HOUSTON will restart planning for its first commuter rail line under an agreement signed on May 18 by Republican Senator for western Harris County Mr John Culberson and Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Metro) Mr Gilbert Garcia.

VIRGINIA Beach City Council has approved a $US 20m budget to fund development work over the next year on the planned extension of Hampton Roads Transit's (HRT) light rail line from the neighbouring city of Norfolk.

INVESTIGATIONS are continuing into the cause of a derailment of an Amtrak train on the North East Corridor (NEC) in Philadelphia on the evening of May 12, which left seven people dead and over 200 injured.

FORTH WORTH Transportation Authority board of directors has approved a decision to award Stadler a contract to supply eight DMUs for the 43.5km Tex Rail commuter rail line, which will link Fort Worth city centre with Grapevine and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport Terminal B.

PROPOSALS for the expansion of commuter rail and light rail networks in southern California have been revealed as part of San Diego Association of Governments' (Sandag) draft 35-year regional plan, which was released for public consultation on April 24.

CANADIAN Pacific Railway (CP) announced its results for the first three months of 2015 on April 21, revealing the railway achieved its lowest-ever first quarter operating ratio and highest-ever net income for the period.

ALL Aboard Florida, the inter-city passenger subsidiary of Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) has selected GE Transportation to supply signalling, level crossings, and related Positive Train Control (PTC) equipment as part of its project to launch inter-city passenger services on the 375km Miami – Orlando corridor.

WASHINGTON Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) celebrated the launch of its new Kawasaki 7000 series trains on April 14, when the first train entered passenger service on the Metrorail Blue Line.

GE Transportation announced on April 9 that it has completed the first production test of its new Evolution Series diesel engine, which is compliant with the latest US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 emissions standards.

CLEARANCE testing for the 10.6km second phase of Los Angeles Expo Metro Line Construction Authority's Expo Line light rail project began April 6, when an LRV operating under its own power ran west from Culver City and across the new bridge over Venice Boulevard.