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Washington’s Tunnel 5 Fire SKAMANIA COUNTY, Wash. — In a preliminary report initially obtained by the Columbia Insight, later acquired for Trains News Wire, the Wildland Fire Investigation of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has determined a BNSF Railway freight train as the main cause of the Tunnel 5 Fire. As the name […]
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ELBE, Wash. — Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has begun offering a limited excursion schedule for September and October as stated on its website. The train trips come at least a year or two ahead of the railroad’s timeline for returning to operation [see “Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad scheduled to reopen by 2025,” Trains, December 2022]. […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration will offer $139 million in funding for rail infrastructure projects in Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, the FRA has announced. The funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is for the Special Transportation Circumstances grant program, and provides funds for states that lack intercity passenger service or are not connected […]
SEATTLE — Amtrak and the Washington State Department of Transportation have introduced the first electric bus used as part of the Amtrak network, providing service on the Amtrak Cascades route between Seattle and Bellingham, Wash. Mid-day buses help fill the gap between the morning and evening trains on the Cascades route between Seattle and Bellingham; […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic members of the Washington state congressional delegation have written Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to lobby for federal funding to support development of a high speed rail route in the Pacific Northwest. The Cascadia High Speed Rail proposal calls for developing a route from Vancouver, British Columbia through Seattle to Portland, Ore. […]
SEATTLE — Sound Transit’s light rail No. 1 Line will see significant service disruptions through a seven-station stretch between downtown and the SoDo area this week as workers a section of sinking track related to soil conditions. Work began over the weekend, with rail service halted Saturday and Sunday and replaced by shuttle buses between […]
SANDPOINT, Idaho — Thanks to an all-day work window on Aug. 6, 2023, the final track segments have been put into place to complete BNSF Railway’s 2-mile double-tracking project at the east end of its busy “Funnel” between Spokane, Wash., and Sandpoint. Completion of the new 4,873-foot bridge across Lake Pend Oreille in November 2022 […]
ELMA, Wash. — Shortline powerhouse Genesee & Wyoming has begun removing older locomotives from its roster as part of a consent decree reached with the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year. Part of the agreement requires G&W to disable or upgrade more than 70 locomotives to address Clean Air Act violations [see “Genesee & Wyoming agrees to […]
CHEHALIS, Wash. — A plan announced in April that would have seen the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad operate steam excursions on the tracks of the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum “is not going to be executed this year,” the Chehalis-Centralia Chronicle reports. Instead, the Mt. Rainier Scenic now says it will offer limited steam excursions on […]
SKAGWAY, Alaska — Union operating crews at the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway have ratified a new agreement, ending the prospect of a strike that could have disrupted the end of the tourist railroad’s 2023 operating season. KTOO reports the railroad and members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation […]
