More Wednesday morning rail news in brief:
Amtrak ‘Pere Marquette’ to resume operation
Amtrak will resume operation of the Chicago-Grand Rapids, Mich., Pere Marquette next week, with the first Chicago-Grand Rapids train on Monday, June 29, and trains operating in both directions on Tuesday, June 30. Departures from Chicago for train No 370 are at 6:30 p.m. CDT, with arrival in Grand Rapids at 11:34 p.m. EDT; westbound, train No. 371 leaves Grand Rapids at 6 a.m. EDT and arrives in Chciago at 9:08 a.m. CDT. The train has been suspended since March 21 because of the COVID-19 outbreak. See Amtrak’s website for more information.
VIA Rail Canada touts record ridership in annual report
VIA Rail Canada says it carried more than 5 million passengers in 2019, a record and an increase of 5.5% over ridership in 2018. Service in the Quebec City-Windsor, Ontario, corridor represented 4.7 million of those passengers and also was a 5.5% increase over 2018. The ridership figures are part of the passenger carrier’s annual report, which also includes updates on VIA’s fleet replacement program and proposed High Frequency Rail plan for its own right-of-way in part of the Quebec-Windsor corridor. The full report is available here.
Contract operators form North American Transit Alliance
Six companies which provide contract transit operations have formed the North American Transit Alliance, seeking to promote “innovative transportation solutions that ensure transit is safe, clean, and prepared for the challenges that lie ahead,” according to a press release. Members include First Transit, Keolis, MV Transportation, National Express, RAPT Dev USA, and Transdev. They operate in 46 states, five provinces, and over 2,000 cities in the U.S. and Canada.
