Imagine that you’re the head of the Federal Railroad Administration. A railroad proposes inspecting brakes with wayside detectors that find 10 times more defects than carmen can see during an inspection in a yard. It’s a significant improvement in safety. Rail labor’s on board, and your own safety experts back the proposal, too. You’d give […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — The latest in Amtrak’s series of weather-related operating cancellations in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest — caused by a mudslide, cold, and snow — will extend until at least Tuesday morning, based on information available as of Sunday evening, Jan. 21. A mudslide south of Kelso, Wash., on BNSF Railway’s Amtrak Cascades […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak Midwest state-supported services have taken another weather-related hit, with cancellations today through Monday for a trains on a number of routes. In an update posted at 9 a.m. today (Saturday, Jan. 20), Amtrak announced these trains have been cancelled in their entirety: Lincoln Service (Chicago-St. Louis) — Today, Sunday, and Monday: Trains […]
WASHINGTON —The Surface Transportation Board has called for Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile, Ala., to provide “detailed information regarding the status of the implementation of the settlement agreement” agreed to in November 2022 to allow Amtrak service to begin between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. — and scheduled a February hearing […]
WASHINGTON — Although the House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Rail Subcommittee hearing Thursday was titled, “Oversight and Examination of Railroad Grade Crossing Elimination and Safety,” the 21/2-hour session also dealt with other issues. These included miles’ long trains, the state of wayside equipment detection, the pending mandatory crew-size rule making, and Class I railroads’ reticence to […]
WASHINGTON — With the first significant snow of the season sweeping into the East Coast on Thursday, Amtrak cancelled 12 Acela Northeast Corridor departures, although no Northeast Regional trains were dropped. Three of the cancelled round-trips were scheduled Boston-Washington, and three were New York-Washington, plus an additional departure of the Washington-New York portion of Acela […]
PITTSBURGH – Wabtec’s Trip Optimizer has reached a new milestone: Railroads have racked up more than a billion miles using the locomotive smart cruise control system that was introduced in 2009. “This billion-mile accomplishment is a tribute to our customers and our team of innovators,” Nalin Jain, president of Wabtec Digital Intelligence, said in a […]
CHICAGO — Metra, the Regional Transportation Authority, and Cook County, Ill., on Tuesday announced the Access Pilot Program, which extends reduced fares for low-income riders across the entire six-county Metra system as of Feb. 1. The new program, an 18-month pilot program, is a successor to and expansion of the Fair Transit South Cook program, […]
LA BROQUERIE, Manitoba — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada reports a broken rail at a grade crossing has been confirmed as the cause of last week’s derailment of a Canadian National train near La Broquerie, the website Steinbach Online reports. The 27-car derailment occurred Thursday, Jan. 11, at about 7:15 p.m. There were no […]
CHICAGO — With daytime Midwest temperatures expected to push above zero beginning Wednesday, Amtrak today (Tuesday, Jan. 16) began resuming departures on some long-distance routes west of Chicago, although trains serving western New York and the Pacific Northwest were cancelled today and Wednesday, Jan. 17. A cancellation advisory posted this afternoon indicated alternate bus transportation […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration is seeking public comments on Genesee & Wyoming short lines’ request to test Parallel Systems autonomous, self-propelled battery-electric freight cars. The FRA, in a decision published in the Federal Register today, said it has accepted the Georgia Central Railway and Heart of Georgia Railroad petition for a test program […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The fiscal 2025 budget for Virginia Railway Express has received final approval, setting the stage for the commuter operator to begin offering Saturday service for the first time later this year. The $119.9 million operating budget, up 10% over fiscal 2024, received approval last week from the second of the two agencies […]
