Texas’ state capital joined the ranks of U.S. cities with rail service Monday as Austin’s oft-delayed 32-mile Capital Metro Red Line opened for service. An observer on the first train reported approximately 40 “real” people (other than dignitaries and media) boarding the morning’s first train out of Leander, Tex., bound for Austin.
Efforts to establish streetcar or light rail service in Wisconsin’s largest city, stymied for years by state and county opposition, got a boost Thursday when a Milwaukee study committee, in a 3-1 vote, approved preliminary engineering on a $95.8 million streetcar for downtown.
The University of Minnesota has finally reached accord with the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council on construction of the Central Corridor light rail transit line through St. Paul, Minnesota’s state capital.
Several Charlottesville, Va., residents gathered at the train station Oct. 7 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the daily Lynchburg-to-Washington Amtrak train, which stops in Charlottesville.
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood had a blunt message Tuesday for states that want to spend their high speed rail grants on highways or rail freight projects: Use the grants for passenger rail or return the money to Washington, said LaHood.
Virginia’s plans to expand Amtrak passenger rail service to Norfolk, Va., will be pursued without sacrificing Amtrak’s current route through the state’s Tidewater region, which terminates at Newport News, on the north side of the James River.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority voted unanimously Wednesday to apply for the $2.38 billion in high speed rail funding that Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected. The money would permit the extension of extenda starter Central Valley segment of a planned 800-mile system.
MTA New York City Transit has announced it will suspend weekend service this fall between Queensboro Plaza (Queens) and Times Square (Manhattan) to begin installation of communications-based train control (CBTC).
Continuing to upgrade and replace bridges in Connecticut on its Northeast Corridor, Amtrak is preparing to replace two bridge spans in Stonington, Conn, and will suspend passenger service from 4:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, though noon Sunday, Nov. 6.
Supporters of Cincinnati’s streetcar proposal, coming off an Election Day victory fending off the proposal’s opponents, reportedly now hope to obtain $56 million in federal funds to restore the full original scope of the project.
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, which oversees Buffalo, N.Y.'s light rail transit line, plans to lay off almost 20% of its transit police, or about 20 officers, to cope with a $15 million deficit.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) Thursday said that Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) has become its newest member.
A poll published Tuesday by the Sacramento Bee indicates declining support for California’s high speed rail proposal among the state’s citizenry, which voted to approve the attempt three years ago.
A bipartisan group of 111 House members announced Tuesday it is urging President Obama to support a six-year transportation authorization. A letter to the President states that “short-term extensions fail to recognize that meaningful, large-scale transportation projects take years to plan, approve and implement.” States and contractors need a long-term bill in order to execute large projects and repair the nation's crumbling infrastructure, the group says.
U.S. freight carload traffic rose 2.8% for the week ending Dec. 3, 2011, measured against the comparable week in 2010, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. U.S. intermodal volume also did well, up 3.5% for the week compared with the same week one year ago.
