High-Speed Rail
Brightline got the go-ahead Wednesday from the state of Florida to negotiate for land to add high-speed passenger rail service from Orlando to Tampa.
The link envisioned would eventually connect with Brightline’s existing service in South Florida. The Florida Department of Transportation’s...
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a final rule establishing safety standards for railroad passenger equipment.
The rule represents one of the most significant enhancements to the nation’s passenger rail design standards in a century,...
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has announced it has committed approximately $700,000 to help Amtrak make safety improvements at the public railroad crossing at Birnie Road in Longmeadow, in the western part of the state.
This funding is expected to cover approximately 90...
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown late last week released a new transportation plan that calls for establishing high-speed rail in the state.
Brown has expressed support for establishing high-speed rail service between Vancouver in British Columbia and Portland. She has directed the Oregon Department of...
High-level transportation officials from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia governments are in the process of discussing what a so-called ultra-high-speed rail line connecting the cities of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver would look like.
The rail discussion is in its infancy, but the...
U.S. DOT Secretary Elaine Chao was joined today by Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL) and members of the Illinois congressional delegation for a grant announcement marking the award of $132,034,680 to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The award funds the 75th Street Corridor Improvements and Argo...
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) this week announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for at least $46 million for positive train control (PTC) systems grants.
This NOFO represents the balance of the $250 million PTC Consolidated Rail...
The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a fiscal-year 2019 appropriations bill that provides $16.1 billion for public transit.
The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2019 also dedicates $2.5 billion for intercity passenger-rail grants. The...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that recommends the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) strengthen its safety oversight by improving guidance the agency provided to states.
Specifically, GAO suggests the FTA create a plan for developing risk-based inspection guidance...
The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that the correct implementation of a key train safety feature could have prevented the early Sunday morning Amtrak crash in South Carolina.
Chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a press conference that the implementation of Positive Train...
The estimated cost for the first phase of California's bullet train climbed by 35% on Tuesday to $10.6 billion, the latest increase for the high-speed rail line from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
The $2.8 billion price hike for a 119-mile segment in the Central Valley puts the entire cost of the...
House Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation meant to accelerate the implementation of a key train safety feature, a move that follows December’s deadly Amtrak derailment in Washington state.
The bill, titled the Positive Train Control Implementation and Financing Act, would give railroads...
Full implementation of positive train control (PTC) systems across the nation’s rail network is a top priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) in 2018, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a recent statement.
PTC systems are designed to automatically stop a train in...
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be looking at driver distraction as a possible cause to the Amtrak 501 derailment over I-5 near Tacoma, Wash.
Badly damaged cameras were recovered from the engineer’s cab and have been sent to the NTSB’s laboratory in Washington, D.C. It...
Amtrak passenger service at speeds up to 90 mph should begin in the summer of 2018 in Illinois with the states’ seven-year, nearly $2 billion high-speed rail project in its final months.
Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn said in an interview this week with The...
Image: WSDOT
An Amtrak train derailed on Monday morning, blocking southbound lanes of a highway near Tacoma, Wash.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) tweeted a picture of the derailment at 7:45 a.m. PST, showing what appeared to be at least one rail car hanging off a bridge over the...
At a giant training and research facility in Pueblo, Colo., cutting-edge technology to prevent train crashes and save lives is under development.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were almost 11,000 train accidents and incidents last year alone, killing 805 people and...
The American Action Forum (AAF) released research late last week that found “Buy America” rules for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants could be raising procurement costs in some areas.
By way of example, political site The Hill said that Washington D.C.’s beleaguered Metrorail system...
Boston’s South Station.
Transit agencies routinely face demand for expanded and improved services. Adding new or additional passenger, freight, inter-city and high-speed rail (HSR) service to an existing rail network presents an array of challenges to railroads and state and federal agencies. Most agencies are faced with...
State transit authorities announced Friday that $217 million will be allocated to projects intended to upgrade roadways, bridges, and rail systems across California.
The California Transportation Commission allocated the money for 72 transit projects and are encouraging the use of alternative...
