Latest news with #passengertrain
Travel Weekly
a day ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
JetBlue partners with Brightline rail service in Florida
JetBlue has partnered with the Brightline passenger train service in Florida to enable travelers to book air and rail together. JetBlue says customers will be able to book Brightline tickets on as part of a combined itinerary. Brightline has stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando. The Orlando station, located at Orlando International Airport, allows for simple transfers between air and rail. In South Florida, Brightline offers shuttle service between airports and train stations, and it's bookable on JetBlue's website. "As we continue to grow in Florida and offer more flights to and from cities like Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando, our partnership with Brightline helps us deliver even more value and convenience to our customers," said Dave Jehn, JetBlue's vice president, network planning and airline partnerships. In addition to expanding travel options for new bookings, the agreement enables JetBlue to offer alternative itineraries that incorporate Brightline rail segments during periods of irregular Florida air operations.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Russia investigates bridge explosions in Bryansk and Kursk as terrorist attacks
Two bridges in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk oblasts collapsed overnight on 31 May due to explosions, with investigations underway into what Russia's Investigative Committee has called terrorist attacks. Source: Meduza, citing the Russian Investigative Committee Quote: "These events are classified as acts of terrorism," the committee stated. Unverified reports suggest an improvised explosive device may have been placed within the Kursk bridge's structure. The Kursk incident occurred around 02:21 Moscow time (00:21 BST), derailing the locomotive of a freight train and three wagons, with no fatalities reported due to the train's low speed. Derailed train Photo: Russian Investigative Committee Background A road bridge in Bryansk Oblast collapsed onto a railway at 22:50 Moscow time (20:50 BST) on 31 May 2025, derailing a passenger train en route from Klimov to Moscow, killing 7 people and injuring about 70. Hours later, a railway bridge collapsed in Russia's Kursk Oblast, derailing a freight train. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Seven people killed and dozens injured after two bridges collapse just hours apart in Russia
Seven people have been killed and dozens more injured after two bridges collapsed just hours apart in different Russian regions bordering Ukraine. In the most devastating incident, a bridge came crashing down onto railway tracks in the Bryansk region, directly in the path of a moving passenger train. The collision sent carriages careening off the rails, leaving a trail of mangle metal and shattered concrete. Just hours later a second bridge collapsed in the Kursk region. The train's driver and six others lost their lives in the Bryansk tragedy, and at least 69 more people were rushed to hospital with injuries, some reportedly critical. Local authorities blamed 'illegal interference'. The horror unfolded as the train, en route from Moscow to Klimov, was making its way through the troubled region. Passengers were evacuated and guided to a meeting point at a nearby station, Moscow Railway said, adding: 'They will be able to continue their journey on a specially formed reserve train' travelling from Bryansk to Moscow. Dramatic footage shared online shows the twisted wreckage, with carriages torn open and panicked survivors clambering through debris. One video, filmed from inside a passing car, captures the chilling moment a vehicle narrowly avoids the collapsing structure, just seconds from disaster. Alexander Bogomaz, the acting governor of Bryansk, has claimed the bridge was 'blown up', suggesting a targeted attack. Officials have not yet confirmed who was behind the blast, but Andrei Klishas, a senior figure in Russia's Federation Council, wasted no time in accusing Kyiv. He claimed the incident proved Ukraine had 'long lost the attributes of a state and has turned into a terrorist enclave'. Ukraine has yet to comment. In a separate incident, another bridge buckled under the weight of a freight train in the Zheleznogorsk district, in Russia's neighbouring Kursk region. One train driver was injured, but authorities say the full extent of the damage is still being assessed. Acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said the train caught fire and a driver suffered injuries to his legs. Khinshtein wrote on Telegram: 'The cause of the bridge collapse will be established. All emergency services are working on the scene. I am keeping the situation under control.' Russian rescuers working at the site after a bridge collapsed on a passenger train in the Vygonichsky district, Bryansk region, Russia, June 1, 2025 It is unclear whether the two collapses in the neighbouring regions are related but Moscow's interregional transport prosecutor's office said an investigation had been launched. Both Bryansk and Kursk border Ukraine and have seen repeated attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion over three years ago. Cross-border shelling, drone strikes, and covert operations have turned these regions into dangerous flashpoints in the ongoing war. Emergency crews have remained at the scene in Bryansk, working against the clock to extract survivors from the wreckage.
Russia Today
4 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Collapsed bridge in Russia's Bryansk Region was blown up
A bridge that collapsed onto a moving passenger train in Russia's Bryansk Region was deliberately blown up, local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz has said. At least seven people were killed and 69 others wounded in the incident on Saturday evening, according to Bogomaz. 'A bridge on a highway was blown up as a train with 388 passengers was moving under it,' the governor told the television channel Russia 24 on Sunday morning. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
The National
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- The National
As Etihad Rail announces 2026 launch, what will it take to get people out of their cars and onto trains?
