John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints


External Links - US and Canadian Public Transport Web Sites (Railways, Rapid Transit Authorities, etc)

Please report any broken links using the "EMail me" link at the bottom of this page.

This page includes links to conventional railway companies, both freight and passenger, tourist railway lines, rapid transit authorities and similar companies and organisations.

For ferries, see this separate page.

Complaints

PassengerRights

You can register a complaint about a travel-related company on this site and it will be directed to the company concerned. The site also offers advice about complaining, together with some sections covering related subjects. Companies covered include airlines, car rental, cruise lines, hotel chains, long distance bus lines, motel chains, passenger train services, tour operators and travel agent associations. Only US companies are covered, plus possibly Canadian. Verified Jul-02.

Lists of Links

Transportation Directory

A very useful list of links to the web sites of various bus lines, railways, ferries, airlines, etc. Verified Jul-02.

Individual Companies And Organisations

Algoma Central Railway - Wisconsin Central Railroad

Wisconsin Central own the Algoma Central Railway which operates the Sault Ste Marie - Agawa Canyon Tours in Ontario. For information, see under the "North American Rail Information" section of this official site. Verified Dec-99.

Algoma Central Railway Unofficial Site

The Algoma Central Railway runs day trips from Sault Ste Marie to Agawa Canyon in Ontario. Verified Sep-99.

Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) (US passenger railway system)

Official site. Includes full details of Amtrak's services and a national route map in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Verified Nov-02.

Amtrak California

Verified Nov-02.

Around America by Rail

A personal site containing an interesting travelogue. Verified Feb-98.

BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit (San Francisco Bay, California Area Public Transport System)

Official site. Useful information. Verified Feb-01.

BC Rail

Official site. This company operates regular railway services in British Columbia. Verified Jan-98.

BSDA (Bi-State Development Agency)

The organisation responsible for public transport in the St Louis, Missouri area. If this site contains any useful information, it certainly isn't obvious from the home page. Verified Apr-03.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF)

A major US railroad company. Freight only, I think. Verified Sep-99.

CalTrain

CalTrain operate a passenger railway service between San Francisco and San Jose, California with a limited service to Gilroy. There are free shuttle buses between the Millbrae CalTrain station and San Francisco International Airport, and between the Santa Clara CalTrain station and San Jose International Airport. All-day car parking is available at most CalTrain stations for $1.50 (as at Nov-02). Verified Nov-02.

Canadian National Railroad

Verified Sep-99.

Canadian Pacific Railway

Verified Sep-99.

Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum - Family Tree for the Union Pacific Railroad (including the Southern Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads)

A list of the large number of railroad companies in the USA which have now been absorbed into the Union Pacific. Verified Jun-05.

Conrail

A major US railroad company. Freight only, I think. Verified Nov-02.

CSX

A major US railroad company. Freight only, I think. Verified Nov-02.

Chicago (Illinois) Transit Authority

Includes schedules, maps and fares. Verified Apr-03.

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, Colorado and New Mexico

A preserved tourist railroad in the Rockies. Verified Nov-97.

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (DSNGRR), Colorado

One of the most famous of the preserved tourist narrow gauge steam railroads in the Rockies. Official site. Verified Jul-99.

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (DSNGRR), Colorado

Verified Mar-98.

Edmonton (Alberta) Transit System (ETS)

Includes maps, schedules and fares. For information on Edmonton's subway system refer to the LRT (Light Rail Transit) section of the site. Verified Apr-03.

Golden Spike National Historic Site - Utah History Encyclopedia

This site includes a very interesting section on the Golden Spike National Historic Site, including information about the ceremony which marked the completion of the Transcontinental Railway, how the site later fell into disuse and the more recent establishment of the National Historic Site. Verified Sep-00.

Grand Canyon Railroad, Arizona

This tourist railway runs between Williams, Arizona and the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Official site. Verified Mar-98.

Heber Valley Railroad, Utah

A tourist railway line. Verified Dec-02.

Kansas City Southern Railroad

A major US railroad company. Freight only, I think. Verified Nov-02.

Las Vegas (Nevada) Monorail

The monorail system which runs parallel to part of the Strip. Includes full details of the recently constructed major extension. Verified Jul-04.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Los Angeles, California area bus and Metro Rail subway/light railway/tram system

Verified Mar-03. See also Metrolink.

MARTA - Metropolitan Atlanta (Georgia) Rapid Transit Authority

This site may offer some useful information, but if so then it certainly doesn't make it obvious how to access it. Verified Apr-03.

MBTA - Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

The organisation responsible for public transport in the Boston, Massachusetts area. The site includes maps, schedules and fares. Boston had the first subway system in the USA. Verified Apr-03.

Metrolink (Los Angeles, California area commuter railway system)

Unfortunately the only map of the Metrolink system that I could find on this site was in part of a Shockwave animation and therefore not easy to save. Verified Mar-03. See also Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Montreal (Province Of Québec) Subway System

Includes maps and fares. Verified Apr-03.

MTA (Maryland Transit Administration)

The organisation responsible for public transport in the Baltimore, Maryland area. The site includes schedules and fares but I couldn't spot any obvious means of obtaining maps. Verified Apr-03.

