California cliff collapse halts Amtrak and commuter rail services
Train service has been halted along the cliffside mainline in coastal Southern California as work crews shore up unstable ground beneath the tracks. The closure along a stretch between southern Orange County and northern San Diego County took effect last Thursday and is expected to last until October 3rd. Cancelations effect 43 Metrolink and Amtrak passenger trains a day. Among them are Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service between San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as Metrolink Orange Line connections to Oceanside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino. [apnews.com]
Austin transit planning budget receives approval for FY 2021-22
The Austin Transit Partnership board has unanimously approved Project Connect’s $312.8 million budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1st. Money will largely go toward funding new MetroRail design projects. More than 50% of the budget will go toward the Orange Line – a 20-mile stretch that will run north to south through downtown – and the Blue Line, which will run from downtown to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Completion of 30% of the design work for the two lines is anticipated by summer 2022. MetroRail’s Project Connect is a voter-approved transit plan for the Austin region.[rtands.com]
France’s president unveils greener next-gen high-speed TGV
French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a mock-up of the next generation of greener super high-speed train, known in France as TGV or “Train a Grande Vitesse” (Very Fast Train). During the presentation at Paris’ Gare de Lyon railway station, Macron played up the new train’s eco-friendly aspect while speaking in front of a full-scale model of the new TGV M. The new train, which will carry more passengers and use less electricity than the current model while maintaining its top speed of 320 kmh (199 mph), is planned to enter service in 2024. The ceremony took place 40 years after the launching of the first TGV, in 1981. [apnews.com]
Streetcar in Vancouver Metro Core would run over a billion
The City of Vancouver recently completed an in-depth analysis of the steps needed to develop a 12 km (7.5 mi) streetcar network serving the Metro Core – the area encompassing the downtown Vancouver peninsula and Central Broadway Corridor. The idea for reintroducing the streetcar into the city’s urban fabric has been floated since the 1990s with an analysis performed in 2005 being updated in 2018. This latest study, retrieved through a freedom of information request, shows the streetcar network would carry a construction and implementation cost of just under $1.1 billion in 2018 dollars. [dailyhive.com]
