"The car was made operable in 1967 and was used on special occasions from then until 2001, when it was taken out of service because of a deteriorating platform. Initially, the plan was to rebuild just the platform, but it eventually turned into a 25-year total rebuild (although not all at once)."

Restoration of Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Car Nears Completion

The Rockhill Trolley Museum has nearly completed the restoration of an Aurora, Elgin & Chicago interurban car built in 1909 by the Kuhlman Car Company.

railfan.com

Albany 🤝 Portland (OR) Collapsing buildings falling onto railroad tracks and disrupting Amtrak service www.kgw.com/article/news... abcnews4.com/news/nation-...

Amtrak service disrupted west of Albany, New York over possible building collapse

Amtrak service west of Albany, New York, has been suspended after a possible building collapse.

abcnews4.com

Have an additional thread from Harlingen last week on Rio Grande Switching Co’s functionally abandoned Santa Rosa Sub, starting from its junction with UP’s Brownsville Sub in Harlingen. It’s the track veering off to the left here (UP on the right).🛤️👇

RAIL Magazine@railmag.bsky.social · last wk.

🎵 Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything you do Yeah, they were all yellow🎵 Here along the UP Brownsville Sub, there’s probably at least 100 motors parked on the northern fringe of Harlingen. Not sure if they’re deadlined or just parked.

NICTD/South Shore Line's 20-year plan is certainly ambitious. Questions for potential new routes: 1) What is the plan to integrate these with direct service into Chicago vis-a-vis Metra Electric Capacity? 2) How would this impact potential to re-route Amtrak Michigan service onto the SSL?

NICTD approves plans for the future that include new rail cars, routes

Replacing rolling stock and extending service are among the big projects included in the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s new 20-year plan for the South Shore Line.

chicagotribune.com

"Current work includes repairs to the concrete deck, strengthening of the steel structure, and upgrades to the walkway surface along the bridge. Crews are staging the project in phases, with portions of the Blue Line and Red Line being addressed at different times so trains can keep running..."

Panhandle Bridge rehab to reshape Pittsburgh light rail service

Panhandle Bridge rehab began this year, bringing long-term construction and service changes for light rail riders into Downtown.

usatoday.com

Just wanted to honor the memory of Barb Singleton, who passed away last month. She brought me into the transit industry at CTAA, where I worked for 17 years. Prior to that, she founded Kitsap Transit and later headed Mason Transit. She was a positive, determined force for good.🚌

Much respect to the Newark City Subway, ahem Light Rail, but shoot this freaking headline into the sun and end the absurdity…

Newark's subway, relaunched 20 years ago, gives NY run for its money

Outsiders may not know about Newark's subway, 91, and relaunched 20 years ago this month. But city folk depend on it

northjersey.com

Plenty of coverage on this yesterday. My thoughts: *Have to see this as related to the performance of the long-distance Siemens Chargers in cold weather, eh? *There's no Buy Canada law, right? As @rmtransit.bsky.social noted, why spend more to build in Canada and not ship all from Spain?

Feds hope $1.9B for new Via Rail fleet, assembly plant leads to better service

OTTAWA — Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said Wednesday he hopes Ottawa's $1.9 billion investment in replacing Via Rail's locomotive fleet and building a train assembly plant will lead to better r...

ca.finance.yahoo.com

"The Southern Rail Commission wasn’t going to become more effective by doing more of the same. John understood that if the goal was transformational change, the organization itself had to evolve. Today, the Amtrak Mardi Gras Service stands as proof that persistence matters."

John Spain's lasting legacy at the Southern Rail Commission - Transportation For America

Retiring Southern Rail Commission (SRC) member John Spain was instrumental in transforming the commission and focusing its efforts on restoring passenger rail in the Gulf Coast. Among many other thing...

t4america.org

So, the Purple Line 🟣 has some concerning stretches of shared lanes, but many good separations as well. Like here at the elevated Riverdale Park station, the blue car with the arrow is turning left & holding up traffic, including a WMATA bus. Imagine trying to send trains thru here reliably…

Current SkyLink announcements at DFW: ✅ Rail to Dallas🟠🚉 ✅ Rail to Fort Worth 🔴🚆 ❌ Rail to Plano? 🔘🚆

🎵 Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything you do Yeah, they were all yellow🎵 Here along the UP Brownsville Sub, there’s probably at least 100 motors parked on the northern fringe of Harlingen. Not sure if they’re deadlined or just parked.

