MT's 2016-2021 Budget Approved. Some Weird Things Are About To Happen.

Metropolis, BR. November 4th, 2015

The 26 Train on it's last day of surface running at Bay Island. 

Imagine this, 3 new elevated subway lines in the city following Summit Ave, Corlesen Ave & Nicholette Blvd. It may happen, Metropolis Transit says. In the new budget set for 2016-2021, Metropolis Transit is looking forward into the future. While we may not see a train roll over these streets until the mid 2020s, studies are now funded to see the possibilities Metropolis Transit can work with to bring Elevated Rail service these undeserved areas. It's just only 3 of many plans MT has in store for the future of the Metropolinites who ride the system.

The 47 will soon see Full Blown Express service.

Another odd duck plan that stuck many by surprise is the $2 Billion dollar plan to add two brand new express tracks along side the existing 47 track along Ballerman Blvd and the Southwest Corridor. This would be the 3rd rapid transit line in Metropolis to have express service and the second with two track express service behind the Woodland Subway in West Metropolis. Primary Express stations will be Lindsay, Greta Way, Southside, Morganville & Freehold, though MT said it will provision Famous Horse Plaza as a potential future express station if needed in the future. The 26 Boga Island Line in the previous budget was funded a 3 track bridge into Boga Island which might lead to the 4th express service in Metropolis but MT has failed to comment on it.

Woodland Subway will have new station at Nicholette Blvd.

The Woodland Subway is the short but sweet western subway line that came before all the Elevateds. It was suppose to go to the City Line but was cut short at Harmon Station because of The Great Depression. Till this day trains still end at Harmon but the tunnel takes out of service trains to the Georgetown Yard which is located almost a full mile from Harmon and passes the shell of what was suppose to be 53rd St station. While 53rd St will never see the light of day, a new outdoor terminal next to the Gerogetown Yard will be place at the southern foot of Nicholette Blvd & 58th St. The new terminal will have 3 tracks and two platforms for perfect capacity control. Also in the budget, Metropolis Transit will acquire 32 older railcars from Miami-Dade Transit, refurbish them, and put them in Woodland Subway Service. These railcars date back from 1983 and need to be rebuilt.

Buses are going Greener. 

Metropolis Transit will receive 230 new Hybrid buses before 2019. Using new fuel saving technology, the buses will save about 20 MPG per trip compared to the low 7 MPG per trip margin of the current Hybird buses in the fleet. This bump of new hybrid buses will cut down the emission in the city by 5%. Another curve ball was testing Natural Gas Buses. A CNG Fueling station will be opened on the grounds of Gretalinn Depot and 20 CNG test fleet buses will be put into a trail service of 90 days. If it passes the test, MT will expand on CNG in the system in order to move away from diesel altogether.

Official: Jazz Terminal to Be Renamed Catrina Scott-30th After Deceased Contributor

West Metropolis, BR. August 29th 2015

The West Side Terminal Will Be Renamed After Late Metropolis Transit Contributor Catrina A. Scott (1993-2015).

For the longest, the name Jazz Terminal seem to fit the small but emasculate terminal on Metropolis's Westside for ages. Built in 1918 by the Bridgerissa, Edison & Metropolis Interurban Railway, the station was originally called West Metropolis Terminal. It wasn't until the 1940s when jazz music took control of the city's predominately African-American westside did it become an attractive idea to rename the station Jazz Terminal. Following the 1967 fall of the BE&M Rwy to the Corlesen Lines takeover and the 1976 merger into Metropolis Transit, jazz music died out on the westside  as more people of different heritages began to settle there. Since 2014, Metropolis Transit has been thinking up new names for the old train station which now houses the S2 Hi-Speed Line to The Airport & Earlwess. Following the tragic passing of a MT contributor, it was decided the station will be named in her in her respects.

Name Change Already Has Hit Maps.

 The new name, Catrina Scott-30th Terminal, will better help people pinpoint the station as well as add to the uniqueness of such a name. The S2 & 3 trolleys will have new signs made for them in time for the official name change on September 10th 2015. Metropolis Transit chose this date because it was the same day the namesake's birthday. Maps have already printed the new name as well as reference to the former name. Metropolis Transit will continue to reference the older name until the public "gets a hang" of the new one. Over the next few weeks, signs at the Former Jazz Terminal will have the newer name plaster over it as well as the automated platform announcements. The renaming celebration will take place at 10 AM with a "Recoding" ceremony. GM Nicholette Casey will type in the code of the new station name into a S2 trolley during the event as sign of change in the system. Metropolis Transit also said they will run extra train service during the 10th to commemorate the day though trolleys will be split from two cars to only one.

