NJ transit adds weekday trains, weekend Gladstone Branch trains, North Jersey Coast shuttles
NJ Transit announced it would add 60 trains to its commuter rail schedules as of June 6, including select weekday trains throughout the system, weekend Gladstone Branch trains, and additional Long Branch-Bay Head shuttle trains on the North Jersey Coast Line. Weekday additions include trains on the Northeast Corridor and Raritan Valley lines, and schedule changes on the North Jersey Coast Line. Details are available here. “NJ Transit is proud to be restoring such an extensive range of rail service to our system,” NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett said in a press release. “The addition of the NJCL shuttle trains between Long Branch and Bay Head, along with the restoration of several other trains on many rail lines, will increase the frequency and reliability of rail service throughout our system, and are especially necessary now – at a time when more and more customers are returning to our system, and frequent and reliable service is more critical than ever.”
Mississippi Amtrak station and museum sustains major fire damage
The Amtrak station in McComb, Miss., a 1901 Illinois Central structure that also housed the town’s history museum, sustained major damage in a Sunday fire. The Associated Press reports the fire broke out in the structure’s north end, where the museum’s office and archives were housed, and the building was ablaze when the southbound City of New Orleans arrived for its scheduled stop. McComb fire chief Gary McKenzie estimated that roughly 90% of the museum’s artifacts were located in the building’s south end and could be saved. McKenzie also said he was optimistic the basic structure could be salvaged. The depot was renovated in 1998, with the museum founded in 2001 and expanded in 2013.
CN fined for pesticide use in British Columbia
Canadian National has been fined $100,000 for unauthorized use of pesticides on more than 90 miles of track in northwestern British Columbia after an investigation dating to 2017. CTV News reports a spray truck which operated along the railroad between Terrace and Prince Rupert operated without a required pest management plan in place. The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said such a plan requires “public consultation and First Nations engagement.” Most of the fine will go to wildlife and habitat restoration in the area.
