Australia: Canberra light rail system launches with first public trips
About 25,000 people got on board for the first day of Canberra’s new light rail line. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government said 10 trams made 130 trips during the line’s first day of operation. [canberratimes.com.au]
USA: Virgin Trains finally set to launch construction of West Palm Beach-to-Orlando link
Thanks to the successful sale of $1.75 billion in bonds, Virgin is finally set to build its 170 mile link between South Florida and Orlando International Airport’s new inter-modal facility. [miamiherald.com]
Asia: Delhi metro on track to be world’s first solar-powered rail network
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has started receiving power from a solar park in neighboring Madhya Pradesh, kick-starting an initiative to be the world’s first 100% green energy rail network. [indiatimes.com]
USA: Atlantic City Rail Line to restart two weeks early with enhanced service
Service on NJ Transit’s Atlantic City Rail Line will resume May 12 with added rush hour trains into Philadelphia. Service on the line has been suspended since last September. [philly.com]
USA: New 110-mph passenger train could connect Detroit, Toledo and Ann Arbor
A new study, commisioned by the City of Toledo, outlines an 86-mile rail system linking a Toledo-Detroit Metro Airport line with an Ann Arbor-Dearborn-Midtown Detroit cross line. [freep.com]
USA: From D.C. To Baltimore In 15 Minutes: Elon Musk’s High-Speed ‘Loop’ Hits First Milestone
The 35-mile underground tunnel has cleared one regulatory burden, with a draft environmental assessment of the massive project released to the public by the U.S. Department of Transportation. [wamu.org]
USA: Will High-Speed Rail Ever Make It to the Bay Area?
California’s bullet train project was designed to get people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours. But after years of legal and financial battles, the full project’s future is unclear. [kqed.org]
Asia: The train to transform Jakarta
A new subway network is the jumping off point for a two-decade transformation of one of Asia’s most traffic-clogged and poorly planned cities. [afr.com]
