WASHINGTON — Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and ranking member Sam Graves (R-Mo.) announced new committee members from their respective parties. Graves also named key subcommittee appointments. Democratic members newly selected to the committee are Colin Allred (Texas), Anthony Brown (Md.), Salud Carbajal (Calif.), Angie Craig (Minn.), Sharice Davids (Kan.), Antonio Delgado (N.Y.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Abby Finkenauer (Iowa), Lizzie Fletcher (Texas), Jesús […]
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Alstom is building the Avelia Liberty trainsets for Amtrak’s northeast corridor. A report says the Alstom-Siemens merger will be blocked by European regulators. Alstom/Amtrak This rendering shows one of the Charger locomotives Siemens is building for Amtrak. Siemens/Amtrak BRUSSELS — European Union regulators intend to block the merger of rail equipment manufacturers Alstom and Siemens […]
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SEATTLE — The mayor of Seattle says she wants to go ahead with a long-delayed, over-budget, mile-long downtown streetcar line, but there’s still the small matter of finding the additional millions of dollars to pay for it. Mayor Jenny Durkan put the project on hold in March 2018 for a review; the report itself and […]
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NEW YORK — Amtrak has expanded its cancellations and schedule modifications for Sunday to include Empire Service trains. The moves are in advance of a winter storm approaching the Northeast. In addition to its previously announced cancellations and changes [See “Amtrak cancels trains, modifies schedules in advance of storm,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 18, 2019], […]
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Could future Amtrak trains in the Northeast look something like this? A Brightline train awaits boarding in Miami on Jan. 11, 2019. Amtrak has issued a request for proposal for new single-level passenger cars; the Brightline cars, built by Siemens, are the newest intercity equipment in the U.S. and the basis for cars on order […]
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A TEXRail train passes equipment of the Grapevine Vintage Railroad in Grapevine, Texas. After a big opening weekend, TEXRail has begun considering expansion. Lance Lassen FORT WORTH, Texas — The TEXRail commuter line carried more than 11,000 riders in its first weekend, prompting officials at its parent organization, Trinity Metro, to start talking about expanding […]
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NEW YORK — In keeping with recent practice, Amtrak has cancelled some trains and modified schedules for others this Saturday and Sunday because of a forecast for a major winter storm. Service has been cancelled on Saturday and Sunday for three trains: the Chicago-Washington Capitol Limited; the Chicago-New York/Boston Lake Shore Limited, and the Indianapolis-New […]
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An aging ex-Amtrak P40, minimally relettered for Shore Line East commuter service, leads a westbound train through Brook Interlocking in Old Saybrook, Conn., in September 2017. Some rail service on the route has been replaced by buses since April 2018, but restoration of those trains will begin Jan. 22. Scott A. Hartley HARTFORD, Conn. — […]
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern reported record results for the fourth quarter and full year, although executives said they were disappointed that the railroad’s service fell short of expectations in 2018. “We did not meet the expectations of our customers or shareowners, particularly in the areas of customer service and growth,” CEO Patrick […]
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Pat Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern CEO TRAINS: David Lassen KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern has hired a veteran Canadian National executive as a consultant who will help lead its gradual shift to Precision Scheduled Railroading during the next two years. Sameh Famhy, who was senior vice president of engineering, mechanical and supply management […]
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Trains editors discuss all the rail news that is fit to publish. This week, Digital Editor Steve Sweeney and Columnist Brian Solomon discuss BNSF Railway’s Matt Rose, Amtrak food, and topics for future columns and podcasts. Only from Trains! […]
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Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 12. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 555,127 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.4 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the […]
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