MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A new Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Regional Rail station set to open next month has a new name. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the location in the Delaware County’s Middletown Township will be named Wawa Station after dairy products company Wawa, which has its headquarters across U.S. Route 1 from the new […]
Zone & Region: Northeast
With ridership still down, New York’s MTA faces ‘fiscal cliff’ by 2025
NEW YORK — With post-pandemic ridership remaining below levels forecast in 2020, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could face a “fiscal cliff” — the inability to balance its budgets — as soon as 2025, a year earlier than previously forecast, the MTA board was told Wednesday. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Willens told the board the agency […]
Long Island Rail Road ends development of battery-electric equipment
NEW YORK — The Long Island Rail Road has scrapped a plan to develop battery-electric multiple-unit trainsets for use on its non-electrified lines, Newsday reports, after determining retrofitting of existing equipment is not feasible. The LIRR and Alstom announced a partnership to develop and test the equipment on its Oyster Bay Branch in April 2021 […]
NTSB finds violation of safety rule is likely cause of Pan Am employee death
WASHINGTON — A failure to follow rules prohibiting employees from moving between moving railcars during coupling was the probable cause of the death of a Pan Am Railways conductor, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report on the fatal May 2021 accident. The accident in Newington, N.H., on the afternoon of May 19, 2021, […]
New York subway system to gain cell service throughout underground tunnels
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced plans to expand cellular coverage to include all 418 track miles of New York City Transit subway tunnels, as well as all 191 above-ground subway tunnels and the 21 stations of the Staten Island Railway. Cell and wi-fi service is currently available at the subway system’s […]
U-boats on a New Haven freight
Three GE U25Bs lead New Haven Railroad eastbound symbol freight OB-6 on the Maybrook Line about 3 miles east of Danbury, Conn., in March 1966. John P. Ahrens photo […]
‘Unintentional’ move of MBTA train causes commuter delays
BRAINTREE, Mass. — A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rapid-transit trainset rolled out of a storage yard and onto station tracks after an operator lost control, disrupting Monday morning Red Line rush hour operations, the Boston Globe reports. The incident at the Braintree station occurred about 5:30 a.m. and led to delays of up to 30 […]
New York short line locomotive overturned after hitting derail
MILO, N.Y. — A Finger Lakes Railway locomotive overturned Monday after striking a derail protecting a track project, injuring the engineer, the Finger Lakes Daily News reports. The locomotive was running light when the accident occurred about 8 a.m., injuring its engineer, 48-year-old Thomas Lewis of Dresden, N.Y., and causing a fuel spill. Lewis was […]
CSX sues over 2019 flood, derailment in Baltimore tunnel
BALTIMORE — CSX Transportation is suing the City of Baltimore and Maryland Transit Administration over a broken water main that flooded the Howard Street Tunnel in 2019, leading to a derailment. The Maryland Daily Record reports the suit in federal court seeks $2.5 million in damages resulting from the water-main break, as well as court […]
State cites CSX for environmental violations in explosion at Baltimore coal facility
BALTIMORE — A state agency has cited CSX Transportation for violation of air pollution regulations in the December 2021 explosion at the railroad’s Curtis Bay Coal Piers, referring the matter to the state attorney general’s office for further action. WJZ-TV reports the Maryland Department of the Environment claims the coal-dust explosion at the facility caused […]
Loose metal part struck third rail, causing MBTA Orange Line fire
BOSTON — A metal sill on a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authrotiy Orange Line train came loose and made contact with the electrified third rail, causing the fire that stopped the train on a bridge in Somerville, Mass., on Thursday, the agency says. The Boston Globe reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said about 200 […]
Report says New York MTA needs more work to be ready for major storms
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority still needs “considerable work” to be prepared to use some $350 million in flood-control devices installed since Hurricane Sandy caused substantial damage in 2012, according to a new report. Acting MTA Inspector General Elizabeth Keating said in a press release that in the years since Sandy, the MTA […]