North America – Page 59
-
NewsToronto passenger rail enhancement shortlist announced
CANADA: Infrastructure Ontario and Greater Toronto transport agency Metrolinx have shortlisted four consortia to bid for the On-Corridor Works contract within the GO Rail Expansion programme, which aims to provide an enhanced and all-day Regional Express Rail passenger service in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area. BidderApplicant leadConstructionDesignOperations ...
-
Rail Business UKFirstGroup concerned about UK franchise risk and reward
FIRSTGROUP: ‘We have concerns with the current balance of risk and reward being offered’ by UK passenger rail franchises, warned FirstGroup Chief Executive Matthew Gregory when presenting the train and bus operator’s annual results on May 30. Gregory said FirstGroup would await the government’s Williams review of the structure of ...
-
Metro Report InternationalVancouver metro fleet renewal approved
CANADA: The oldest SkyTrain cars on Vancouver’s automated metro network are to be replaced under a C$1·47bn upgrading and enhancement package unveiled on May 23. Announced by British Columbia’s Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure Claire Trevena and federal Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan, on behalf ...
-
NewsMultiple failures led to Amtrak derailment
USA: Failure to provide effective mitigation or warning for a hazardous curve and inadequate driver training led to the fatal derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in Washington state on December 18 2017, the National Transportation Safety Board announced on May 21. The inaugural run of Amtrak Cascades train 501 ...
-
NewsMarmon buys Transco Railway Products
USA: Berkshire Hathaway company Marmon Holdings has acquired Transco Railway Products from Transco Inc for an undisclosed price. Chicago-based Transco Railway Products provides wagon repair, maintenance, certification and cleaning services at seven sites in the Great Lakes region, Iowa and Montana, and also supplies wagon components from a factory in ...
-
NewsVirgin Trains USA awards Phase 2 construction contracts
USA: Virgin Trains USA announced the award of contracts for construction of the 270 km West Palm Beach – Orlando International Airport Phase 2 of its inter-city corridor on May 21, saying they represented a total private investment of $4bn. Passenger services on Virgin Trains USA’s existing Miami – West ...
-
NewsVIA Rail gets buzzy
CANADA: VIA Rail is installing beehives on the rooftops of its stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Québec City in partnership with Alvéole, a company which combines beekeeping with education. The national passenger operator hopes this will help to raise awareness among urban populations of the decline of bees and ...
-
Metro Report InternationalMesa extension includes USA’s second light rail roundabout intersection
USA: Celebrations on May 18 marked the opening of the 3·0 km Gilbert Road extension of the Valley Metro in Mesa, Arizona. This takes the Phoenix area light rail network to 45 km and 38 stops. The extension runs along Main Street from Mesa Drive to Gilbert Road, and includes ...
-
Metro Report InternationalDenver LRT extension to RidgeGate Parkway opens
USA: The Southeast Rail Extension of the Denver light rail network from Lincoln Station to RidgeGate Parkway was opened with a ceremony on May 17. There were celebrations and free travel the following day, before the start of the new timetable on May 19. The 3·7 km extension is shared ...
-
NewsFederal funding for California high speed rail pulled
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration announced on May 16 that it had terminated a $928·6m 2010 funding agreement with the California High-Speed Rail Authority. This follows a notice of intention to cancel the funding which had been issued by the FRA in March, after newly-elected Governor of California Gavin ...
-
Metro Report InternationalTransdev wins Fairfax County bus contract
USA: Virginia’s Fairfax County Department of Transportation has awarded Transdev Group a contract to operate and maintain the Fairfax Connector bus network for five years from July 1, with an option for a further 10 years. The contract is worth almost €400m. It covers the operation of 16 million bus-km/year ...
-
![Southern California Regional Rail Authority has awarded Talgo and Systra a contract to refurbish coaches (Photo: Lvi56 [CC BY 3.0]).](https://d1c4d7gnm6as1q.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/7/9/6/23796_tn_us-metrolink-bilevel-lvi56_ccby3.jpg)
NewsMetrolink fleet modernisation contract awarded
USA: Southern California Regional Rail Authority has awarded a joint venture of Talgo and Systra a contract worth up to $138·9m for the refurbishment of up to 121 Bombardier BiLevel coaches used on Metrolink commuter services. There is a firm order for the modernisation of an initial 50 coaches, ...
-
Metro Report InternationalAnaheim Transportation Network orders battery buses
USA: California’s Anaheim Transportation Network has awarded BYD a contract to supply 40 battery-electric buses. Half of these will be the BYD K9M design, the others the shorter BYD K7M and articulated K11M. The order is being placed through two existing contracts in Washington and Georgia, which local authorities and ...
-
News
Stadler inaugurates Salt Lake City factory
USA: Vehicles being built for Caltrain and TEXRail were used to re-enact the completion of the transcontinental railway at Promontory Summit 150 years before as part of celebrations marking the official inauguration of Stadler US Inc’s factory in Salt Lake City on May 9. ‘It seems fitting that as we ...
-
NewsKansas City Southern revises performance metrics
USA: Kansas City Southern has revised the definitions of two metrics that it uses to measure operating performance. Operational Cars Online (formerly Cars Online) represents the number of wagons on the KCS network that are not at a customer’s location. Gross Velocity (formerly Train Speed) measures the average velocity ...
-
NewsUber adds public transport ticketing option
USA: Rail and bus tickets for travel in Denver can now been bought using the Uber taxi app. The staggered roll-out of the ticketing option which began on May 2 follows the launch in January of Uber Transit journey planning, which provides Uber users with real-time public transport information ...
-
Metro Report InternationalUber adds public transport ticketing option
USA: Rail and bus tickets for travel in Denver can now been bought using the Uber taxi app. The staggered roll-out of the ticketing option which began on May 2 follows the launch in January of Uber Transit journey planning, which provides Uber users with real-time public transport information ...
-
Metro Report InternationalDenver G Line inaugurated
USA: Denver’s G Line commuter rail service was officially inaugurated on April 26, with two weeks of free travel along the route. The 17·6 km route shares tracks with the B Line from Union Station to Pecos Junction, where the G Line branches off towards Wheat Ridge in the west, ...
-
NewsNorfolk Southern releases mobile app for shippers
USA: Norfolk Southern has released a mobile app for iOS and Android which provides access to data available in its AccessNS desktop e-commerce portal. The railway’s customers can manage inventory, track real-time movements, add important shipments to a watchlist for priority visibility, search for specific shipments on the NS network, ...
-
NewsRocky Mountaineer expands dome car fleet
CANADA: The first four of 10 custom-designed double-deck dome cars which high-end tourist train operator Rocky Mountaineer has ordered from Stadler are expected to enter service shortly, operating from Vancouver to Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff during the 2019 tourist season. Rocky Mountaineer said the order placed in May ...