WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail officials have requested permission to return up to 27 more 7000-series trainsets to service, while decreasing the frequency of inspections for wheel issues, the Washington Post reports. If granted, the request to the independent Washington Metrorail Safety Commission would mean operation of as many as 35 of the Kawasaki-built trainsets — […]
Zone & Region: Northeast
New York subway operator dies in apparent railyard accident
NEW YORK — A New York City Transit died after being discovered between tracks of a subway yard in the Bronx on Thursday, possibly after making contact with the electrified third rail, according to police. WINS radio reports the 38-year-old woman was found about 8:20 a.m. at the Mosholu Train Yard in Jerome Park, and […]
Early Amtrak electric locomotives
Amtrak electric locomotives went through a period of uncertainty early in the passenger railroad’s existence. Not long after its inception, Amtrak began to focus on the fact that its non-Metroliner passenger service in the “Northeast Corridor” would require a replacement for the stalwart GG1 electrics that hauled its “conventional” trains over the electrified […]
With new car, Reading & Northern adds ‘Crown Class’ service for excursions
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern has added “Crown Class” service to its Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway with the debut of coach No. 450, The Pagoda, a 1920s-vintage six-axle heavyweight coach built for the Illinois Central Railroad. The car, purchased in a bankruptcy auction of equipment of a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings, […]
E7 on B&M’s Mountaineer
Brand-new E7 3810 leads Boston & Maine’s Mountaineer out of Boston in June 1946. The diesel illustrates the as-delivered scheme of B&M’s E7’s, with silver at the rear of the maroon and yellow carbody. Albert G. Hale photo […]
DL109’s with New Haven’s Merchants Limited
Two Alco DL109’s roll the New Haven’s crack New York–Boston Merchants Limited through East Haven, Conn., in mid-1947. The last all-parlor-car train in the U.S., the Merchants got coaches in 1949. T. J. Donahue photo […]
MBTA to close part of Green Line for four weeks, pushes back opening of new branch
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced plans for another significant closure of one of its rail transit lines, just two days after saying it would shut down another line entirely. The Boston Globe reports the MBTA plans to pose a portion of the Green Line for four weeks beginning Aug. 22, and […]
Safety commission orders Metrorail to address control-room issues
WASHINGTON — The independent agency which oversees DC Metrorail safety issues has ordered the transit operator to inspect, clean, and maintain control rooms at its stations, saying Metro has failed to live up to its pledge to do so. The Washington Post reports the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission conducted inspections of control rooms across the […]
Orange Line shutdown will allow MBTA to make repairs that would normally take five years
BOSTON — The Boston area is scrambling to prepare for the 30-day shutdown of the rapid transit Orange Line, a move that officials are casting as a necessary evil. The Boston Globe reports Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said during a Wednesday news conference that the shutdown will allow the MBTA to accomplish in 30 days […]
MBTA to shut down Orange Line for a month
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will shut down its second most used rail rapid transit route, the Orange Line, for a month to conduct major repairs, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has announced. The Boston Globe reports Baker said the line, used for an average of 104,000 trips per day as of October 2021, […]
DC Metro hires new chief operating officer
WASHINGTON — The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has hired a new chief operating officer, replacing the official who resigned in the fallout of the agency’s failure to maintain certification for its train operators. The Washington Post reports Brian Dwyer, whose three decades in public transportation most recently include three years at consulting firm WSP, […]
Maine’s Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington prepares to open new trackage
ALNA, Maine — Volunteers have been working nearly non-stop for several weeks, finishing a number of last-minute details leading up to the Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, opening of the Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum’s Mountain Extension and Trout Brook Station. Two special trains will make the first official runs over the three-quarter-mile extension of […]