Catrina Scott was longtime contributor to Metropolis Transit and helped with the restructuring of the current transit system. She was still with Metropolis Transit when on August 14th 2015 she was tragically murdered at the age of 21. The renaming of Jazz Terminal will help bring light to her honor especially since she was the person to come up with renaming the terminal. Originally to be renamed Westside Interurban Terminal, her life was cut short before her suggested name had a chance to be approved. The current name change in her honor was recommended by GM Nicholette Casey herself who was close friend to Ms. Scott. She will now always be remembered in the City of Metropolis with this major name change taking place. 

Crackdown: 33 Bus Drivers Suspended, 2 Fired From Metropolis Transit

Metropolis, BR. June 30th 2015.

Drivers Caught Skipping Red Light Were Suspended or Fired Today.

As you anyone imagine, rush hour for Metropolis isn't as smooth as one would hope to be but a recent sting cracking down on bus drivers questioned how safe rush hour truly is. Hidden cameras on the bus and in the windshields have caught 38 different bus drivers violating state and road laws. Many those violations were red light related, though others include passing up passengers who are clearly visible with enough room to pick them up and speeding through residential areas. In one case, a driver got lost and terminated the 32 bus a mile off his route at 13th-Nedro Station after the driver embarrassed, admitted that he lost his way.  Now Metropolis Transit has cracked down on violating drivers and has suspended a whopping 33 drivers from active duty. Two drivers were dismissed immediately due to the amount of violations they racked up. One of them, operated a 63X bus past three red lights in row without stopping. Of the 33 suspended only 5 will continue to receive pay via light duty pending the investigation. Metropolis Transit release a statement saying, "We would love to expand on safety immensely and the move on behalf of the company to suspend the 33 operators in question while firing the 2 who clearly were guilty is the first step. We do not need accidents, near misses, and risking the safety of our passengers. Our passenger trust us to get them to point B without a incident, we are going to aim for that goal."

Metropolis Elevated Unveils New Scheme, Draws Inspiration From Australia.

Metropolis, BR. July 26th, 2015

New Paint Job For Elevated Subway Cars. 

Metropolis Transit unveiled a new paint job for the beloved Elevated Subway cars that circle Downtown's central business district. The current cars, built in 2005 by transportation giant Bombardier, are painted in the 1995 "Red Swoosh" Paint job that first appeared on the original 1964 Elevated cars from Maine. Metropolis Transit plans to phase out the "Red Swoosh" on the elevated subway lines as the current 2005 cars are due to be rebuilt in 2020 and brand new subway cars will replace the 1964 cars. 2020 couldn't come soon enough though for the company. Consultant, Cole Phillps from Melbourne, Australia along with company president. Nicholette Casey worked to introduce the new elevated scheme which was inspired by PTV livery most Melbourne transit vehicles are currently wearing including their Metro system. Elements from the current scheme the Woodland Subway cars wear also appear. 

The New Scheme is Based Off the one Melbourne, Australia's Metro System Wears. 

Metropolis Transit's new Aussie inspired scheme will only be applied to the current 2005 Bombardier elevated subway cars and will not show up on any of the older 64' el cars. The new Kawasaki built subway cars currently on order will also proudly wear this scheme. When asked if the scheme will appear on buses, Casey said, "Nope! We were inspired by Melbourne, were are not trying to copy it. Only Elevated trains will wear the paint scheme, buses will continue to wear the 'red swoosh' or will match the trolleys. The 'red swoosh' is a icon for Metropolis hence why the new trackless trolleys are being delivered with them. The Woodland Subway, both the 1984 Kawasaki built cars and 2007 built Alstom cars will not be repainted at this time.

Trees Avenue Subway Might End Up Going West.

Metropolis, BR. July 23rd 2015.

22 & 26 Line May Go to West Metropolis

The current Trees Avenue Subway construction is already turning heads and costing millions but it's not stopping Metropolis Transit to dream further. After canceling the proposed "Boga Terminal" who never had a proper spot within Downtown, Metropolis Transit told sources today that they are making a proposal with the state to study the possibility of tunneling under the Commuter Rail Tunnels into West Metropolis then running elevated over the commuter rail tracks to West Metropolis Railway Station with intermediate stops at 14th Street, 20th Street, 24th Street, 30th Street & 36th Street. This would add a total of 6 extra miles to the Trees Avenue Line extending the 22 & 26 Elevated Lines even further to West Metropolis. Of course the money for such a project would be in the billions and it's not something one lone transit company is looking to pay for. Further detail will be provided as more unfolds.

