JIM THORPE, Pa. — The impact of Reading & Northern’s passenger operations, which recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, may best be illustrated by this: A bank in Jim Thorpe — the home of R&N’s Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railroad tourist operation and primary destination for its weekend excursions — is closing a branch to address tourist-traffic […]
Three traffic segments have driven Class I railroad performance in 2025, according to Association of American Railroads data: intermodal, coal, and grain. Year-to-date, intermodal volume is up 5% compared to the same stretch in 2024; coal is up 6%, and grains are also up 6%. Union Pacific is moving the most coal: In the most […]
NEW YORK — Platform edge barriers have now been installed at 56 New York City subway stations as part of an ongoing Metropolitan Transportation Authority safety initiative, with the goal of installing the barriers at more than 100 of the subway system’s 472 stations this year. The barriers, which help to keep passengers from entering […]
MONTREAL — Members of the union representing about 2,500 VIA Rail Canada employees have ratified a new three-year contract with the passenger operator. Unifor announced Thursday (July 17, 2025) that members of its Council 4000 and Local 100 ratified the tentative agreement reached in June [see “VIA Rail Canada, Unifor announce …,” Trains News Wire, […]
BROOKS, Ore. — The Oregon Electric Railway Museum has added one of the first MAX light rail vehicles to its collection, a donation from Portland-area transit agency TriMet. MAX LRV No. 101 was part of the original set of equipment used to launch TriMet’s light rail service on Sept. 5, 1986, reviving a form of […]
LOS ANGELES — A former Amtrak employee has been sentenced to 25 months in prison for conspiring to steal nearly $1 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits and fraudently obtaining more than $63,000 in sickness benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California has announced. In sentencing on Thursday, July 17, 2025, […]
NEWARK, N.J. — The NJ Transit board of directors has approved the agency’s contract with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, after learning some of the key provisions of the deal. The board’s unanimous vote on Thursday, July 17, ends a years-long dispute between NJ Transit and its engineers that included a brief strike […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California High Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump administration over its termination of $4 billion in previously awarded federal funding for the state’s high speed project. A press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom says the lawsuit alleges the Federal Railroad Administration’s termination of the funding is political retribution “motivated by […]
Union Pacific appears to be using a familiar playbook that large, publicly traded companies trot out when considering mergers and acquisitions: Send up trial balloons and see how they fly. These trial balloons let management gauge market reaction, political sentiment, and how the media might spin the story, all without committing to a deal. They […]
DANBURY, Conn. — The Connecticut Department of Transportation has announced a 17-day shutdown of Metro-North’s Danbury Branch, set to begin Aug. 1. Bus service will replace trains from Friday, Aug. 1, to Sunday, Aug. 17. CTDOT said the shutdown, for state-of-good-repair work, saves costs and is more efficient compared to daily mobilization and demobilization of work […]
WASHINGTON — The death of a CSX conductor trainee in a June 2023 incident in Baltimore is an indication of broader safety and training gaps in the rail industry, the National Transportation Safety Board said in releasing its final investigation report today (July 17, 2025). In the June 26, 2023, incident, an individual in phase […]
GREELEY, Colo. — Union Pacific’s Big Boy began its only scheduled trip of 2025 today (July 17), heading from its home base in Cheyenne, Wyo., to Denver as part of a round trip for the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo. The 4-8-8-4 is accompanied by the railroad’s Abraham Lincoln diesel, No. 1616. Today’s servicing stop […]