RAIL Magazine@railmag.bsky.social · last wk.

Hello from Harlingen, TX at the former Missouri Pacific freight depot, constructed here in 1925. Today it’s a golf cart rental business. This is now UP’s Brownsville Subdivision, which runs all the way up to Bloomington TX en route to Houston. More below 👇 🛤️

You’re never gonna guess what’s behind the perspective in this photo… (Hint: it’s a subway tunnel 🚇)🟣

Purple Line@purplelinemd.bsky.social · last wk.

See the latest progress on Wayne Avenue as OCS wiring work continues. MTA Purple Line is more than a new light rail system. It is creating stronger connections between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties! Learn more about this transformative line here https://purplelinemd.com/overview.

Hello from Harlingen, TX at the former Missouri Pacific freight depot, constructed here in 1925. Today it’s a golf cart rental business. This is now UP’s Brownsville Subdivision, which runs all the way up to Bloomington TX en route to Houston. More below 👇 🛤️

Concerning, but a few details: This proposes the Capital Investment Grants (ie. New Starts) specifically from the Highway Trust Fund, not the formula funding programs (ie. 5307/5310/5311). Portions of CIG investment levels have needed general fund transfers previously due to Trust Fund insolvency.

Congress Budgeted Billions for Big Transit Projects. Trump Isn’t Spending It.

“It’s hard to look at the last year and see anything other than a deliberate slowdown of these grants.”

nytimes.com

16 total Horizon coaches will ultimately return to service for Amtrak, after rehabilitation by Alstom. As previously reported, two are already service on the Downeaster. www.trains.com/pro/passenge...

Amtrak outlines Horizon repair plans; shunt antenna program in bureaucratic logjam - Trains

WASHINGTON — Sixteen Horizon coaches that were among those sidelined in March 2025 when extensive corrosion was discovered throughout the 37-year-old fleet will again carry passengers. Two cars from the repair program at Alstom’s Kanona, N.Y., facility have been in service in Maine since early June [see “Horizon coaches expand capacity …,” Trains.com, June 30, [...]Read More...

trains.com

Something that seems simple, really isn’t: WMATA Red Line platform doors: 8-car trains 3 doors/car Assuming just one platform screen door per car door: 24 doors per platform. x2 platforms per station = 48 doors 48 x 27 stations = 1,296 doors for the whole Red Line. And they have to work perfectly.

notycoon22.bsky.social@notycoon22.bsky.social · 2w ago

Yep, yep, yep.

Few phrases involved in social media commentary on rail & transit bother me as much as these two: •just •simply Nearly always, the commenter is conflating simplicity in understanding that a problem exists with understanding how to address it. 🛤️🚆🚌🚐

Cocoa moves forward with Brightline station despite concerns over rail company's finances | FOX 35 Orlando - www.fox35orlando.com/news/cocoa-m... #Florida #FL #trains

Cocoa moves forward with Brightline station despite concerns over rail company's finances

Plans for a Brightline station on Florida's Space Coast are moving ahead after the City of Cocoa received $2 million in state funding, even as a new credit report raises concerns about the passenger r...

fox35orlando.com

“A developed country is not a place where crowds wait for the Big Boy. It's where they wait to see the Texas Eagle. -Gustavo Petro” - - RAILMag

Not the world’s clearest photo but caught UP’s Pryor local building its train from industrial leads in the Mid-America Industrial Park onto the former Katy RR main line (now’s UP’s Cherokee Subdivision)🛤️

Hello from Siloam Springs, Arkansas (just a mile or two from the Oklahoma border) on the CPKC Heavener Subdivision - the former Kansas City Southern mainline. The former KCS depot was located here, at Jefferson St. 1st photo looks N to KC, 2nd S to New Orleans.

