A first look at the next-generation Acelas NEWSWIRE

New_Acela_1_Johnston

A power car at Alstom’s plant in Hornell, N.Y., shows the swooping lines of the next generation of Acela equipment. Bob Johnston Another power car, with its outer skin not yet installed, shows elements of the crash energy management system. Bob Johnston Carbody shells are made of aluminum and fabricated in Italy, which required a […]

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FRA awards $326 million in grants to 45 rail projects NEWSWIRE

FRA

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced the recipients of more than $326 million in grant funds under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program and the Special Transportation Circumstances Program, for a wide variety of state and local railroad infrastructure projects. The grants will fund 45 […]

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MBTA says operator error led to Saturday derailment NEWSWIRE

MBTA

BOSTON — Saturday’s derailment of a Green Line light rail train appears to have been caused by operator error, according to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The Boston Herald quotes MBTA Deputy General Manager Jeffrey Gonnevile as saying the derailment “does appear to be operator-related” at a meeting of the MBTA’s oversight board. At least […]

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Refurbished PCC cars hit the streets of San Francisco NEWSWIRE

SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly seven decades after being built, PCC streetcars are still earning their keep in San Francisco and thanks to a recent rehabilitation effort, the streamlined cars will be doing so for years to come. Since 2014, Brookville Equipment Corporation has been rebuilding 16 PCC cars for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. […]

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Washington city wants Point Defiance Bypass to stay closed until all recommended safety installations are complete NEWSWIRE

Passenger cars of derailed train hanging off bridge over highway

A view of the wreckage of derailed Amtrak Cascades Train 501 on Dec. 18, 2017. Steve Carter SEATTLE — The city council in Lakewood, Wash., has approved a resolution asking the Washington State Department of Transportation and Amtrak not to reopen the Point Defiance Bypass until all of the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations are […]

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Long road ahead for Illinois Amtrak route improvements NEWSWIRE

MetraElgin

A Metra train leaves Big Timber Road west of Elgin in 2014. A connection will be built to Union Pacific rails to Rockford in the foreground Bob Johnston CHICAGO – Although Illinois lawmakers and newly-elected Gov. J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat, enacted the state’s first infrastructure capital spending legislation in a decade [see “Illinois passes […]

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