Beginning in 1964, the Rio Grande began attaching a car or two of piggyback trailers to the rear of the Salt Lake City–Denver Prospector in order to boost the train’s bottom line, as seen here at East Rocky, Colo., in April 1964. Nevertheless, the train was discontinued in 1967. Richard Steinheimer photo […]
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – Construction on a new Amtrak station in Brattleboro is set to begin March, the Commons News reported. The station, which will be served by Amtrak’s Vermonter, will cost $10 million and take 18 months to complete. It will include the first high-level passenger platform in Vermont. In November 2020, Amtrak announced it […]
SAN FRANCISCO – Here’s something you don’t hear very often in 2024: a rail transit project coming in under budget. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) did just that with its order for new “Fleet of the Future” cars. Thanks to a revised schedule, and an accelerated monthly delivery rate of the new cars, the project […]
TIJUANA, Mexico – With the Tren Maya (Maya Train) rail project in Mexico’s Quintana Roo and the Yucatan set for completion next month, Mexico is planning to build another passenger rail line. The Cabo Sun reports that the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has set his sights on a new project: building a passenger […]
CHICAGO — Metra, the Regional Transportation Authority, and Cook County, Ill., on Tuesday announced the Access Pilot Program, which extends reduced fares for low-income riders across the entire six-county Metra system as of Feb. 1. The new program, an 18-month pilot program, is a successor to and expansion of the Fair Transit South Cook program, […]
CHICAGO — With daytime Midwest temperatures expected to push above zero beginning Wednesday, Amtrak today (Tuesday, Jan. 16) began resuming departures on some long-distance routes west of Chicago, although trains serving western New York and the Pacific Northwest were cancelled today and Wednesday, Jan. 17. A cancellation advisory posted this afternoon indicated alternate bus transportation […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The fiscal 2025 budget for Virginia Railway Express has received final approval, setting the stage for the commuter operator to begin offering Saturday service for the first time later this year. The $119.9 million operating budget, up 10% over fiscal 2024, received approval last week from the second of the two agencies […]
KENOSHA, Wis. — The Kenosha City Council will consider a resolution on Wednesday in support of a long-discussed commuter rail line to Milwaukee, the Kenosha News reports. City councils in Racine, Milwaukee, and South Milwaukee have already approved resolutions supporting federal investment toward the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Regional Rail Corridor. The resolution to be considered by Kenosha […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak continues to assess efforts to operate in subzero Midwest temperatures and make cancellation decisions less than 24 hours before departures. In a remarkably candid email addressed this morning to “Supporter of Passenger Rail” and obtained by Trains News Wire, Amtrak’s veteran Chicago-based government affairs director, Derrick James, outlined the latest cancellations through […]
News & Products for the week of January 15th 2024 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of January 15th […]
I’m not holding my breath, but the Federal Railroad Administration late last year released a long list of routes chosen for what it calls its Corridor Identification and Development Program, which the Trains News Wire describes as “a catch-all group of 69 potential future Amtrak routes, possible extensions to existing routes, efforts to increase service […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — MAX light rail service remains suspended throughout the Portland area as of this morning (Monday, Jan. 15) as a result of winter weather that hit the area on Saturday — with more on the way. Transit agency Tri-Met says in an advisory on its website the light rail service is suspended “until […]
