FORT PIERCE, Fla. — At least three locations — including competing proposals in Fort Pierce — have applied to become home of Brightline’s planned intermediate “Treasure Coast” station on its route between West Palm Beach and Orlando, the TC Palm newspaper reports. Brightline announced in October that it was accepting proposals for a new station […]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Completion of work to relocate rail routes through Springfield, as well as building of a new transit center to be used by Amtrak, will be pushed back after the project did not receive any federal funding in 2023, the State Journal-Register reports. The U.S. Department of Transportation turned down a $138 million […]
Class I railroads operating in the U.S. reached a series of agreements with their labor unions this year that are designed to improve workers’ quality of life. Chief among them: Paid sick time deals. Railroaders’ lack of traditional paid sick time became a flashpoint toward the end of contract negotiations in the fall of 2022. […]
J.B. Hunt and BNSF Railway have set out to bake a bigger pie. In November they launched faster, more reliable premium domestic intermodal service that they say will eventually convert millions of truckloads to rail. The potential is there, they say, to double domestic intermodal volume, which in 2022 stood at just under 8 million […]
BALTIMORE — Service on the Baltimore Light RailLink line will resume Saturday, just over two weeks after it was suspended to allow for emergency rolling-stock repairs, the Maryland Transit Administration announced today (Friday, Dec. 22). Mechanics have finished work on 18 cars, WBAL-TV reports, with at least 14 available for service on Saturday. The 30-mile, […]
WASHINGTON — The Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, railroad border crossings will reopen at 1 p.m. Central today, ending a shutdown that had stranded freight on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border since 8 a.m. on Monday. Railroads cheered the announcement that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials made today. “The Biden Administration made […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway will use a permit system to prevent congestion once the Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, rail border crossings are reopened. The bridges over the Rio Grande have been shut down since Monday as customs officials divert personnel to process a surge of migrants who have entered the country […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority removed 22 speed restrictions, reducing travel times by about 9 minutes, during track work on the Green Line’s D branch that was completed in Wednesday, Dec. 20, the agency announced Thursday. The MBTA also completed work during evening shutdowns on the Green Line extension between North Station and […]
As always, some notable events did not quite crack our list of the Top 10 stories of the year. And as it happens, the four stories that finished just outside the Top 10 are closely related: Chairman Martin J. Oberman’s forthcoming departure from the Surface Transportation Board; UP’s service issues and change of CEOs; the […]
WASHINGTON — The actions of an improperly licensed truck driver were the probable cause of a fatal grade-crossing collision involving a Metra commuter train in Clarendon Hills, Ill., in May 2022, with the trucking company’s inadequate safety policies contributing to the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined in its final report. The incident […]
BALTIMORE — Maryland Transit Administration officials say they have completed repairs on 18 cars in the Baltimore light rail fleet, but are still unwilling to say when light rail service might resume. The 30-mile, 32-station light rail line has been shut down since Dec. 8 for emergency equipment repairs following several incidents involving wiring connecting […]
PHOENIX — The latest addition to the Phoenix area’s light rail system is scheduled to open Jan. 27, officials have announced. Valley Metro’s Northwest Extension Phase II will add 1.6 miles and three stations to what is currently a 28.2-mile, 38-station system. The extension will include the system’s first elevated station, as well as a rail-only […]
