Free Republic

Train travelers in Germany have an extra reason to celebrate entering 2020 — the national railway company Deutsche Bahn is cutting prices for long-distance rides. The government wants more people to take the train. Deutsche Bahn has unrolled new prices for 2020 and made its tickets 10% cheaper for long-distance traffic, the German railway company said. The move, which went into effect on Wednesday, stems from the climate protection measures passed by the German government — the Cabinet cut the value-added tax (VAT) on rail travel in December from 19% to 7% in an effort to make train travel more...

BOSTON — Rebekah Adelstone usually drives to work, which takes 15 minutes. Since record snows have fallen, she has not wanted to risk losing her precious parking spot, so she has taken a bus to the subway. But on Tuesday, after even more snow fell, the subway system was shut down. So she ended up taking two buses to work, and her commute stretched to two hours. Her ordeal was typical of many residents, who soldiered through the more than six feet of snow that has piled up in the last 17 days. With no chance to melt, the snows...

Supporters of a bill that would give federal regulators power to force transit agencies to make safety improvements are rallying around a ruling that the lack of federal oversight contributed to the fatal Metro crash in Washington last year. Supporters believe the National Transportation Safety Board's strong language favoring federal oversight will make it easier to convince lawmakers that it is needed nationwide. But Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., put a hold on the bill to keep it from being fast-tracked through Congress after Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., introduced it last week.