Monday morning rail news: Phoenix light rail project lands $638 million in federal funds The Phoenix Valley Metro light rail system will receive $638 million in federal funding for its South Central extension. KTAR Radio reports $530 million will come from the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants Program, with the remaining $108 million from the Federal […]
Additional Monday rail news: Metra extends sale of $10 one-day pass Metra is extending sale of its $10 All-Day Pass through Jan. 31, 2020. The pass, introduced June 1, allows unlimited Metra rides on a given day through 3 a.m. the following morning, and in most cases is less than the cost of two one-way […]
More Monday morning rail news: Grafton & Upton, Massachusetts town look into arbitration over land dispute A court case between the Grafton & Upton Railroad and town of Hopedale, Mass., has been paused while the two parties engage in a screening process for possible arbitration. The Milford Daily News reports the dispute centers on 155 acres of […]
WILMINGTON, Del. — Amtrak, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and the Delaware Transit Corp. have completed a $71.2 million project adding 1.5 miles of third main track on the Northeast Corridor between Wilmington and Newark, Del. The project, which also includes bridge replacement and other improvements, eliminates a two-track section of the corridor. “The completion […]
DENVER — The initial version of a passenger rail operation along Colorado’s Front Range could see two to six round trips a day between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, mostly on existing lines, and cost $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion. Colorado Public Radio reports that concept was presented by consultant HDR to the Front Range Passenger […]
Saturday morning rail news: Operator shortages curtail light rail service in Seattle, Tacoma With COVID-19 cases increasing, Sound Transit will temporarily reduce peak-hour service on its Link light rail lines as of Monday, Dec. 7, because of a shortage of operators. Trains will run every 12 minutes during peak periods; service during other times will remain unchanged. […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Major operational changes that have reduced Union Pacific’s costs are helping the railroad land new merchandise traffic, CEO Lance Fritz told an investor conference this week. Precision Scheduled Railroading is now “building into our DNA, into our culture” and will continue once outgoing Chief Operating Officer Jim Vena hands the reins to Senior […]
More Friday morning rail news Stockton Diamond gets $100 million grant from California The Stockton Diamond project, which seeks to replace a busy at-grade Central California rail crossing with a flyover, has received a $100 million grant from the California Transportation Commission. The Manteca Bulletin reports the grant will help fund a $237 million project that plans […]
Additional Friday morning rail news: Relatives ask for police investigation, Prime Minister’s intervention in CP derailment case The mother of a crew member killed in the February 2019 runaway incident of a Canadian Pacific train near Field, B.C., has filed formal complaints with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police asking them to step into an investigation […]
Friday late morning rail news: Washington’s Point Defiance Bypass likely to reopen in spring or summer 2021 The Washington State Department of Transportation projects Amtrak train service will return to the Point Defiance Bypass in spring or summer 2021. The website Urbanist, reporting on an online presentation by WSDOT Operations Program Manager Jason Biggs, says Amtrak will begin testing […]
Friday morning rail news: Leadership of House transportation committee to return Democratic and Republican leadership of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will remain unchanged after Democrats elected Peter DeFazio (Ore.) as the committee chair and Republicans chose Sam Graves (Mo.) as the Ranking Member. In a statement, DeFazio — a member of the committee […]
Thursday midday rail news: Five MTA employees charged in overtime fraud scheme Five current and former employees of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority have been charged for participation in an overtime fraud scheme that made them some of the agency’s highest-paid workers. The New York Times reports acting U.S. attorney Audrey Strauss said the scheme involved claims […]