B.DoT Wants 3 of the 4 Trolley Crossings Removed Off N Line

Katelinn Neighborhood. Metropolis, BR

The N Trolley soon may go over Savanna St instead of crossing it at level.

Today, Nicholette Casey (president of Metropolis Transit), Felix Dorado (V.P. of B.DoT) & Mayor Simon Casey sat down at City Hall today to discuss the 2016-2017 Budget and Plans. A rather interesting issue was brought up that had the attention of both Metropolis Transit & the city. The number of street crossing accidents along the N Trolley has risen and very soon in 2018 a new rail link to Downtown Metropolis from Boga Island is suppose to cross the busy Ocean Avenue in order to get into the tunnel. This means the game has changed in terms of goals. Now faced with heavy recommendations from B.DoT has laid out, Metropolis Transit might consider two options. One option is adding bridges and tunnels along the N trolley line to improve speed, service, & safety. Three S's the public want to hear. Another is rebuilding Blue Beach station into an open trench to go under Ocean Avenue. This would removed a crossing that hasn't even seen one train yet. Both options would vastly improve service but would cost millions to undertake.

Blue Beach Lower Level might also be replaced.

With talks about $20 Million in total to just to the N Line, it no wonder MT's President, Nicholette Casey was reluctlant on moving forward with the plans. In a statement to TMC she stated "It's money I personally wish not to spend but have to. Right now the trolley system need new tracks and wires, there's a lot of work to be done on Trees Avenue and Casey Blvd's S2 station needs to be rebuilt. Crossings were the last thing on my mind. That was until I was shown the stats, people ARE dying at these crossings." Since 2011, 14 people alone were struck along the N corridor though only 6 of them were fatal. Most recently, a trolley pinned a car into a wire pole after it tried to beat the trolley at Savanna Street's crossing in the Katelinn section of Metropolis. 5 of the 6 fatal accidents in the past 4 years have been at this crossing because of the higher speeds the N trolley operates at. The speed limit prior to Savanna Street crossing was recently reduced from 45 MPH to 30 MPH in order to give trolleys more time to stop. It has not worked. 

Trees and heavy brush is blamed for Savanna St's notorious crossing. 

The current plan right now is to build a trolley bridge over Savanna Street while SW 48th & SW 49th Street crossing will be replaced by an open trench. There's even a hint of possible new station at SW 49th Street. It's been 11 years since the original SW 49th Street station was shut down due to low ridership. The population in the area has gone up, but even so as of right now Metropolis Transit and B.DoT are more focused on just removing the crossings, not adding new stations. Work on these crossing is expected to be completed by 2017 if chosen by November by the City Board. The N trolley will most likely be bussed during the construction of the new bridge and trenches. The 22/26 Elevated lines will most likely be uninterrupted by their construction.

New Buses and Newer Trolleys Are Heading For Metropolis.

Metropolis, BR. March 26th, 2015.

First of New 60 Foot Buses for Metropolis Transit

Metropolis Transit accepted a new bus into it's fleet on Tuesday after completing a mandatory 200 Mile test run to see if any engine or door defects are detected. When the demo arrived last fast, it suffered from a brake defect that sent it back to Solaris/New Flyer's Portland Plant. Now ready for service, the bus was transferred from Justin Slaven Depot to Ran Mourie Depot and will go into service along the 74 Ocean Avenue Line. As more units are delivered they will go into testing for their 200 miles joyrides until they're ready for service as well. 

DashTransit's new trolleys will look similar to one's they're borrowing from Metropolis Transit. 

As Metropolis Transit's order for brand new Siemens S70 trolley cars come to end, there's now time to work on the 20 newer S70 trolley cars that were purchased by Metropolis Transit as an option. These trolleys however are not going on Metropolis Transit's rails. They will however serve DashTransit's Metropolis Connector. The Blue & Light Blue Loop will move their trolley operations away from Ran Mourie Depot in Bay of Silence to the rebuilt House Park Depot that DashTransit now owns. The vintage trolleys being used on the Red Loop will go back to their respective museums. DashTransit is also study bringing light rail service along the south shore of the Byberry River to Sydney from Portland. This however is a few years in making and will probably not have the same trolley cars as the Connector.

