VRE to offer free service systemwide in September, at some locations in October

Two commuter trains side by side

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Virginia Railway Express will eliminate fares for passengers in September, and for parts of its system in October, to offset closures of parts of the DC Metrorail rapid transit system. The VRE Operations Board approved the plan during a Friday meeting. It will make the entire system fare-free in September; in October, […]

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NJ Transit gets funds for major station projects

NJ Transit logo

TRENTON, N.J. — Three of NJ Transit’s busiest stations will receive more than $600 million for renovations and upgrades as part of $814 million in capital funding added to the New Jersey budget for fiscal 2023. NJ.com reports that the budget includes $250 million for replacement and expansion of the Walter Rand Transportation Center in […]

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Transportation Secretary to appear before House transportation committee

Logo of House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will appear before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Tuesday, June 19, as part of a hearing on implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, committee chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has announced. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. EDT at the Rayburn House Office […]

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Gas station manager pleads guilty to fraud involving fuel charges for Amtrak vehicles

U.S. Department of Justice seal

NEWARK, N.J. —  The manager of a New Jersey gas station has pleaded guilty in a case in which admitted to billing approximately $78,000 in fraudulent fuel charges to Amtrak and more than a dozen other customers. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said in a press release that Umer Hassan […]

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CSX cited for serious violations in explosion at Baltimore coal facility

Smoke rising from coal facility

BALTIMORE — CSX Transportation has been cited for nine “serious” violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and faces more than $120,000 in fines, as a result of an explosion at a railroad coal terminal last December. The Baltimore Sun reports the railroad was cited for allowing workers to enter […]

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Vintage NYC subway cars make second summer excursion trip

Dark green vintage subway train in station

NEW YORK — Historic R-1 through R-9 subway cars built for the IND (Independent) line in the 1930s operated to Coney Island on Sunday in the second of three excursions planned for this summer using equipment from the New York Transit Museum. The R-1 through R-9 “City Cars” operated with in combination with the “Standards” […]

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Major expansion of Waterbury Branch service part of new Metro-North schedule (updated)

Locomotive and single car pass signals on ground

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A substantial increase in weekday service on Metro-North’s Waterbury Branch and new express trains between New Haven and New York’s Grand Central Terminal highlight new schedules that took effect Sunday, July 10. Reflecting recent infrastructure upgrades, the number of weekday trains on the Waterbury Branch will go from 15 to 22, a […]

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NJ Transit train crew members sue agency over abuse from passengers

NJTransit_Training_Lassen

NEWARK, N.J. — Fourteen NJ Transit rail employees have filed suit against the transit agency, saying it failed to protect them from assaults and other abuse from passengers. The non-profit news site New Jersey Monitor reports the suit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey contends the agency was aware of […]

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Kitbashing a large-scale Pacific for Jersey Central’s Bullet passenger train

green and black model steam engine on track

Kitbashing a large-scale Pacific from a broken Aristo-Craft model wasn’t easy, but the result has been worth the work. My family has a history of model railroading spanning three generations. My grandfather modeled O scale as a child in the 1940s and passed that love along to my father in the 1970s, and who got […]

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New York, New Jersey sign agreement on state funding for Northeast Corridor projects

Rendering of bridge with two trains

The governors of New York and New Jersey have signed an agreement detailing how the two states will fund their portion of the Northeast Corridor’s Gateway bridge and tunnel projects. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy addresses funding for the Portal North bridge over […]

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SMS Rail Services plans passenger excursions on new trackage

Steam locomotive undergoing work in shop building

BRIDGEPORT, N.J. — SMS Rail Services, perhaps best known to enthusiasts as the operator of a roster of Baldwin diesel locomotives that work on several rail switching operations, is preparing to enter the passenger excursion business on its newest line acquisition. SMS, established in 1994 to serve the large Pureland Industrial Park in Bridgeport, N.J., […]

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Four railroad themed novels for summer reading

Covers of four train-themed books

You might enjoy these four railroad themed novels on your summer travels. Rene Schweitzer details these four works of fiction that you may have overlooked.   The Christmas Train David Baldacci Genre: Fiction First published: 2004 Journalist Tom Langdon, due to an “incident” at an airport, is banned from flying commercial airlines and takes Amtrak […]

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