News

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved a proposal to consider using a public-private partnership to boost the Acela Express's speed on the Northeast Corridor.  They plan to cut the time between New York and Washington DC from 2 hours and 45 minutes down to less than two hours.  The cost? They would need at least 14 billion dollars to make it work.

Some of the concerns include the probability that the private sector would want to invest so much money into Amtrak.  However, the Northeast Corridor is the only Amtrak line that's actually making a profit, so it may not be a bad idea.

You can read more about this proposal in this article in the Delaware Online news journal: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805290340

 

The Smart Card Alliance awarded PATCO the "2008 Outstanding Smart Card Achievement Runner Up Award" for PATCO's implementation of the FREEDOM Card.  PATCO was second to the U.S. General Services Administration for issuing and personalizing Personal Identity Verification Cards for the federal government.  MBTA in Boston also received an honorable mention for its Charlie Card program.

With the last schedule change, New Jersey Transit created route 619.  Similar to the 613, this route is just a branch of its original route 609.  In this case, all of the 609 trips that went to Mercer County College have been redesignated as the 619.

This past week marked the arrival of #819 spotted at the Berridge-Coutland shops. This will make the order of 38 trackless trolleys halfway completed. Already 801-811 are placed revenue service on routes 59, 66. and route 75. Subsquently, given to the arrival of these new trackless trolleys. So far, four Neoplans had their fareboxes removed within the past week. So Neoplan fans, get your last rides in. Trackless Trolley fans, hope you'll enjoy these new units!

 I'll like the take the time commend the Members on the board to keep track of the Trackless arival status as well as the Neoplan status. Especially TransitChuckG and septanjtmta! 

For the latest infomation

http://philadelphiatransitforums.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=1665 

or

http://philadelphiatransitforums.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=1454&st=90 

Very soon, SEPTA's AEM 7 locomotives will be overhauled by UTC/Rail/AirSources, Inc.  This overhaul will mainly deal with the wheel and axle assemblies of the engines.  You can read more about this overhaul on the SEPTA website: http://septa.org/business/bidtab/08-124-rmf.html

The SEPTA Police are thinking about going on strike because of a long time problem regarding wages.  They are looking for wages that are similar to the Philadelphia Police Department, with double digit raises and a higher yearly salary.

This Thursday, SEPTA management and the Fraternatl Order of Transit Police are going to hash things out with a state strike mediator.  If nothing works out and a strike does occur, don't worry; private security guards and the Philadelphia Police Department will help to protect the system. 

Starting Memorial Day weekend, SEPTA will start offering deeply discounted roundtrip fares to/from Center City on Regional Rail trains on Saturdays, Sundays and major holidays.  You can purchase these tickets online, in advance from a ticket office, and on-board trains at the same price.  For more information, please visit the following location on the SEPTA website: http://www.septa.org/news/public_notices/weekend_round_trip.html

One again, Amtrak is holding the "Picture Our Train" Wall Calendar Photo Contest for 2009.  This contest enables rail enthusiasts to submit their best pictures of Amtrak (featuring the current logo) to be added to the 2009 Amtrak calendar.  The First prize is a 1000 dollar Amtrak travel voucher as well as photo credit on the calendar.  The 2nd through 5th place winners will also recieve Amtrak travel vouchers.

Better act now!  The contest ends July 11, 2008.  For more details, visit the Amtrak site.

If you ever road the New York City Subway Times Square shuttle, you most likely came into contact with a car with an interior wrap scheme.  Apparently, this method made it onto the Broad Street Subway, where a few cars have "padded walls", advertising the softness of Cottonelle Toilet Paper.  There are two cars in this wrap – 537 and one other.

Photos in this thread on railroad.net.

On thursday, Frontier's 4519 got into an accident eastbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Wednesday.  This resulted in a fuel spill, as well as a lot of backed up traffic.