Bay Area’s Caltrain begins EMU testing
The Bay Area’s Caltrain has begun testing its first Stadler EMU (electric multiple-unit) trainset on the manufacturer’s 25KV-electrified test track in Salt Lake City. The trainset will undergo high-voltage power, low-speed acceleration and brake, and functional systems tests before traveling to Pueblo, Colorado for higher-speed testing on the test track at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI). The new high-performance KISS bi-level EMUs wil replace diesel-hauled trains currenly in use along Caltrain’s San Francisco-San Jose corridor. [railwayage.com]
Virgin Brightline seeks a commuter-rail system north of Miami
For-profit rail company, Brightline is seeking $350 million from Miami-Dade County to build five rail stations between Miami and Aventura as part of a $425 million commuter-rail system. The proposed deal would mean a significant influx of tax dollars to the company behind South Florida’s new Virgin Trains-branded train line. Brightline is spending $75 million building platforms that could be used to launch the service. The commuter line would be separate from the Virgin express trains to Orlando, the company plans to launch in 2022. [miamiherald.com]
Europe puts its hospitals on rails
Since the beginning of the pandemic, several trains have been converted into hospital trains in Western Europe – with one mobile clinic already being credited for saving lives. In France, which began using trains to help manage its pandemic response in March, medical workers on a converted high-speed TGV train have treated 84 patients. Since then, Spain’s national carrier Renfe has retrofitted three high-speed 730 Series trains for medical use, and Italy has based a newly equipped hospital train in Milan, at the heart of Italy’s worst hit region, Lombardy. [citylab.com]
Did New York City just give up on public transit?
In the three months since Andy Byford resigned as New York City Transit chief, the US’s largest transportation system has undergone an unimaginable transformation due to the coronavirus. Ridership has plummeted. Budgets have been decimated. And a two-tier system has emerged, where the wealthy work from home or commute in private cars, while essential workers ride crowded trains. As Byford says goodbye to New York, the slim hope that the city would somehow prioritize fair, accessible public transportation by making the trains work every day, for everyone, is also vanishing. [curbed.com]
