Railfan events cancelled and tourist railroads and museums close due to COVID 19 concerns.

With the concern over the spread of COVID 19 many railroad museums and tourist railroads are temporarily closing. In addition, train shows and railfan get togethers are being either postponed or cancelled. Winterail is being postponed to a later date in the year while the NRHS Spring Directors meeting has been cancelled. Those who had plans to attend any railfan event should contact organizers to verify if they are being held. As always, if you feel sick, please stay home and reduce the risk of infection for others.

—Carl Perelman, Railpace Newsmagazine

MTA to Purchase 378 Modern Subway Cars

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the MTA Board approved the purchase of 378 new R268 subway cars as part of the Authority’s efforts to modernize its rail fleet. These new R268 subway cars will run on the system’s ‘B’ division and will be designed to similar specs as the R211. The cars will be funded by the MTA’s historic $68 billion 2025-2029 Capital Plan, which was fully funded by Governor Hochul and the State Legislature in the FY26 Enacted Budget.

SEPTA Makes Significant Progress with FRA Emergency Order Directives

SEPTA is nearing completion of the 14 safety-related requirements outlined in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)’s Emergency Order issued on Oct. 1 in response to recent fires involving SEPTA’s Silverliner IV Regional Rail trains. The FRA today granted SEPTA an extension to finish point-by-point inspections of the 223-railcar fleet and complete installations of new high-heat detectors