CALIFORNIAN commuter rail operator Caltrain has launched a public consultation on its future electric train fleet as part of plans to electrify the 82km San Francisco – San Jose line.

THE United States Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has given its approval for the construction of the 21km northern extension of the Minneapolis Blue Line from Target Field to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

SAN DIEGO Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) saw light rail ridership surge by 34% to reach 39.7 million passengers in the 2014 financial year, which ended on June 30, according to the operator's newly-published annual results.

CHRONIC negligence by Canada's transport regulator has been identified by the country's accident investigator as the primary underlying cause of the derailment and explosion of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MM&A) crude oil train at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6 2013, which killed 47 people.

THE world's ninth-busiest airport finally got its first direct passenger rail connection on August 15 with the inauguration of the extension of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart) Orange Line to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

THE United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) has authorised California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to begin construction on the Fresno – Bakersfield section of the state's high-speed network.

CHICAGO Transit Authority (CTA) says it has narrowed down proposals for the extension of the city's Red Line from 95th Street to 130th Street to one preferred route with two alignment options.

THE mayors of nine cities in the US states of Indiana and Ohio plan to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the Northern Indiana/Ohio High Speed Rail Initiative which seeks to introduce a passenger rail service along the 480km Chicago - Columbus corridor.

THE US state of Illinois announced on August 4 that it has reached a "milestone" agreement with Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) on the development of inter-city passenger services linking Chicago and the Quad-Cities of Moline and East Moline, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa.

TEST operation began on August 4 on the first modern tram line in Washington DC, which runs along H Street and Benning Road in the northeast of the city.