As summer transitions to fall, travelers seeking to use Amtrak are faced with a continuation of periodic sellouts and high fares on long-distance routes and many corridors. In the face of growing year-round demand, the company has yet to expedite restoration efforts that would capture additional ridership and revenue. Transportation Security Administration officials have projected […]
Back for the first time in a while, here’s some weekend recommended reading — rail news and features from various media outlets: — The website Urban Milwaukee reports on an ambitious/unrealistic (take your pick) proposal for a privately developed commuter rail system that would serve 32 stations in a five-county area around Milwaukee, using existing […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation announced on Friday, Aug. 30, that it had reached five-year tentative labor agreements with two more unions. That increases its total to agreements with 11 unions covering 15 work groups and amending 20 collective agreements, CSX said, covering more than 50% of its unionized workforce. The latest agreements are with […]
LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Sound Transit opened the latest piece of its light rail network on Friday, an 8.5-mile, four-station addition that extends the 1 Line north into Snohomish County and to Lynnwood for the first time. In addition to the Lynnwood City Center station, the new extension includes a station at Mountlake Terrace and two […]
BRANSON, Mo. — American Heritage Railways, owner of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and other properties, has acquired the Branson Scenic Railway, the tourist rail operation launched in 1993 on a former Missouri Pacific route. The new owners will take over operations this Sunday, Sept. 1. The purchase was prompted by the current […]
CSX Transportation said it was considering its options after a U.S. appeals court refused to restart its lawsuit against competitor Norfolk Southern over access to a key Virginia container port, causing it hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The allegations fell outside the four-year window for filing claims under U.S. antitrust law, a three-judge […]
Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway have reached tentative five-year contract agreements with additional unions four months before the opening round of national collective bargaining. The Norfolk Southern agreements with five unions, coming on the heels of four tentative agreements announced last week, cover approximately 55% of the railroad’s unionized workforce. The most recent agreements announced […]
MONTREAL — The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference is refusing to take no for an answer. The union, which represents 9,300 locomotive engineers and conductors on Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, has filed appeals challenging the decisions that led to binding arbitration being imposed on their failed contract talks with the railways. The union […]
BARSTOW, Calif. — The federal government is seeking comment on a proposed sale of land to BNSF Railway as part of the railroad’s planned Barstow International Gateway project. The Victorville Daily Press reports the Bureau of Land Management published a Notice of Realty Action in the Federal Register on Wednesday, Aug. 28, on the proposed […]
Cameron Stefan serves as the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s operations mechanic with vast responsibilities: Diesel engineer, conductor, dispatcher, fireman and track laborer when out on the main line, plus craftsman at the shop facility in Ridgeley, W.Va. From this prosperous position at the tourist line has been growth in confidence and family for the 25-year-old. […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority eliminated six speed restrictions as a result of its latest major track project, a suspension of service between the Red Line’s JFK/UMass and Kendall/MIT stations Aug. 19-26. Plans were to address five slow orders, but a sixth identified during the service suspension was also taken care of. “We […]
WITTMANN, Ariz. — Residents of the unincorporated communities of Wittmann and Circle City say they oppose BNSF Railway’s efforts to build a new intermodal and carload logistics hub northwest of Phoenix. BNSF said earlier this year it would build the project on more than 4,300 acres in northwest Maricopa County, 36 rail miles from downtown […]
