2005
January 18, 2005: New station near General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee opens. Opened 1/18/05.
January 29, 2005: Renovation complete at Amtrak's Fresno station, serving the San Joaquins. Rededication ceremony was to have been held on 2/12/05. Delays due to dispute between Fresno and Amtrak postponed ceremony until 11/19/05.
March 2005: Portland Streetcar extension to open Portland State University to RiverPlace. Extension to RiverPlace opened 3/11/05.
March 2005: Puerto Rico's Tren Urabano starts weekday service. Weekend service began in December 2004. "Trial" service began in April 2005; full service is now slated to start June 2005. Tren Urbano has missed many target dates so stay tuned.
Early 2005: Rehabilitation of CTA's Blue Line Cermak Branch completed. Done.
Early 2005: NJ TRANSIT's Hudson-Bergen LRT to be extended from Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken to Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen. Extension to Port Imperial opened on weekends only as of 10/29/05. Weekday service to Port Imperial and all service to North Bergen should begin in early 2006.
Spring 2005: New Amtrak station opens at Oakland Coliseum for Capitol Corridor trains, to serve sporting events, Oakland International Airport shuttle, and BART transfer. Opening date 6/6/05.
June 2005: Kingman, AZ station rehabilitation to be completed. Served by SOUTHWEST CHIEF.
August 2005: Amtrak moving into historic downtown station in Greensboro, NC. It will join local transit and intercity buses there since 2003. Station opened 10/1/05.
Summer 2005: MTS San Diego Trolley's Blue Line to be extended from Mission San Diego to La Mesa, connecting with the Orange Line. Opened 7/10/05. At that time, Blue & Orange Lines were slightly shortened, and new Green Line took over.
Summer 2005: Boston's MBTA Green Line to reopen North Station to Lechmere, on new alignment between North Station Superstation and Science Center. Reopened 11/12/05.
Summer 2005: Berkeley, CA station gets new station platforms and revamped crossings.
Summer 2005: San Jose's VTA opens new Vasona LRT line, running between downtown San Jose, Amtrak/CalTrain/ACE station, and Campbell/Winchester. Entire first phase opened 10/1/05. Short segment opened in August to San Jose Diridon Station..
September 2005: Reno, NV trench project completed. Amtrak will return to its previous station location.
October 2005: Sacramento RTD LRT spur to Amtrak station opens, as well as extension from Sunrise to downtown Folsom. Service patterns will change at that time. At last word, Amtrak spur delayed until 2006. Folsom extension to open as planned.
October 2005: Nashville's Music City Star will begin commuter rail service between Lebanon, TN and Nashville. Postponed until spring 2006.
November 2005: New Mexico's commuter rail goes into service between Belen, Albuquerque, and Bernalillo. Website still shows Fall 2005 startup.
Fall 2005: At the time of the fall Amtrak timetable change, one weekend and three weekday Capitols will be extended Oakland to San Jose thanks to capacity improvements. This did not take place.
Late 2005: METRA extensions open in Chicago area: Orland Park to Manhattan on SouthWest Service, and Geneva-Elburn on UP-West line. Postponed until January 2006 "for no apparent reason".
Sometime in 2005: NJ TRANSIT will open new LRT branch in Newark connecting Broad Street Station, Washington Park, and Penn Station. Postponed untl early 2006.
Sometime in 2005: SEPTA will return service to its 15 line along Girard Avenue using restored PCC streetcars. Line has been completed and rebuilt, but NIMBY's have blocked the line's startup due to concerns with loss of parking. Line returned with streetcars on 9/4/05.
Sometime in 2005: Cascades Corridor 4th Talgo frequency begins. Will be 5th overall frequency between Seattle and Portland including COAST STARLIGHT. This did not happen.
Sometime in 2005: San Francisco's MUNI opens first segment of its Third Street subway, allowing for extension of J light rail line between San Francisco and Bayshore CalTrain stations.
2006
February 2006: Atlanta-Lovejoy commuter rail begins. First segment of eventual service to Macon.
