Commuter Regional

Rumo obtains $US 1.1bn loan from BNDES

Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has agreed to lend Reais 3.5bn ($US 1.1 billion) to rail and port operator Rumo Logistics in order to fund part of its 2015-2018 investment program.

Sao Paulo Line 9 expansion delayed

The 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) extension of São Paulo’s suburban Line 9, which will connect the district of Grajaú to the Varginha tunnel, has been further delayed until 2018 after Sao Paulo commuter rail operator CPTM ceased contracts with the two consortiums responsible for building the extension.

Commentary

My gas tax is going up—finally!

Only one day after the tragic wreck of a New Jersey Transit commuter train at Hoboken Terminal came some positive news about transportation in the state, specifically, how it’s funded. Unfortunately, the news got lost in the media circus surrounding the accident, and went mostly unnoticed. But as I think you’ll see, this development should have a positive effect on safety, in the long-term.

Commentary

While we’re waiting, Administrator Feinberg

While we’re waiting for the NTSB to analyze the event recorder data and forward-facing camera video on the NJ Transit cab car involved in the Sept. 29 Hoboken Terminal crash, assuming there is useable information (there is no data from the locomotive event recorder, because it was non-operational), let’s jump ahead a year or two and anticipate the conclusion of the NTSB’s investigation and the list of forthcoming recommendations.