS2. That segment was to link Manchester and Birmingham. The decision — if it survives an election due […]
Dallas-Houston high speed rail AUSTIN, Texas — Two U.S. Congressmen from Texas expressed heavy opposition towards proposed federal funding for a planned high-speed rail service between Dallas and Houston. Amtrak announced its partnership with the Texas Central Railroad LLC for the project in August 2023 and jointly submitted federal grant applications for both study and […]
LOS ANGELES – Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains will now operate on renewable diesel fuel, the LOSSAN rail agency, which manages the service, announced Oct. 3. Renewable diesel is chemically similar to fossil diesel but made from renewable raw materials such as used cooking oil, instead of crude oil. The Pacific Surfliner operates between San Diego, […]
RUSSIAVILLE, Ind. — For the first time since 1940, Union Traction Co. of Indiana interurban car No. 429 has moved under its own power. The 83-year-old vehicle is currently being restored by the Hoosier Heartland Trolley Co. No. 429 was built in 1925 by the St. Louis Car Co. and designed to hold 44 passengers. […]
PORTER, Ind. — South Shore Line commuter trains should begin running between the Michigan City and Dune Park stations the week of Oct. 16, opening the first part of its Double Track project and ending more than a year of bus substitution to accommodate work between Michigan City and Gary. The Times of Northwest Indiana […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway is experiencing a systemwide computer network failure affecting operations of GO Transit and VIA Rail Canada, as well as CN’s customer service. The railroad said in a post on Facebook this afternoon (Tuesday, Oct. 3) that it was experiencing “an internet connectivity and Electronic Data Interchange issue.” GO and VIA […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General today issued a report highly critical of a manufacturing process that has led to defects preventing Amtrak from accepting any of the 12 of 28 New Acela trainsets and 22 of 28 café cars already produced at Alstom’s Hornell, N.Y., facility. The 38-page report contains redactions of monetary […]
