TEXRail orders more Stadler trainsets

Diesel multiple-unit trainset with airplane overhead

FORT WORTH, Texas — Transit agency Trinity Metro has ordered four more FLIRT diesel multiple-unit trainsets for its TEXRail commuter rail service, Stadler announced. Delivery is expected in 2027. The new equipment will join the existing fleet of eight FLIRT (Fast Light Intercity and Regional Train) trainsets in operation since 2019 on the 27.2-mile, nine-station […]

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Amtrak notches ridership and revenue record for fiscal 2024: Analysis

Line of people waiting to board passenger car

WASHINGTON — The increases weren’t large compared to pre-pandemic 2019, but more Northeast Regional frequencies enabled Amtrak to capture enough travel demand to beat the company’s previous overall record ridership in fiscal 2024. Also, a 24% gain in ticket revenue from long-distance trains compared to 2019, in spite of constricted coach and sleeping car capacity, […]

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Amtrak planning to tear down Michigan City, Ind., coaling tower

Passenger train on straight track

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — A century-old coaling tower built by the Michigan Central Railroad will be torn down next year, leading to a disruption of Amtrak service for up to two weeks, WCOE and WLOI radio report. The massive concrete structure straddling the Amtrak-owned trackage, a local landmark dating to 1923 (some sources say 1924), […]

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Youngstown Model Railroad Association’s HO scale layout

Title screen from layout visit video showing scene from HO scale layout.

In the January 2025 issue of Model Railroader magazine, Contributing Editor Lou Sassi paid a visit to the Youngstown Model Railroad Association, located in its namesake community in Ohio. The club, which has been around for 68 years, has layouts in O and HO scales. Lou’s article focuses on the latter, a 24 x 47-foot […]

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MBTA says new Orange, Red Line cars are now exceeding requirements

Rapid transit train operates on open-air track with city skyline in distance

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s issues with new rapid-transit equipment built by China’s CRRC have eased, CEO Phillip Eng said last week, with the equipment now arriving on the revised schedule developed earlier this year and performing reliably. “Just last month was the first month they were required to deliver three married pairs, […]

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MBTA orders more bilevel commuter cars

Silver bilevel coaches with purple coaches at station

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board has voted to purchase 39 more bilevel commuter railcars from Hyundai Rotem, bringing to 163 the total number in service or on order. State House News Service reports the board voted Thursday, Nov. 21, to exercise a $165 million option for the additional cars. The MBTA originally […]

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Pennsylvania governor’s move averts SEPTA fare increase, service cuts

SEPTA train near sunset with Philadelphia skyline in background

  PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced he would transfer $153 million in federal highway funds to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, a move he said would avert “critically damaging service cuts and fare increases ahead of our next state budget.” In a Friday, Nov. 22, announcement, Shapiro noted recent highway-repair efforts before saying, […]

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New York congestion pricing plan gets federal approval

Map of Lower Manhattan

NEW YORK — New York’s congestion tolling plan has received federal approval, meaning the toll of $9 for most drivers entering lower Manhattan will take effect Jan. 5, 2025. The program, with goals of reducing traffic below 60th Street and funding Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital programs, was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on Friday, […]

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