New Jersey

By the late 1970s, railroad were not in a state of good repair. The issue over railroad safety and repair became an issue after a June 1977 Conrail derailment in Metuchen, N.J. In that wreck, 17 cars derailed and took the busy Northeast Corridor out of commission.

The N.J. Transit Board of Directors earlier this month voted to increase fares by roughly 9 percent.

Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) last month issued a request for proposals to build modern, state-of-the-art high-speed train sets.