The opening of passenger train services in the UAE next year will be a major step forward in the country's public transport provision – but will it get people out of their cars? As reported in The National, Etihad Rail announced this month that passenger operations will begin in 2026, with the first four stations of an eventual countrywide network set to be Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah. Etihad Rail will be keen to tempt UAE residents out of their vehicles through its promise of carriages capable of carrying 400 passengers each and trains that will travel at 200kph. The launch will be one of the most important milestones in public transport in the Gulf since the 2009 debut of Dubai Metro, which has proved to be enormously popular, with more than 250 million passenger journeys now recorded each year, according to Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority. The network is continuing to expand. Yet this success has not eliminated the emirate's traffic congestion, which eased during the Covid-19 pandemic before returning with a vengeance. Dr Alexandra Gomes, a research fellow at the London School of Economics who has studied Gulf cities, said that one factor that encouraged car use in the region is its low cost. 'In the Gulf, low petrol prices combined with underinvestment in public transport, particularly in terms of network coverage, frequency and reliability, continue to incentivise those who can drive to do so,' she said. UAE fuel prices this month range from Dh2.39 to Dh2.58 per litre, less than half of what it costs in, for example, some Western nations, where significant taxes are imposed on petrol and diesel. Another incentive to drive is the often significantly lower cost to buy a car in the UAE than in other markets. Many other major cities, such as Singapore and London, tend to have stronger financial disincentives to vehicle use, coupled with high-quality public transport. Prof Marcus Enoch, professor of transport strategy at Loughborough University in the UK, said that London showed that restrictions on cars could encourage public transport use. Congestion charging was introduced there in 2003 by the mayor, Ken Livingstone, with the promise that revenue would be invested in public transport, aiding less well-off people unable to afford the toll. 'Congestion charging is fairly progressive in the sense that people who can afford to drive will never change; they will pay for the privilege of driving,' Prof Enoch said. 'People with less money probably will not drive as much and they will benefit from improved public transport.' London also shows, however, that measures to restrict car use can face huge political headwinds, with the current mayor, Sadiq Khan, having met significant opposition to his 2023 expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which imposes an additional charge on vehicles that create greater pollution. Singapore is often held up as the poster child for effective traffic management, with its Electronic Road Pricing imposing high charges for entering certain areas at peak times. From the beginning of this year, Dubai's Salik system introduced similar dynamic pricing, with larger fees levied at from 6am to 10am and 4pm to 8pm. Abu Dhabi too has a road toll system, Darb, which charges at peak times. However, these charges have not stemmed the growth in the volume of traffic as the cities develop and their populations increase. Salik recently reported a 9.3 per cent annual increase in the number of active vehicles to 4.47 million, while in the first three months of this year the tally of journeys rocketed by 35.1 per cent year-on-year to 210.8 million. To get people out of their cars, public transport must be high-quality, which the UAE's new rail services are likely to be, said Prof Enoch. It must also, he said, be 'significantly faster than the car', which is especially likely to be the case with high-speed rail. Etihad Rail has said that the Dubai to Abu Dhabi journey on its trains will take around 57 minutes, and Fujairah to Abu Dhabi will take about 105 minutes. A separate high-speed service between Dubai and Abu Dhabi will probably further undercut the time taken by road. 'The need is to make sure access to the high-speed stations is well served by public transport,' Prof Enoch said. 'You probably need to look at feeder buses and foot pedestrian infrastructure, which in the UAE maybe means air-conditioned walkways or cheap taxis that will get people from the stations to where they live.' The physical structure of urban areas in the region is another factor that, according to transport analysts, leads to the use of cars rather than public transport. Dr Gomes said that the 'extensive sprawl of Gulf cities', characterised by low-density and 'leapfrog development', increases distances between home and work. 'This urban development makes it difficult to create compact, connected and co-ordinated environments that are needed to support effective public transport systems, further encouraging car use,' Dr Gomes said. The continued development of roads and parking provision in the region's towns and cities can, Dr Gomes said, discourage walking, meeting or even playing. 'This, combined with the perceived freedom associated with car use and the lack of a reliable transport alternative, leads even more people to rely on private vehicles and meet in indoor areas such as shopping centres,' she said. Dr Gomes said that other measures to reduce car dependence included creating mixed-use developments and making residential areas more walkable, although she cautioned that they were unlikely to be sufficient on their own. 'The Gulf needs to develop urban form and transport in tandem, each reinforcing the other, by promoting designs that provide shading – narrower streets, such as the traditional Sikka, are just an example – and reimagining streets as public spaces rather than corridors for cars. This integrated approach can help create the conditions for people to walk more and drive less,' she said. 'There is an urgent need for the Gulf to address climate change and adopt more sustainable urban practices, with public transport and active mobility playing a fundamental role in this transition.'
