Commentary

Network of Unfulfilled Hopes

RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2024 ISSUE: Chicago Union Station is a busy place. Trains come and go throughout the day, from early morning until after midnight. Most of those trains are operated (directly

Commentary

Book Review: A War Against Rail Bicycle Manifesto

From Rails to Trails by Peter Harnik (University of Nebraska Press, 2021). There is an ongoing war between “rails-to-trails” proponents who covet every rail line and wish it could be paved into

Commentary

Is Amtrak Tarnishing the Silver Star?

The Silver Star was once part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad’s fleet of crack streamlined trains between New York and the South that ran with stainless steel equipment, starting in 1947.

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Commentary

Sixth of a Series: Higher Fares, Service Cuts at WMATA

Our most recent feature article on transit in the Nation’s Capital appeared in the August 2023 issue of Railway Age. Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono described the politics surrounding the agency as a

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Commentary

Fifth of a Series: SEPTA Hopes for Good News

I noted in my previous report that New Jersey Transit (NJT) will get a reprieve, on account of a new tax on the largest businesses in the State. That tax will not

Commentary

PCCs Return to Philadelphia

Friday, Jan. 24, 2020 was a sad day on Girard Avenue in Philadelphia. It was the last day of service for the Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars that had run for so

Commentary

Fifth of a Series: NJT Gets Four-Year Reprieve—Starting Next Fiscal Year (Updated July 3)

The last week of June was an eventful one for New Jersey Transit (NJT) and its riders. On the negative side, service on the portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) in New

Commentary

Updating My California Rail Riding Resumé

For 77 days in 2019, I held the distinction of having ridden every rail transit line in the United States in its entirety. Then two events happened. One was the opening of

(Southern Rail Commission illustration)

Indication for Amtrak Gulf Coast Service Looks Grim

What a difference a few days can make! Only one week ago, on June 20, Railway Age covered the latest developments concerning the proposed Gulf Coast service, which would consist of two daily

A Streetcar Named ‘Desirable’ Returns to Service

New Orleanian Tennessee Williams made A Streetcar Named Desire famous in his 1947 play by that name. It ran in the French Quarter but, despite its last-minute renown from Williams’s play, it

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