The 26 Line Suffering From Frequent Weather Related Shutdowns.

Boga Island, BR. March 4th 2015.

The 26 Boga Island El Line is prone to shutdowns from water & weather. 

The 26 elevated line is an open target for weather. The low bridge that crosses the Atlantic Ocean to Boga Island has been being succumbed by water with every Nor'Eastern storm passing the area and the wire above it has been forming ice even on days where winter storms aren't even present. It's a costly issue that's delaying and shutting down train service. Trains are getting damaged and fires have broken out from poor electricity contact from the train to the wires because of large amount of ice glaze.

Older Train Cars Have De-Icing Equipment for Power Wires. 

All elevated train use a device called a Pantograph which an antenna that acts like an electrical collector bring the power from the wires to the train wheels. About 45 pantographs (that's 45 train cars in total), have been damaged or burned from large chunks of icy glaze. In total about $10,000 was spent replacing them and more trains were rotated out to Boga Island then usual leaving noticiable service gaps on other lines. A few Rt 39 & Rt 65 trains were canceled because their cars were running on the 26 line clearing ice since older elevated cars have ice scrapers attached to the roofs protecting the electrical pantograph from ice damage. The problem comes from ocean spray as well, sometimes ocean spray on clear cold night does form ice on the tracks and wires.

There are plans to replace the Boga Island Bridge with something higher that will clear the ocean spray but will still be open to ice storms. Workers have suggested using beat & pickle juice to coat the wires that way they don't freeze as easily. Another idea was installing insulators who will heat up certain sections of wire. Of course it would require one every 200 feet. A costly amount. Until the agency is keep their fingers crossed there will be no more Ice storms anytime soon.

Metropolis Transit On Ice: El Trains Suffer Equipment Damage

Metropolis, BR. February 16th, 2015.

Icy Wires Wrecked about $4000 of electrical equipment on the elevated trains.

This morning's Rush Hour came to stand still on the 22, 26 & 79 lines when cold artic storm and lots of wind driven ocean spray cause ice to form on the wires that power the subway cars for those line. In an attempt to run trains on the lines, $4000 of overhead equipment was damaged. The lines were shut down at 8 AM right at the height of rush hour. The icy wires also slowed trolley service with speed restrictions on the 7, 21, 56 & 66 lines hampered service. The 5 trolley was also extended to Exhibition Hall to aid the 79's shutdown was impacted. Thankfully not trolley cars were damaged.

Older train cars have ice fighting equipment. 

The 42 remaining 51 year old el cars have overhead ice fighting equipment attached to them and can remove ice at a rapid rate. They are usually assigned to the 39 line with a set floating around on the 79 & 47 but all the 39 cars were taken off and placed on the 79 during the outage to scrape off the ice on the wires. There are also 8 of the old cars that are used for work service that assisted in the ice removal off the 22 & 26 lines. Service was restored by 11 PM this morning.

Trees Avenue Residents and Business Owner Sound Off About Subway

Metropolis, BR. January 26th 2015.

Trees Aveue Subway Construction At Waves-Meadow Loop. 

Months after the first tunnel shaft was dug under Waves-Meadow Loop, residents and business owners are sounding off about the proposed cut and cover construction of the Trees Avenue Subway. Plans to add a station at Trees & Interfair are making business owners nervous.

"Barriers, walls, gates, and anything you can name," said the owner of DeLavia's Pizza. They see it in New York City they claim. "2nd Avenue Subway, a mess! They want to do the same thing here."

Proposals of a Trees Avenue Subway was planned since 1982 but was never carried out due to budget constrains. Under the current plan, the 22 & 26 are planned to be sent into a tunnel under Waves-Meadow Loop and sidewander into Trees Avenue where trains will stop at The Interfair then continues into a new set a platforms adjecent to the Bridgerissa Commuter/Amtrak tracks at Metropolis Central Station. The proposal includes opening the street, digging the tunnel while the street is on wooden planks, the covering it up when the hole is dug and lined. It already causing protesst from the businesses.

The city council of Metropolis granted these business will get some sort of reperation for allowing the constuction in front of their store but for some stores it's not going to change the fact they will be losing business.

