Sprinter Line Opens for Press

The Escondido-Oceanside rail line did a test run for the press this weekend. 15 stops and 22 miles of DMU operation will hopefully be coming January 15th to connect communities between Oceanside and Escondido with San Diego by way of the Coaster Commuter Rail.

News Coverage of the event...

LA Times
AP
San Diego Union Tribune

Streetcars Sell ... Products

I've been noticing that yes, cars still have cache when it comes to selling products through the lens of love, but what about transit? You'll never see a bus on an advertisement for love or pants for that matter but you will see streetcars. Why? I'm sure there are lots of reasons. But as you can see, there are a number of examples including Slacks and Personal ads. The dockers ad and Yahoo! personals ad are both set using San Francisco Streetcars. I even noticed at one point a Hummer commercial set in St. Louis (UPDATE: Commenters have noted that it isn't St. Louis but Edmonton) that had light rail in the background. Talk about subtle, see if you can spot the LRV in the 'Urban Techno' commercial for Hummer below.

Hampton Roads News

After Norfolk got a Full Funding Grant Agreement, Virginia Beach decides that they need to jump on the Light Rail bandwagon. From the Virginian Pilot.

Virginia Beach wants a $15 million grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation to help pay for the rail line that runs between Newtown and Birdneck roads if an agreement to sell it is ever reached.

The track is owned by Norfolk Southern Corp. and is considered the logical extension of Norfolk’s light rail project, which began construction this month with utility work at Harbor Park.

Ashmont Mattapan Christmas Update

The Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Trolley Line, the last line using PCC cars that never stopped using them has reopened after taking a short break for rehabilitation and a TOD project at one of the stations. The Bostonist has more.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone.

Further Expansion Considered in NC

Local Officials in Concord North Carolina are discussing whether to put a half cent sales tax on the ballot in order to Extend the North Corridor Light Rail line their way. This would bring rail by Loew's Motor Speedway and the NASCAR hall of fame into the next county.

Amtrak Sees Ridership Rise

Not bad for a small little railroad that gets limited funding. Imagine what they could do with some money, say a percentage of the interstate highway budget. We can dream right?

A Year of The Overhead Wire

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone out there who reads and comments on the blog. It's been a great first year. It's been really great meeting others out there in the transit blogosphere who share the love of transit and hopefully 2008 will be even better. Thanks again!

Metro Dreams

Earlier this month I posted on my dreams for San Francisco and East Bay Metros. Eric over at Transbay Blog has done the same. Check them out.

Budapest BKV Unloading Old Trams

Budapest's transit system is putting up 61 UV Trams for sale. Martin Thorne of the LRTA hopes that someone will scoop them up instead of letting them go to scrap. Sounds like a cheap way to get streetcars for smaller cities that are looking to build heritage lines. To see which ones are available, visit the BKV site here. They are available for bid until January 21, 2008, so if you're looking to build a heritage system, better jump on them soon. I hope at least Muni does and adds another vehicle or two to the historic service here in San Francisco.