MUNI (San Francisco, California Public Transport System)

Official site. MUNI is responsible for San Francisco's famous cable cars and several other public transport systems in the city. Verified Feb-01.

New York City Subway

An unofficial but extremely useful guide to public transport in New York City, especially the subway (underground railway) systems.

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA or more commonly simply MTA)

An organisation responsible for public transport in New York City, including subway (underground railway) and bus services. This site contains plenty of useful information. There are also other subway systems in New York City, such as PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson). The NYMTA system includes the subway lines originally constructed by BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation), IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) and IND (Independent) and still known by those names. Verified Nov-02.

Norfolk Southern Railroad

A major US railroad company. Freight only, I think. Verified Nov-02.

North American Tourist Railroad and Railroad Museum

This site has details of numerous tourist railways, railway museums, and other railway related attractions in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Verified Nov-97.

Ontario Northland

This railway company operates passenger services including the Northlander between Toronto and Cochrane via North Bay, and the Little Bear between Cochrane and Moosoonee. It also runs a small number of ferry services in Ontario (but no longer the Chi-Cheemaun car ferry service between South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island and Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula, which is now operated by Owen Sound Transportation Company). When I visited this site in Nov-02 it failed with Internet Explorer V4 but was ok with Netscape Navigator V4.6. Verified Nov-02.

RailAmerica

This site has links to web sites of a large number of short line railroads in the USA, all freight only I think. Verified Nov-02.

RailPictures

A huge collection of high quality photographs of USA and Canadian railroads. Although only mainline railway companies are included in the drop-down list on the site's home page, there are also photographs of some tourist lines. One method of accessing these is to specify the state in which they are located. Verified May-05.

Railway Technology

This site includes information on various current railway construction projects world-wide, including the USA and Canada. It includes high-speed railways, conventional railways, light railways and metro systems. Verified Jul-99.

Roaring Camp Railroad (near Felton, California)

A tourist railway line. Verified Jan-01.

Rocky Mountaineer Railtours or Rocky Mountaineer Railtours

Official site. This company operates tourist railway services between Vancouver and Kamloops, Kamloops and Banff, and Kamloops and Jasper (in British Columbia and Alberta). (Both URL's lead to the same content.) Verified Feb-00.

Santa Fe Railroad

See Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad

Santa Fe Southern Railway

A tourist railway line which runs between Santa Fe and Lamy, New Mexico. Verified Feb-01.

SEPTA - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

The organisation responsible for public transport in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. The site includes fares and maps. For information on Philadelphia's subway system, refer to the "Subways and Trolleys" section. Verified Apr-03.

Skunk Train

This tourist railway line runs between the towns of Fort Bragg and Willits, California. Fort Bragg is on the coast about a hundred and fifty miles north of San Francisco. Willits is about twenty-five miles inland as the crow flies, although as the railway line threads its way through the coastal mountains it is probably significantly longer. Willits is about twenty miles north of Ukiah. Verified Feb-01.

Strasburg Railroad

This tourist railway line is located in the town of the same name, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Verified Feb-01.

Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)

The organisation responsible for public transport in the Toronto, Ontario area. The site includes maps, fares and schedules. Verified Apr-03.

Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR)

Freight only, I think. Verified Apr-97.

USA By Rail

While primarily an advertisement for the printed book of the same name, this site does also offer a small amount of information on the subject. Verified Jan-03.

Verde Canyon Railroad, Clarkdale, Arizona

This tourist railroad offers trips round trips from Clarkdale (near Cottonwood, southwest of Flagstaff) to Perkinsville. Verified Jun-01.

VIA Rail

Official site. VIA Rail operate passenger railway services throughout Canada. Verified Jan-99.

[VIA Rail's alternative URL http://www.viarail.com appears to no longer be available. When I tested it on 16-Jan-99 it failed with a "no DNS entry" error, implying that the address no longer exists. However, it is still listed on the Amnesi domain name search engine, so the problem may be temporary.]

White Pass and Yukon Railway (Skagway - Whitehorse)

Official site. Verified Jul-98.

Wisconsin Central Railroad

Wisconsin Central own the Algoma Central Railway which operates the Sault Ste Marie - Agawa Canyon Tours in Ontario. For information, see under the "North American Rail Information" section of this official site. Verified Dec-99.

Wisconsin Central Railroad Unofficial Site

Includes some information on the Algoma Central Railway (now owned by Wisconsin Central). Verified Sep-99.

WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority)

Includes maps and schedules, and information on the Washington DC Metrorail subway system. Verified Apr-03.

Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, California

A restored tourist railroad, located just outside Yosemite Park's Mariposa Grove entrance, on the road to Oakhurst.

Other Information

US Railroad Bridges

A very interesting list of many notable railroad bridges in the USA. Verified Jun-04.

Additional Comment

The following news story appeared in the 20-Dec-99 edition of the Daily Brief:
Reports say Canadian National Railway Co. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. will merge to create the largest railroad in North America.

External Links

External Links - Ferries

Public Transport

Scenic Railway Journeys and Tourist Railways

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Most recently modified 6-Nov-05