"We can't be sitting on our thumbs doing nothing," Frank Eglestien, GM of the 38c Clothing Store in front of The Interfair. "Fashion Week is set to begin in March and that's our cash cow. There is no way the money the city is paying us will cover any loses from Fashion Week."

Fashion Week is the biggest fashion convention held at The Interfair.

Freak Winter Tornado Impacts Two Major Transit Depots

South Morgan, BR. January 7th 2015.

Tornado seen destroying homes along 35th Street.

January isn't the month you'd expect to see a tornado but on Monday, January 5th, 2015 a large EF-2 tornado blew through Pecan Valley, South Morgan & Morganville destroying hundreds of apartments and homes. One of the unique things about the tornado was it's path along the N & 47 Corridor. It cross the N trolley line twice, and the 47 twice both times striking two major transit storage facilities near the tracks. The 47's main train depot was hit and two cars were slightly thrown into electrical wire poles. The depot's main build is missing glass and the power wire that give trains juice has been ripped apart. This has cause the 47 to end short at Morganville Station instead of Freehold. The N Trolley was also downed for a period of time but that was fixed within hours of the tornado strike. 

A Work Train fixing power wires near 35th Street station. 

The elevated train depot wasn't the only victim of the tornado's wrath. Slaven Bus Depot was also struck by the tornado and the result was 12 completely destroyed buses and 100 more damaged in some sort of way. The power wires for the trackless trolleybuses also were mangled in the onslaught. Of the 12 destroyed buses, 2 of them were loaner buses from Great Grundolf Transportation as part of a deal to increase service on the 79 Elevated shuttle bus. The tornado also prove to be deadly killing 2 men and injuring hundreds. It was rated EF2 based on it's damage but almost became a EF3 grade. Some homes did receive EF3 grade damage but it wasn't enough constant degree of EF3 in a pattern to give it that rate. The Southwest Metropolis Tornado is the first natural disaster Metropolis faced since Hurricane Sandy back in 2012.

Front of a leased Great Grundolf bus thrown in front of trackless coaches. 

The 47 Elevated is expected to return to Freehold by the end of the week.

Mandatory Hurricane Improvements Calls For More Elevated Space

North Christine, BR. January 3rd, 2015.

Blue Beach Yard Received 6 inches of Sea Water During Sandy 

For a system that uses the words "Elevated Railway", it actually hard to believe only 60% of the elevated network is above street & sea level. The 22, 26, 39, 47 & 79 lines all have significant portions of track at street level with the 22, 26, 39 & 79 being only a mere feet from the salty ocean. On normal days, this may seem scenic until a storm like Hurricane Sandy hit and engulfs those sections of track under feet of water. This leaves very limited space to store trains out of the damaging salt water's way. The NTSB and BDot spent the past two year conducting a study about train storage in the case of any high wave event whether if it's hurricane, nor'easter, or a earthquake triggered tsunami and the results are very grim. With the system expanding it's fleet with 150 new cars along with current 150 cars from 2005 and the 48 soon-to-retire cars from 1964 it will be nearly impossible to save the entire fleet from salt water unless more elevated space is created.

South Clubs Station is particularly vulnerable. 

Most of the Elevated Subway System in Metropolis stems from experimental elevated trolley routes as well as a few regular trolley routes that were outright converted instead of elevated. This means most lines at some point run on street level and close to waterway that could surge and flood out the tracks leaving rust deposits on rails or outright eatting them to the ballast. Metropolis Transit wants to combat this with more elevated subway space to store trains. Since during storm it's require to keep all running tracks clear, only the 79 elevated's express track, Exhibtion Hall and Blue Beach Depot (barely) are elevated enough to let water run through under it. Still monster surges in Sandy top the levee at Blue Beach leaving NTSB member to push for more elevated space.

Exhibition Hall is a good 45 feet above the street and 50 feet above sea level.

There is no definite location eyed yet for elevated subway storage but Metropolis Transit is urged to work closely with BDot to solve this problem immediately. The NTSB classed the project "Urgent" on the list of US transportation improvements. Governor Patrick Soraz (R) counters this by dismissing the study as "rushed" and "another transportation bill to spend money on" but, the Senate is taking the study finding a bit more serious.

"Sandy crippled the largest transit system in Bridgerissa for almost month because of downed train cars," Senetor Kelly Jones (R) began, "So what is there not to take serious about this study? We can't have subway trains running in the path of danger and I will try to lobby this to get the ball rolling even if Soraz doesn't care."

Only time will tell what will happen in the answer of this potential political spin.