Reports say vehicle drove around gates in fatal Metra collision

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CHICAGO — Witnesses report a vehicle drove around crossing gates before being struck by a Metra train Sunday evening in an accident that killed three people in the car — including a 5-year-old girl — and injured the train’s engineer, conductor and three passengers while derailing the cab car. The Chicago Tribune reports the collision […]

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Cost rises for Charlotte transit plan

Portion of map showing proposed Charlotte-area commuter rail line

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Estimates for a transit plan including commuter rail service for Charlotte have risen to $13.6 billion and could easily fluctuate over the almost two decades to complete the projects, the Charlotte city council was told at a Monday meeting. The Charlotte Observer reports preliminary estimates from an advisory group had placed the […]

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Mixed train

Mismatched high- and low-level equipment on a passenger train

Mixed train Internal stairways on some of the Sant Fe’s Hi-Level cars enable them to operate with single-level equipment. Here, a Hi-Level is mated with a sleeping car when the all-Pullman Super Chief and all-coach El Capitan were running as a combined train. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]

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Beech Grove man charged for fire at Amtrak facility

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INDIANAPOLIS – A Beech Grove man was arrested Monday in Indianapolis on federal criminal charges related to his alleged setting fire to two buildings at the Amtrak Beech Grove shop complex early on May 2, 2021. According to court documents, on the night of May 1, 2021, Casey Sage, 34, trespassed onto the grounds of […]

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Caltrain governance talks break down in dispute between counties

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SAN MATEO, Calif. — Discussions over the governance of Caltrain have broken down, reflecting concerns about a lawsuit between the agencies involved in operating the San Francisco Bay Area commuter railroad. The San Mateo Daily Journal reports board chair Dev Davis attended Friday’s Caltrain meeting but would not participate in discussion of the governance issue. […]

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‘Broadway’ interrupted

Steam locomotive with passenger train by signal gantry

‘Broadway’ interrupted Pennsylvania Railroad K4s Pacific 5369 pauses with the eastbound Broadway Limited at Englewood Union Station on Chicago’s South Side in the late 1920s or ’30s. Singly and later doubleheaded, the K4 was standard power on PRR trains 28 and 29 for a quarter of a century. Andrew Hritz photo […]

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Mail call

Carts and workers handling mail outdoors at large passenger terminal

Mail call Carts of mail sacks crowd the northeast side of the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in 1954. The stub-end terminal features 12 passenger tracks ending at an open-air concourse. James G. La Vake photo […]

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