USA: Texas bullet train names European operating and construction partners
A Spanish rail operator and an Italian engineering contractor are the latest to join forces with Texas Central Partners in the plan to build a bullet train between Dallas and Houston. [dallasnews.com]
New Zealand: Major upgrade of Wellington rail network to improve reliability and increase capacity
Wellingtonians can look forward to new, longer, more reliable trains and a a long-awaited upgrade to the Wairarapa rail line thanks to an almost $200 million investment package. [stuff.co.nz]
USA: New El Paso streetcar testing phase underway
El Paso’s streetcars have will begun pre-revenue service. The city hopes to make them fully operational with passengers by November. [kvia.com]
Why Public Transportation Works Better Outside the U.S.
The widespread failure of American mass transit is usually blamed on cheap gas and suburban sprawl. But the full story of why other countries succeed is more complicated. [citylab.com]
USA: Dallas Dreams Up a Multimodal Transportation Hub to Complement High-Speed Rail
High-speed rail officials want to study how they can build a multimodal transportation center connecting downtown’s planned high-speed rail station to DART light rail, Amtrak, HyperLoop, and aerial taxis. [dmagazine.com]
USA: Plan for New York’s Penn Station Has Everything … Except a Plan
Recently, urban experts, pols and even irate commuters gathered to call for someone — Andrew #StatusCuomo, perhaps? — to fix the transit hell. [nyc.streetsblog.org]
Canada: Passenger rail revival plan for Northern Ontario rolling out this fall
All Aboard Northern Ontario is proposing a conceptual plan to re-introduce service on the Ontario Northland Railway between Cochrane, North Bay and Toronto that could start as early as 2019. [northernontariobusiness.com]
USA: California High Speed Rail’s Plan for the Future
A Q&A with Boris Lipkin, Northern California Regional Director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. [sf.streetsblog.org]
Asia: Japan’s special take on a packed lunch
Ekiben is a prized, and some would say essential, element of long-distance train travel in Japan. [bbc.com]
