National Capital Trolley Museum adds rare ‘Auto-Railer’

Rusted busline vehicle with trolley car

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The National Capital Trolley Museum has added an Evans Auto-Railer — a 1930s vehicle designed to operate on both roads and railways — to its collection. The vehicle operated on the Arlington & Fairfax Railway from 1936 to 1939, providing service between Rosslyn, Va., to Fairfax City and Fort Myer, near […]

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News photos: Fallen ‘Star’

Passenger train with blue locomotive and heritage Amtrak locomotive passing next to signal bridge

While Amtrak marked the launch on Sunday of its new but temporary Floridian service between Chicago and Florida, via Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., the debut of one train meant the end — at least for a similar undefined period — of another. Amtrak’s New York-Miami Silver Star made its final runs on Sunday, part of […]

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RDC buys rail lines in Northern Germany

Railroad Development Corp.’s German subsidiary, RDC Deutschland, has bought two railway lines in northwestern Germany from the international freight business of French Railways (SNCF). Both lines, acquired in a transaction completed at the beginning of November, have regional passenger service, or will shortly. This makes them potentially attractive as an investment, as much of the […]

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Amtrak Borealis routes into the Upper Midwest

Amtrak Borealis Trains.com staffer Ben Lake, narrates his rides aboard Amtrak’s newest Midwest region trains, the #1333 (westbound) and #1340 (eastbound) Borealis! Since operations began in May 2024, the Borealis trains now provide a second daily connection between Downtown Chicago, Ill. (CHI), Milwaukee, Wis. (MKE), and St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minn. (MSP)…and have already surpassed the 100,000 […]

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Metra introduces locomotive honoring veterans

Locomotive with group of people

CHICAGO — Metra has added to its fleet of specially painted locomotives with an F40PH-3 honoring veterans. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the unit, introduced last week at a luncheon to honor veterans who work at the commuter rail operator, will enter service on the Rock Island District, moving to the BNSF and Milwaukee District lines […]

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First U.S. hydrogen-powered trainset enters Phase II of testing in California

Blue and white two-car passenger trainset on display track

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — North America’s first hydrogen-powered passenger trainset planned for regular use is getting closer to entering service in Southern California. The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority’s zero-emission multiple unit trainset, which the agency is promoting as ZEMU, will enter its second phase of testing next week. After several months of tests between […]

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Budd Slumbercoaches

A black and white photograph depicting two men standing on a passenger platform in front of a budd slumbercoach passenger car

Budd Slumbercoaches were born of a desire to serve budget-conscious leisure travelers in the mid-20th century.     As economic conditions improved during the 1920s and more people could afford to travel, there was demand for a less costly but more comfortable means of travel, particularly for the long-haul routes between Midwest and West Coast […]

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The Trains Interview: MTA Chief of Rolling Stock Tim Mulligan

New York subway train on elevated track at sunset

NEW YORK — Trains News Wire spoke with Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chief of Rolling Stock Tim Mulligan to discuss the agency’s robust, once-in-a-generation capital plan that involves replacing 2,000 subway cars and modernizing fleets across the agency. MTA’s five-year 2025-2029 capital plan totals $68 billion in investment, including $10.9 billion for modernized rolling stock. Mulligan […]

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Metrolink CEO’s home destroyed in California wildfire

Man in front of commuter railcar

CAMARILLO, Calif. — The home of Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle is among those destroyed in the Mountain fire, a wildfire fueled by high winds that has whipped through Ventura County, the Los Angeles Times reports. The house was destroyed Wednesday, after Kettle and his wife had heeded an evacuation order. “When I left the house, […]

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L&N at Ashley, Ill.

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Louisville & Nashville train 92 between Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis pulls into the old depot at Ashley, Ill., in September 1957. An FP7 and a Geep head the all-heavyweight consist of several head-end cars and two coaches. Jim Shaughnessy photo […]

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