Criticized for its response last fall to Superstorm Sandy, and the resultant damage to much of its rolling stock, New Jersey Transit has responded by securing storage space at two locations adjacent to its rail system but in more flood-resistant interior portions of the state.
MTA Metro-North Railroad said Wednesday, June 12, 2013 it will accelerate track work in the Bronx, encompassing drainage improvements, tie replacements, fencing repairs, and general cleanup of the wayside for nine weeks, stretching from July 1 through Labor Day.
Both houses of Connecticut’s state legislature have unanimously passed a bill calling for electrification of Metro-North Railroad’s Waterbury Branch and the Danbury Branch by 2023, bolstering access between Waterbury, Conn., and New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
As I write this, it’s been just a week since I returned from the recent annual Rail Transit Conference sponsored the first week of June by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in Philadelphia. It was an interesting event, with a lot I could report about, including my own presentation at the “Current Technology and Trends” session. But by far my most memorable experience was completing (or should I say “surviving”?) another of Tom Hickey’s legendary multimode, multi-system rail-hopping tours — this one sampling 14 different transit modes or lines in the Philadelphia region, operated by three different agencies, in the course of 10 hours.
Metrolinx, the Greater Toronto Area’s regional planning agency, will hold a series of four open house events this month, commencing Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to revive plans of establishing electrified rail service linking Toronto’s Union Station with Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), an ardent passenger rail champion who first was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1982, died Monday, June 3, 2013, at the age of 89.
After an absence of 12 years, Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. (a subsidiary of the Progress Rail Services Corp. division of Caterpillar Inc.’s Rail Division) has reentered the passenger locomotive market.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced May 30 that that the USDOT “has begun the process of fulfilling Amtrak’s request for $185 million in Hurricane Sandy Relief funding.”