Early 2006: Some segments of Amtrak's Chicago-Detroit line get 110 mph running.
Early 2006: Maryland MTA completes double tracking of its LRT line. When done 90% of the line will be double tracked, allowing for more frequent service.
Early 2006: Milwaukee Amtrak station renovations complete; station becomes an intermodal center.
Summer 2006: All NJ TRANSIT commuter rail lines will have either ACSES, ATC, or PTS installed to improve passenger safety.
Fall 2006: Anacostia light rail demonstration project begins in Washington, DC, running Pennsylvania Avenue to Anacostia Metro Station to Bolling AFB.
Late 2006: Denver's RTD opens its Southeast Corridor LRT line, branching from the current route at I-25/Broadway and running to two branches. Termini will be Nine Mile/Parker Road and Lincoln Road.
Sometime in 2006: Complete restoration complete for Back Cove trestle in Portland, ME, allowing for the DOWNEASTER to be extended northward.
Sometime in 2006: Phase 2 completed of Richmond Main Street restoration project. This will allow Regional trains that now terminate at Staples Mill Road to continue to Main Street.
Sometime in 2006: Station renovation completed at Elizabethtown, PA (served by Keystone Service). Also, new Keystone Service stations at Paradise and Harrisburg International Airport will open.
Sometime in 2006: Washington County, OR commuter rail opens between Wilsonville and Beaverton. Transfer to TriMet's MAX LRT at Beaverton for downtown Portland.
Late 2006: MBTA's Greenbush commuter rail line opens between Braintree and Greenbush station in Scituate. Will join with other Old Colony Lines just north of Braintree station for run up to Boston's South Station.
Late 2006: Amtrak Chicago-St. Louis trains will be able to run 110-mph on 50-mile stretch between Springfield and Dwight, thanks to signal and track improvements.
2007
Mid 2007: Charlotte, NC's CATS will extend current LRT system over a route Uptown Charlotte to I-485/Pineville.
Late 2007: NCTD's Sprinter will begin diesel LRT service between Oceanside and Escondido, CA. Connections at Oceanside for Metrolink & Coaster commuter trains, and Amtrak Pacific Surfliners.
Late 2007: Seattle's Sound Transit will extend its Sounder commuter rail from Tacoma to Lakewood, WA.
Sometime in 2007: New station to open on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in Warwick, RI to serve T.F. Green Airport. Interim bus shuttle starts at the same time. Future people mover will be built at a later time. Initial service will be MBTA extension; Amtrak will stop there later.
Sometime in 2007: Lancaster, PA station renovation completed.
Sometime in 2007: New Mexico commuter rail to be extended Bernalillo to Santa Fe, NM.
Sometime in 2007: Salt Lake City intermodal terminal opens on site of current Amtrak station. At the same time, UTA commuter rail will go into service between that station & Odgen, UT. Also, UTA's TRAX LRT will be extended 4 blocks from Delta Center to the new terminal.
Sometime in 2007: King Street Station building renovation to be completed.
Beyond 2007
2008: Commuter rail goes into service between Austin & Leander, TX.
2009: Triangle Transit Authority commuter rail service begins on first segment between Raleigh & Durham, NC.
2009: An electric streetcar line goes into service in Charlotte, NC between Beatties Ford Road, Uptown Charlotte, and Eastland Mall.
2009: Two extension of LACMTA's Metro Gold Line open. One will be an extension beyond Union Station to Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, & East Los Angeles. The "Foothill Extension" will go beyond Sierra Madre Villa in Pasadena to Montclair Transportation Center (transfer there to Metrolink). Foothill Extension may open in separate smaller segments.
2009: New Seattle Monorail "Green Line" will open. Also, Sound Transit's Central LINK LRT opens between downtown Seattle and Tukwila, with further extension to Sea-Tac Airport at a later date.
2011: Washington DC's WMATA opens new segment between West Falls Church and Reston, VA (Wiehle Ave.). Initial segment of eventual service to Dulles International Airport.
Edited by KevinKorell, 17 November 2005 - 02:02 AM.