PETALUMA, Calif. — Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will add five weekday round trips beginning June 13 as part of a new schedule restoring service discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new schedule includes three added morning trips in each direction — from Sonoma County Airport at 4:39, 6:38, and 7:42 a.m., and from Larkspur at […]
FILLMORE, Calif. — Following on the heels of a successful freight photo train April 22, Sierra Northern Railway’s Ventura Division operated a second train, this time with seven streamlined passenger cars between Fillmore and Santa Paula, on Thursday, May 5. The train was stopped numerous times for the railroad’s company photographer. The train was significant […]
Diesels with trolley poles: Interurban railways usually had some form of freight traffic supplementing their passenger business, but almost none could come close to the Pacific Electric Railway, Southern California’s premier streetcar system. A subsidiary of Southern Pacific, even after the company gave up hauling passengers, freight service continued at a brisk pace up to […]
Celebrating Amtrak’s 50th +1! No force of nature or pandemic fears could keep Trains.com Producer Kent Johnson from pressing ahead with his Amtrak victory lap across America in the summer of 2021. There’s no better way to reveal the highlights and highjinks of present-day rail travel, than to document the ride along routes of notable […]
Celebrating Amtrak’s 50th +1! No force of nature or pandemic fears could keep Trains.com Executive Producer Kent Johnson from pressing ahead with his Amtrak victory lap across America in the summer of 2021. There’s no better way to reveal the highlights and highjinks of present-day rail travel, than to document the ride along routes of […]
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad was a survivor and an innovator. It weathered some very rough times, including at least five bankruptcies. It started running unit coal trains from Fort Smith, Ark., the city across the Arkansas River from my hometown of Van Buren, in the 1930s. It helped move Texas and Oklahoma oil east […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — California’s high speed rail project took a step toward filling one of the gaps in its route on Thursday, with certification of the environmental impact report for its 90-mile San Jose-Merced segment. Certification by the California High-Speed Rail Authority board moves the segment closer to being ready for construction when funding […]
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Officials of the Port and City of Long Beach held a golden spike ceremony Thursday to mark the completion of a project to increase intermodal moves by rail from the port. The $34.7 million Pier G/J Double Track Access Project adds 8,000 feet of second-main trackage, allowing four terminals in the […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Bay Area Rapid Transit board of directors has voted to reinstate a mask requirement on trains and station platforms. Thursday’s decision was effective immediately and will remain in place until July 18, KNTV reports. “I strongly support requiring a mask to ride BART to keep all our riders safe,” Rebecca Saltzman, […]
LOS ANGELES — The California High-Speed Rail Authority will provide more than $400 million for the project to improve Los Angeles Union Station, a project which will see through tracks for commuter and intercity rail operations created at the current stub-ended station in downtown L.A. The authority’s board on Wednesday approved the agreement with LA […]
FILLMORE, Calif. — Sierra Northern Railway’s Ventura Division began another step to introduce itself to local communities by operating a photo freight from Fillmore to Santa Paula and return. The train, powered by EMD F7A 100, consisted of a variety of freight cars with a heavyweight coach bringing up the rear. The railroad is aggressively […]
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County has reinstated its own mask requirement for public transit and transportation sites such as airports, even though the federal mask mandate was struck down earlier this week by a Florida judge. The Los Angeles Times reports the rule went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today (Friday, April 22), with […]
