Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

A federal law passed in 2008 requires the state to pay for rail routes less than 750 miles, which includes Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, at about 440 miles. The state has until October to decide whether to pay the $5.7 million to keep the service.

Non-unionized employees are planning a legal challenge if the agency does not rescind its decision to take away free ride on its system. They claim the board of directors violated a federal law that gives non-union transportation workers the same protections afforded union workers.

The proposal, issued by the NHTSA, would expand the required field of view for all passenger cars, pickup trucks, minivans, buses and low-speed vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 10,000 pounds, so that drivers can see directly behind the vehicle when the vehicle's transmission is in reverse.

Under the policy, beginning Dec. 15, guns can be brought aboard trains that have checked baggage service. Gun owners must inform Amtrak officials 24 hours ahead of departure.

The service had recently stopped taking a medical marijuana patient to a dispensary, citing uncertainty over whether doing so could jeopardize federal funding for the program.