BOSTON — The head of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority says the agency will seeks an outside review of its operations in the wake of two light-rail derailments in a four-day span and four so far in 2019. The Associated Press reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak wants “a fresh set of eyes” to […]
CHICAGO – Metra may receive as much as $1.6 billion in state bond revenue for capital improvements over the next five years under legislation recently approved by the Illinois General Assembly, agency officials say. That number is far below the amount Metra had hoped for, but the commuter rail agency’s board members expressed gratitude to legislators […]
SAN FRANCISCO — The Transbay Transit Center, closed since last September, will reopen July 1 — but not, initially, for its primary use as a bus terminal. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the $2.2-billion transit facility, which closed just six weeks after its August 2018 opening because of cracks in two major steel support […]
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 […]
SAN FRANCISCO — An independent panel examining the design and repair of the Transbay Transit Center has determined the $2.2 billion facility is safe to reopen, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports a date for returning service to the facility has not yet been set. While preparations for reopening the center have been under way […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
BOSTON – An MBTA Red Line subway derailment near the JFK/UMass station on Tuesday morning has injured one person and disrupted the morning Boston commute for thousands, the Boston Globe reports. According to the agency, shuttle buses are replacing Red Line service between North Quincy and Broadway and Ashmont to Broadway due to the derailment. […]
NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Long Island Rail Road will start construction on a new Penn Station entrance at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue on June 17, which will bring much needed improved access, while LIRR’s concourse will get wider corridors, natural light, and improved safety to the underground station. To help […]
