CANCÚN, Mexico — The first section of Mexico’s Tren Maya, or Maya Train — a tourism project on the country’s southeastern tip championed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — is slated to open today (Friday, Dec. 15), just five years after it was announced and years ahead of initial projections. But the project remains […]
Type of Train: Passenger/Transit
Amtrak seeks applicants for scholarship program
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is seeking applications for 11 scholarships it will award for full-time undergraduate and graduate students with rail interests under a series of programs, the company has announced. Applications are due by the end of Jan. 31 for scholarships including: — Women in STEM: For those pursuing an undergraduate or master’s degree majoring […]
Maryland’s MTA creates website for updates on Baltimore light rail shutdown
BALTIMORE — The Maryland Transit Administration has launched a web page to provide information on the ongoing suspension of light rail service, shut down since Dec. 8 because of issues with the railcar fleet. The page, available here, includes maps on the shuttle bus operation that is replacing the light rail service, and will provide […]
NJ Transit to resume regular service on Morris & Essex line
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit will resume regular operations on its Morris & Essex line on Friday, Dec. 15, following completion of catenary repairs near Mount Tabor, the transit agency has announced. Service has been significantly disrupted — with some trains cancelled, others rerouted, and others making additional stops — since catenary supports were knocked […]
Philadelphia-area transit police go on strike
PHILADELPHIA — Police for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority have gone on strike, with the nation’s sixth-largest transportation agency calling on other law-enforcement bodies to fill in throughout the system. WHYY reports 83 of 124 members of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge No. 109 voted to strike, with Troy Parham, the organization’s first […]
MBTA approves new four-year contract with Machinists Union
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors has approved a new four-year contract with International Association of Machinists Lodge 264, including an overall pay raise of approximately 18% over the life of the contract, as well as several provisions intended to improve worker retention. The contract approved on Wednesday, Dec. 13, is […]
Portland transit agency announces plans for six-week shutdown of major light-rail hub
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Gateway Transit Center, a hub for the MAX light rail system’s Red, Blue, and Green lines in eastern Portland, will be closed to rail service Jan. 14 to Feb. 25 of next year to allow for construction, transit agency TriMet has announced. The resulting service disruption will include a suspension of […]
Some service restored on NJ Transit Morris & Essex line
NEWARK, N.J. — Service has been partially restored on NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex line, disrupted since Dec. 4 because of an accident that knocked down support poles for the route’s catenary system. Service resumed on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Through at least today (Dec. 14), two early trains — eastbound No. 626 and westbound No. […]
Mexico proposes Monterrey-area commuter service on CPKC de Mexico
MEXICO CITY — The Mexican Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation and the state of Nuevo Leon have reached an agreement with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern de Mexico to study commuter service in the Monterrey area. CPKC de Mexico has committed to providing information to the government agencies, a railway spokesman said today. Mexican […]
Five hospitalized after Pacific Surfliner hits truck, derailing one car
SOMIS, Calif. — Five people were taken to hospitals for treatment after a Los Angeles-bound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner hit a truck at a grade crossing Tuesday, Dec. 12, derailing the train’s cab car. KABC-TV reports the collision occurred about 6:20 p.m. near the intersection of Sand Canyon Road and State Route 118 between Somis and […]
Sound Transit CEO Timm to resign
SEATTLE — The CEO of Sound Transit is resigning after just 16 months, sending the agency back into a search for a new chief executive. Julie Timm, who became CEO in September 2022, will “return to the East Coast to take care of family matters,” Sound Transit said in a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 12. […]
Saskatchewan mayors seek to shift route of VIA’s Canadian
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — A group of mayors in Saskatchewan are proposing to shift the route of VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian northward from its current route to Canadian National’s Prairie North Line, saying the shift would offer a number of benefits for the passenger train. The mayors of Lloydminster, North Battleford, Warman, and Yorkton, Sask., presented […]