Commuter Rail

The Northwestern Pacific RR served Marin and Sonoma counties and the North Coast in the 1890s. The route of the new SMART train, while not as long, will run in the same right-of-way, starting next year. One new train was on display in San Rafael.

May 14, 2015 - Marin Independent Journal

The newest members of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's fleet of commuter trains, 120 Silverliner V trains that have arrived since 2010, have not been sufficient in alleviating crowded rail lines.

October 19, 2014 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Fifteen years in the making, Toronto is finally seeing increased ridership of its main commuter rail system, GO Transit, by changing its model from primarily serving suburban commuters to providing "all-day regional transit service."

July 30, 2014 - the transport politic

A planned shutdown of the nation's largest commuter railroad on Sunday morning appears to have been averted after MTA leaders reached a tentative labor agreement was reached with the eight labor unions after Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the talks.

July 18, 2014 - Capital New York

Two rail unions have forced a shut-down of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority commuter rail service on Saturday (June 14), but not affecting SEPTA bus, trolley, subway or high speed rail service. Gov. Tom Corbett may take action.

June 15, 2014 - Philadelphia Inquirer

BART and Bombardier Transportation have completed a two-part, $1.5 billion deal to modernize the BART fleet. The new cars are expected to test in 2015 and commence operation between 2017 and 2021.

January 10, 2014 - The Press Republican (Northeastern New York)

As federal investigators focus on the likelihood of human error being the cause of the Dec. 1 derailment that killed four passengers, attention has been placed on the federal requirement for all railroads to install positive train control systems.

December 5, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal - New York

With the train's black box showing that the speeding commuter train entered a 30 M.P.H curve at 82 M.P.H, causing the derailment, attention has turned toward the engineer. CNN reports that the engineer admits to "nodding off" before the crash.

December 4, 2013 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

While MTA’s East Side Access project, which will bring Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains directly to Grand Central Terminal by 2019, has received much attention, less well-know is a complementary plan to bring Metro-North trains to Penn Station.

August 5, 2013 - City & State

Though Connecticut is well served by commuter rail, a new report indicates that only half of the communities with Metro-North station have land use regulations in place to maximize development around them.

August 4, 2013 - The Hartford Courant

Despite a flurry of new commuter rail lines in operation, ridership increased a mere .5% during a record year for transit. Worse yet, some of the newer lines saw the greatest decreases. The answer: increase service to attract riders.

June 18, 2013 - Governing Magazine

A Friday evening collision between two Metro-North trains near Fairfield, Conn. injured 60 people, 5 of them critically. It's not known when service will be restored along the busiest train line in the nation.

May 20, 2013 - The New York Times

The planned Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District trains will not only be quiet (though diesel-powered), but so will the crossings if cities and counties cooperate.

October 10, 2012 - The (Sonoma County) Press Democrat

Two of North America's largest railroads have prevented Montreal from electrifying the city's four commuter rail lines on tracks owned by freight rail. They claim that electrification would pose insurmountable structural problems for freight rail.

September 18, 2012 - The Montreal Gazette

What the U.S. does with twenty-five workers, Spain does with nine; 'work rules' are part of the problem when it comes to the lack of productivity and high costs of America's regional rail systems.

August 31, 2012 - Bloomberg

Seemingly as hard to find as the mythic Sasquatch or a Unicorn, we've searched high and low for a conservative who supports transit (or at least who will say so in public) and have found one, in the region around Charlotte, North Carolina.

February 17, 2012 - The Herald Weekly

Despite cancelling the ARC Tunnel project last year, New Jersey may build an alternative tunnel using U.S. Senate funding.

November 15, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

Recent crashes involving the subway in Shanghai has caused speculation that the rails are unsafe and poorly built.

October 1, 2011 - Bloomberg

While most of the city's 22 subway lines resumed service on a limited schedule on Monday, the region's commuter rail lines didn't fare as well due to fallen trees and flooded tracks affecting some branches of MetroNorth and LIRR.

August 29, 2011 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

He's the most powerful congressman on transportation issues: none other than Florida's John Mica, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Mica is backing the 61-mile, $1.2 billion Orlando Sunrail Line.

June 29, 2011 - The New York Times - Politics