Missouri River Runner gets second round trip for remainder of year as of July 19
Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner will restore its second daily round trip as of July 19. State funding and federal coronavirus relief funds will maintain the two-round-trip schedule between St. Louis and Kansas City through the remainder of 2021. “We appreciate the General Assembly and Gov. [Mike] Parson providing necessary resources for the Amtrak Missouri River Runner service in the state’s budget as well as the additional COVID relief funds enabling us to restore this important transportation service to Missourians,” Missouri Department of Transportation Director Patrick McKenna said in a press release. “… We will re-evaluate the situation this fall based on the actions at the federal level with the renewal of the federal transportation budget to determine how long we can support the two daily round-trip service.”
Bus rapid transit, at-grade tracks among options to address Honolulu rail transit issues
Seeking to find solutions to address an estimated $3.6 billion budget shortfall, Honolulu’s rail transit agency is considering changes to the system ranging from use of bus rapid transit on part of its route to going from an elevated to at-grade right-of-way, to building a people-mover system for the final section. Honolulu Civil Beat reports the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has released a “matrix” of 27 potential changes. This includes eight aimed at addressing the utility relocation issues that have been a significant part of the reason the elevated light rail system has seen its cost climb to $12.4 billion while completion is now expected in 2031. HART’s board says it will discuss possible changes publicly in the name of transparency, while the Federal Transportation Agency — which controls a major portion of the project funding — has said it will “discuss all possible options” with HART.
McComb, Miss., man charged with arson in fire at city’s Amtrak station
A 20-year-old man has been charged with arson in connection with the fire that severely damaged the McComb, Miss., Amtrak station and local museum. The Enterprise-Journal reports Markez Belmont Smith of McComb was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon. Sunday’s fire did extensive damage to the station, although McComb’s fire chief said he had hopes the basic structure could be salvaged [see “Digest: NJ Transit announces additional commuter rail service,” Trains News Wire, June 1, 2021].
