CHICAGO — Upgrading speeds and capacity or simply keeping tracks well-maintained for passenger trains has tradeoffs that often compromise a rail corridor’s ability to provide meaningful mobility while the work is going on. An example will occur in Michigan beginning May 6, when Amtrak and the state of Michigan jointly made the decision to suspend […]
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Caltrain’s electrification process took another step forward the weekend of March 9-10, with successful testing of trains and catenary on the commuter line’s Redwood City-Mountain View segment, the agency announced Monday. Test runs beginning at 20 mph and increasing to the 79-mph speed limit were conducted, with a total of 25 […]
BOSTON — Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority work on the rapid transit Green Line in February and March removed 11 speed restrictions and made unnecessary a planned suspension of service on the C Branch this fall, the MBTA said on Monday. The C Branch outage this fall is no longer needed because work eliminated a slow […]
U.S. railroads introduced long-haul luxury coach trains in the 20th century to attract a more budget-conscious traveler. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the worst of the Great Depression in the U.S. was over, and railroads began to invest in new passenger equipment; both new diesel motive power, and a radical new […]
PALESTINE, Texas — Efforts by the city of Palestine and Anderson County, Texas, to require Union Pacific to maintain jobs at its Palestine car shop have suffered another setback, with a Texas appeals court declaring a 1954 agreement between the city and UP predecessor Missouri Pacific is unenforceable. The Palestine Herald-Press reports the 12th Court […]
BOSTON — No injuries were reported when a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line B Branch light rail train derailed today (Saturday, March 9) just west of Kenmore Station. The incident occurred hours after the line reopened after an 18-day shutdown for track maintenance. WCVB-TV reports the derailment occurred about 8:55 a.m. and led to […]
“Diesel Helpers” are two buzzwords associated with today’s mainline steam excursions – from short lines to Class I railroads, and even selected tourist railroads off the national network. The use of one, or lack thereof, differs between railroads, organizations, and their operating preferences. Some are comfortable letting the steam locomotive travel solo. Others would prefer […]
STRASBURG, Pa. — Strasburg Rail Road has named Eric Hoerner, a Lancaster, Pa., business executive, as its board chairman and interim president, following the Feb. 26 resignation of the steam tourist line’s president and general manager, Jim Hager. Hoerner becomes the fifth person since 2018 to lead the 192-year-old short line. He is founder, partner, and […]
MEADVILLE, Pa. — The Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad is discontinuing operation on about 70 miles of railroad between Saegertown, Pa., and Jamestown, N.Y., the Meadville (Pa) Tribune reports. Company president Bob Babcock told the newspaper that the railroad generated just three carloads of traffic over that segment last year. A “handful” of employees […]
WASHINGTON — The Transportation Trades Division of the AFL-CIO today urged Norfolk Southern shareholders to reject an activist investor’s bid to gain control of the railroad. Ancora Holdings, which has been critical of Norfolk Southern’s response to the Feb. 3, 2023, hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as well as the railroad’s lagging financial […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will launch domestic intermodal service between its Inland Empire terminal in California and its Global 2 terminal in Chicago on April 1. “This service will provide access from the Los Angeles Basin’s busiest warehouse district direct to the heart of the Chicago metro, supplementing existing service between IEIT and Global […]
HOMEWOOD, Ill. — The Homewood station on Metra’s Electric District will close from April 1 to May 20 to replace the single stairway leading to the station platform, Metra has announced. The station has been undergoing a $20.7 million reconstruction since May 2023, and has remained open during the project, but must close during this […]
