Desired by operators but often derided by passengers, onboard Wi-Fi is proving a difficult service to master. As demand for data continues to soar and places even greater strain on networks, Kevin Smith assesses what's next for train operators as they look to improve the reliability and availability of their train wireless internet offerings.

With funding always in doubt from one year to the next, US national inter-city rail operator Amtrak has been carried on the political wind for most of its 43 year existence. But with traffic rising dramatically and the age of its assets really beginning to show, calls for a more sustainable long-term method of funding capital investment are growing louder, as Keith Barrow explains.

THE BOARD of New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) has approved a capital budget of $US 1.2bn for its 2015 financial year, which started on July 1.

AMTRAK has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 28 high-speed trains, which will replace the Acela Express fleet on the Washington DC – New York – Boston Northeast Corridor (NEC).

AMTRAK President Mr Joe Boardman, Federal Railroad Administrator Mr Joseph Szabo and Siemens Rail Systems USA president Mr Michael Cahill visited the Transportation Technology Center (TTCI) at Pueblo on July 29 to see the ACS-64 Cities Sprinter electric locomotive being put through its paces.

NETWORK Rail Consulting, the international consultancy arm of British infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR), has entered the North American market after being selected to join Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) Partner Forum.

Amtrak's revised vision for the Northeast Corridor calls for bold investments of $US 110bn to improve existing infrastructure and to construct a new dedicated high-speed line over the next 30 years. Kevin Smith examines the plans for North America's most important passenger railway.