First portion of Mexico’s Maya Train set to begin operation

Three trains at station

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 […]

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Amtrak seeks applicants for scholarship program

Amtrak logo.

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 […]

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NJ Transit to resume regular service on Morris & Essex line

NJ Transit logo

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 […]

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Philadelphia-area transit police go on strike

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority logo

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 […]

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MBTA approves new four-year contract with Machinists Union

Logo of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

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 […]

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Some service restored on NJ Transit Morris & Essex line

NJ Transit logo

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. […]

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Mexico proposes Monterrey-area commuter service on CPKC de Mexico

CPKC logo

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 […]

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Sound Transit CEO Timm to resign

Woman with short dark hair

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. […]

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Saskatchewan mayors seek to shift route of VIA’s Canadian

Baggage is unloaded from the Canadian at Melville, Sask., in 2018.

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 […]

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