BOSTON — A metal sill on a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authrotiy Orange Line train came loose and made contact with the electrified third rail, causing the fire that stopped the train on a bridge in Somerville, Mass., on Thursday, the agency says. The Boston Globe reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said about 200 […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority still needs “considerable work” to be prepared to use some $350 million in flood-control devices installed since Hurricane Sandy caused substantial damage in 2012, according to a new report. Acting MTA Inspector General Elizabeth Keating said in a press release that in the years since Sandy, the MTA […]
SOMERVILLE, Mass. — An MBTA Orange Line rapid-transit train caught fire on a bridge Thursday morning, reportedly leading passengers to kick out windows to escape and one person to jump into the river below. WCVB-TV reports the incident happened prior to 7 a.m. on a bridge over the Mystic River in Somerville. Images show fire […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern has announced plans to run a steam doubleheader — with 4-8-4 No. 2102 and 4-6-2 No. 425 — on its sold-out Iron Horse Rambles excursion Aug. 13. In a Facebook post, the railroad says this will be its first steam doubleheader since 1988. The doubleheader was made […]
WESTPORT, N.Y. — The New York-Montreal Adirondack is now the only Amtrak service that has not resumed operation following the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and Amtrak and the state of New York will not predict when it might return. The delay — which contrasts with Vermont’s preparations to extend the Ethan […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. will provide heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems for 56 new rapid transit trainsets being built for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority by Stadler, Wabtec has announced. The contract calls for Wabtec to provide 336 HVAC units, 224 of them for passenger cars and 112 for operator cabins. “We are […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – “The newest passenger car in the United States.” That’s how Brad Esposito, general manager of the East Broad Top Railroad, described the rolling stock that arrived Tuesday, July 19, at the narrow gauge tourist line and National Historic Landmark. It is the railroad’s first new passenger coach in more than a […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is slated to have submitted plans by today to address safety directives issued by the Federal Transit Administration, Streetsblog Mass reports. Corrective action plans were required to respond to the four directives issued by the FTA in June [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains […]
Two Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines AS16 road-switchers work a freight through Glassboro, N.J., in 1955. The dual-service units were equally at home on passenger trains. Frank Kozempel photo […]
NEW YORK — New York City and the state of New York have agreed on a plan to pay for renovation of Penn Station, the nation’s busiest passenger rail facility, and redevelopment of its surrounding neighborhood. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced the agreement on Monday. As outlined by the website […]
WASHINGTON — Passengers who booked reservations between Sept. 11 and Oct. 2, 2022, on the Silver Meteor, or on the two days a week when the Crescent and City of New Orleans had not been running, will have to change their travel plans. Daily operation of those trains is now scheduled to commence in both […]
NEW YORK — The subway car termed “The Last Redbird” has been auctioned off for almost a quarter-million dollars by the City of New York. The car had been displayed outside Queens Borough Hall in Queens, N.Y., since it was acquired by then-Borough President Helen Marshall in 2005, and was employed as a welcoming center. […]
