Governor’s move provides SEPTA with $219.9 million to address infrastructure, safety issues

Man working on railcar

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will receive an extra $219.9 million in state funding to address infrastructure work and safety issues, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced today. The money will come from the state’s Public Transit Trust Fund, the source of money for capital projects that was also used to keep SEPTA at […]

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News photos: CSX Santa Train makes annual gift-giving journey (with video)

Large crowd surrounding rear of passenger train with open-platform observation car

KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The CSX Santa Train distributed more than 15,000 toys, 6,000 train safety books, and 5,700 backpacks filled with gifts, gloves, and hats on Saturday (Nov. 22) as part of part of its 83rd trip on a 110-mile route through Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. “The CSX Santa Train embodies the best of what […]

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News & Products for the week of November 24th 2025

A navy blue model locomotive with yellow lettering and a yellow stripe

News & Products for the week of November 24th 2025   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of November 24th, […]

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Capacity pinch points trigger Thanksgiving Amtrak sellouts, high fares

Large crowds waiting for trains in Chicago

CHICAGO — As expected, shortened consists and surging holiday demand are responsible for Amtrak sellouts across the country, notably on segments of virtually every long-distance train nearest population centers, as well as on the Pacific Northwest’s Cascades, New York State’s Empire Service, and Midwest corridors. Repeating their analysis earlier this year for the Labor Day […]

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New York MTA opens facility to inspect, test subway equipment

Interior of servicing facility for subway equipment

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has opened a new Railcar Acceptance and Testing Facility, where the MTA will inspect and test new subway cars and other equipment before it is placed into service. The facility — the first new subway-car facility opened by the MTA since 1948 — is near the South Brooklyn Marine […]

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Metro-North’s temporary Penn Access service would require Long Island Rail Road cuts, Amtrak says

Electric passenger locomotive passes construction workers and machinery

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority would have to reduce Long Island Rail Road service into New York’s Penn Station to accommodate its proposal for temporary Metro-North service on its Penn Access route through the Bronx, according to Amtrak — which MTA CEO Janno Lieber says is not an option. In a paywalled article, […]

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New York City Transit worker suspended after unauthorized outside work

Logo of the MTA office of the inspector general

NEW YORK — A New York City Transit maintenance worker earned more than $300,000 in unauthorized outside work and repeatedly violated rest rules while performing that work, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Inspector General says in a report issued Thursday (Nov. 20). The worker received a five-month suspension and a final warning, according to a press […]

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Norfolk Southern grant to support Tennessee museum’s Pullman restoration

Black-and-white side view of passenger car

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has received a $50,000 grant from Norfolk Southern to support restoration of the museum’s Pullman sleeping car Maitland. The funding comes from the NS Thriving Communities Grant Program, which supports organizations working to further safety, sustainability, workforce development, and community resilience. “The Maitland was donated to TVRM […]

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BLET announces tentative agreement with SEPTA

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

PHILADELPHIA — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has reached a tentative one-year deal with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, a rare bit of good news for the problem-plagued transit agency. The union announced that the deal, covering engineers who operate Regional Rail trains, would include a 5% pay increase effective July 5, 2026. […]

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Rebrand just part of Gold Runner’s path forward

Train and bus with multicolored striping parked at right angles

  STOCKTON, Calif. — The transportation menu of trains and buses running between the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California via the state’s Central Valley didn’t change following a Nov. 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony for what is now known as Gold Runner service. But that event at the Altamont Corridor Express maintenance facility in Stockton, […]

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Rock Island Rocket passenger trains

Streamlined EMC TA Diesel locomotive with passenger train on curve

To say that the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (Rock Island) was in a financial slump by the 1930s is an understatement. The 30 years of mismanagement followed by the Great Depression took its toll. To revitalize the railroad, incoming CEO Edward M. Durham embraced the streamlined train craze, adopting the fitting name “Rocket” […]

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