commuter train

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The Car Tried to Get Around the Gate. Then: 'Boom! Boom!'

2 are dead in Aventura, Fla., after commuter train hits their car trying to cross tracks

(Newser) - Two people in Aventura, Fla., died when a higher-speed commuter train hit their car as the driver tried to make it around the crossing gate, police said. The crossing gate's lights were flashing and bells were ringing to signal an approaching train on Thursday morning when the car tried...

Man Stabs Passengers on Tokyo Train, Sets Fire
Man Dressed as Joker
Stabs Tokyo Train Passengers
updated
Oct 31, 2021 12:40 PM CDT

Man Dressed as Joker Stabs Tokyo Train Passengers

Riders jumped through windows to flee fire set by attacker

(Newser) - A man dressed in Batman's Joker costume and brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train stabbed several passengers on Sunday before starting a fire, which sent people scrambling to escape and jumping from windows, police and witnesses said. The Tokyo Fire Department said 17 passengers were injured, including...

Japanese Train Firm Very, Very Sorry for Leaving Early

Attention, entire airline industry

(Newser) - A red-faced West Japan Railways (aka JR West) has issued an apology after one of its conductors accidentally left the Notogawa station on Friday morning—drumroll, please—25 seconds early, reports Sora News 24 . The "truly inexcusable" tragedy that resulted in "great inconvenience" to customers went down like...

Fare-Skipping Banker Banned From Industry

Guy said to be making $1.5M didn't want to pay full $31 train fare

(Newser) - A multimillionaire British banker's system for dodging around $20 a day in train fares has cost him $65,500 and his career. Investigators say Jonathan Burrows, 44, would save cash by boarding a train at an unmanned rural station outside London without a ticket every morning, then use a...

Passers-by Push 32-Ton Train Off Woman

Somehow, she walks away basically unscathed

(Newser) - A woman fell into the gap between a Tokyo train and the station platform yesterday during the morning rush hour as she tried to disembark, and got trapped—but fortunately for her, about 40 commuters and staffers came to her aid in a pretty wild way. They managed to push...

Bacteria, Mold Fill BART Seats

Cloth seats harder to clean, allow dangerous bacteria to thrive

(Newser) - If you are fighting for a seat on San Francisco's BART trains, maybe you should think again—the seats are full of nasty bacteria, including a drug-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus superbug, and several types of mold, says a new report commissioned by The Bay Citizen . “I would love...

GOP Slams $53B High-Speed Rail Plan

Huge rail boost likely to meet stiff House opposition

(Newser) - Joe Biden announced an ambitious $53 billion plan to expand America's high-speed rail program yesterday, drawing immediate fire from Republicans. "This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio," said House Transportation Committee chairman John Mica, pointing to previous rail failures and labeling Amtrak...

Amtrak to Build NY-NJ Train Tunnels for $13.5B

'Gateway Tunnel' project has planned 2020 finish

(Newser) - Amtrak plans to dig two new tunnels for commuter trains between New York and New Jersey, Reuters reports. The project, called the Gateway Tunnel and projected to cost $13.5 billion, has a loose finish date of 2020. "The two new trans-Hudson tunnels will provide long-sought, peak-period operational capacity...

Japan Cops Get Tough on Subway Gropers

Tokyo launches 'groping prevention week'

(Newser) - Japan has dispatched undercover police officers across Tokyo's commuter rail system to make sure men with wandering hands feel the strong arm of the law, the Guardian reports. Sexual harassment has long been a problem for Tokyo's subway, with two-thirds of young women saying they have been inappropriately touched while...

Indians Dodge Harassment in Women-Only Trains

'Ladies Specials' set up to tackle persistent harassment of women workers

(Newser) - India's railway system has replaced women-only rail cars with entire women-only trains in an effort to battle sexual harassment, the New York Times reports. Groping and catcalling—known as "eve-teasing"—is endemic on India's commuter system, a trend analysts say shows the friction caused by the huge amount...

Circuit Flaw Suspected in DC Crash

Electronic 'anomalies' found, markings indicated driver hit emergency brakes

(Newser) - Federal investigators believe an electronic problem may have caused Monday's deadly train crash in Washington DC, the Washington Post reports. Teesting has uncovered "anomalies" in a section of the Metro's automated control system, which senses train locations and sends speed commands, according to investigators.

Feds Had Told DC to Bench Crashed Train

(Newser) - The subway train that plowed into another stopped train yesterday, killing nine people and injuring scores of others in Washington, was part of an aging fleet that federal officials had sought to phase out because of safety concerns, an investigator said today. The Metrorail transit system kept the old trains...

Big-Mouth Amtrak Rider Announces Firm's Layoffs

(Newser) - A venerable New York law firm is scrambling to do damage control after passengers on an Acela train heard about planned layoffs before the associates targeted for downsizing, Above the Law reports. A Pillsbury Winthrop honcho "was talking so loudly that I think most people in the car were...

13 Stories