Who’s gonna be the first to capture a train on all 6 tracks of this corridor outside of Silver Spring? Tracks left to right are: 1) CSX/MARC/AMTK🚆 2) Metro Red Line🔴 3) Metro Red Line🔴 4) CSX/MARC/AMTK🚆 5) MTA Purple Line🟣 6) MTA Purple Line🟣

RAIL Magazine@railmag.bsky.social · 3w ago

Burdened by absurd temps or smoke haze? Stay cool inside & watch these drone tours of 2 under-construction LRT lines! 🟣 @purplelinemd.bsky.social by Don O’Brien: youtu.be/S8STf5IX4Ak 🟢 @metrotransitmn.bsky.social Green Line: youtu.be/YsMQouYWFls Also: Rails WITH Freaking Trails!🛤️

Burdened by absurd temps or smoke haze? Stay cool inside & watch these drone tours of 2 under-construction LRT lines! 🟣 @purplelinemd.bsky.social by Don O’Brien: youtu.be/S8STf5IX4Ak 🟢 @metrotransitmn.bsky.social Green Line: youtu.be/YsMQouYWFls Also: Rails WITH Freaking Trails!🛤️

Interesting from comments how many people can’t break free of the travel fallacy we often hear from auto centric people complaining about transit: because this trip isn’t how I travel, no one else travels like this either. If you’re already flying, adding another flight is exponentially easier.

RAIL Magazine@railmag.bsky.social · 3w ago

I feel like we have to go over this time & again with these short flights: there is functionally zero local travelers flying on these routes. It’s all connecting passengers at hubs. BWI = massive SW hub. Only way to capture is HSR in the actual airport terminal (ie CDG, AMS) 👇

From everything I'm hearing, this is being labelled "commuter rail" in connection to the FRA/FTA modal category, but it will be designed as regional rail more similar to UTA FrontRunner with all-day, 2-way service with decent population centers at both ends & the metro hub in the center of the line.

Oklahoma City mayor calls for major transit investment including commuter rail - Trains

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Saying his city is facing a transportation crisis, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt this week called for an extensive new transit system that would include commuter rail, light rail, and bus rapid transit. The “One Transit” plan calls for a 39-mile commuter rail line between Edmond and Norman via downtown Oklahoma [...]Read More...

trains.com

I feel like we have to go over this time & again with these short flights: there is functionally zero local travelers flying on these routes. It’s all connecting passengers at hubs. BWI = massive SW hub. Only way to capture is HSR in the actual airport terminal (ie CDG, AMS) 👇

Conor@ernekid.bsky.social · 3w ago

An airline between Philadelphia and Baltimore is completely fucking asinine especially considering when there’s been rail service between the two cities since 1838.

Other U.S. single-route commuter rail operations that also own their railroad infrastructure and would be prime candidates for a) more frequent service, and b) electrification. 🚆 (Some operate DMUs now, some don't.) Tri-Rail SunRail TRE Austin Red Line A-Train TEXRail DART Silver Line FrontRunner

Dungeon Master Tim@tstaub.bsky.social · 3w ago

This is one underserved/minor route I feel electrification could revolutionize its service where you could do half hour service with EMUs.

"The fully low-floor vehicles will be based on Stadler’s Citylink family and have a capacity of 240 passengers." | @railwaygazette.com - www.railwaygazette.com/light-rail/2...

Stadler selected to supply Austin trams

USA: Light rail project promoter Austin Transit Partnership has selected Stadler to supply 21 vehicles for the Texas state capital’s light rail project for $352m. Stadler is to design, manufactu...

railwaygazette.com

This agreement is a positive development, but will caution against exuberance or assuming service is imminent.🚉 For instance, Amtrak and Louisiana have had a MOU for New Orleans-Baton Rouge service since 2023 and we're not much closer to any project activities yet.🚆

RAIL Magazine@railmag.bsky.social · 3w ago

Amtrak has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority to work co-operatively on restoring intercity passenger rail service between Philadelphia and Reading, as per @politicspa.bsky.social.