CANCUN, Mexico — When is a route inauguration not really the start of service? With Mexico’s Maya Train, the answer, apparently, is when a political deadline is involved. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obardor was among the officials on board Feb. 29 for a trip to inaugurate a new section of the Maya Train, a […]
WASHINGTON — The controlled burn of vinyl chloride following last year’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was unnecessary, National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told a Senate hearing today — and might have been avoided with better communication. Homendy, testifying at a Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on NTSB investigations, said in […]
CHICAGO — Beginning today (Wednesday, March 6) Amtrak’s westbound California Zephyr will depart Chicago for California for the first time the Feb. 27 departure encountered freight congestion and weather obstacles that resulted in arrival into Emeryville, Calif., 10 hours, 35 minutes late. Those cars and locomotives, stranded for more than a week at Amtrak’s Oakland […]
STOCKTON, Calif. — The operating agency for Amtrak’s San Joaquins and the California Department of Transportation officially launched San Joaquins service using Siemens Venture equipment on Tuesday, March 5, with ceremonies featuring Caltrans director Tony Taveres, state Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin, and other officials. The first Venture cars debuted in San Joaquins service without […]
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Two daily Pacific Surfliner round trips will resume through the San Clemente area as of Wednesday, March 6, providing through service between San Diego and Los Angeles for the first time since a Jan. 24 landslide at Mariposa Point. The Orange County Transportation Authority announced today (Tuesday, March 5) that Metrolink […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and Florida East Coast have announced further expansion of their international and domestic interline service, with logistics, marine, and energy company Crowley using the two railroads’ Florida Express service to move textile products to and from Charlotte, N.C., for garment and apparel manufacturing. “We are focused on providing reliable service and […]
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — One crew member was taken to the hospital with a wrist injury after a low-speed, head-on collision between two Union Pacific trains on Monday, the Bonners Ferry Herald reports. The trains collided at an estimated 17 mph shortly before noon, Boundary County public information officer Andrew O’Neel told the newspaper. One […]
MILTON, Ontario — A Canadian court has blocked Canadian National Railway’s plans for its Milton Logistics Hub, a $250 million intermodal project first proposed in 2015 and approved by the federal government in 2021. While the government attached 325 environmental conditions to the approval [see “Canadian National’s proposed Toronto-area intermodal terminal …,” Trains News Wire, […]
ST. ALBERT, Alberta — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate the derailment of a Canadian National Railway train today (Monday, March 4) in St. Albert, the agency has announced. CTV News reports the derailment occurred about 7 a.m. and involved 16 cars, seven of which contained diesel fuel. The other nine were empty. […]
PENINSULA, Ohio — The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will suspend operations for almost two months beginning this Friday, March 8, “to make substantial upgrades to safety and operating procedures,” the tourist railroad announced today (Monday, March 4). The railroad says in a press release that the suspension, through May 2, will allow “a comprehensive initiative […]
WASHINGTON — Beginning today (Monday, March 4), Amtrak is scheduling four additional Northeast Regional round trips weekdays and two on the weekends between New York and Washington, D.C. The decision to reconfigure seating in each coach so that half of the seats face in different directions [see “Fixed forward and backward seating to speed Northeast Regional […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Friday approved an emergency request to allow short line company Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad to provide service for 30 days on the line formerly operated by the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad, shut down in February by the Federal Railroad Administration for safety reasons. The State of […]
