Former Amtrak president and CEO David Gunn. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Former Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis remembers his time on the Amtrak Board of Directors as working with people well-versed in transportation and “committed to the simple but powerful notion that the entire country needs a first-class rail passenger system.” Former […]
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator observes activity at the site of the Amtrak train No. 188 crash in 2015. National Transportation Safety Board PHILADELPHIA — For a second time, criminal charges have been dropped against the engineer of an Amtrak train involved in a fatal derailment in Philadelphia in 2015. Charges against Brian Bostian, […]
New York to Miami Silver Star train No. 91 was operating on track warrants and verbal communication with CSX Transportation dispatchers when it crashed into a parked CSX autorack train about 2:27 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2018, at Cayce, S.C. Jonathan Hinely WASHINGTON — Human error combined with inadequate attention to safety risk led to […]
A northbound Amtrak Hiawatha passes the closed tower at Rondout, Ill, on June 2, 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin officials announced plans to add three Amtrak Hiawatha round trips to the Chicago-Milwaukee route over the next five years, and should be able to add two of those trains with or without cooperation from […]
RALEIGH, N.C. — Amtrak’s Carolinian will be reduced to weekend-only service along its full New York-Charlotte, N.C. route beginning July 22, and schedules for the Palmetto and Silver Star will also be altered, because of CSX Transportation track work, according to a press release from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The schedule changes will […]
NEW ORLEANS — Amtrak is restoring service on all routes in and out of New Orleans following Hurricane Barry. Service will resume today for the eastbound Crescent; the Monday departures of its westbound counterpart from New York will be the first inbound train to serve New Orleans. Similarly, northbound service resumes today for the City […]
Superliner lounge used as coach diner awaits dinner guests on southbound Auto Train in 2015. Breakfast and dinner have been included in the fare price for all passengers since Amtrak started its version in 1983. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Complimentary dinners are on their way out for Auto Train coach passengers. Food prepared onboard may […]
Former Pennsylvania Railroad observation car Frank Thompson, carried the tailsign or drumhead for the Broadway Limited for a portion of a recent trip as part of a weekend New York-Pittsburgh excursion. Three former Pennsy streamlined cars made the journey coupled as part of Amtrak’s daily Pennsylvanian service. The Thompson car is shown at the Amtrak […]
Artist’s rendering of proposed Mobile station Southern Rail Commission MOBILE, Ala. – Two daily round trips between New Orleans and Mobile should bear no resemblance to the timekeeping-challenged, triweekly Sunset Limited, which traversed the route before Hurricane Katrina, and the trains will not disrupt current freight operations around Mobile’s port. That’s the message presenters from […]
A Canal Street streetcar in 2018. The system was shut down briefly by heavy rains on Wednesday. Bob Johnston NEW ORLEANS – With all of the Crescent City’s 200 flood gates set to shut by Friday in advance of approaching Tropical Storm Barry, Amtrak has cancelled all service in and out of New Orleans through […]
CSX Transportation train Q389-08 brings west the last of Amtrak’s F40PHR locomotives and a lone P40. Amtrak’s Delaware shops sold the units to Larry’s Truck Electric earlier in the year, the sale marked the last of the F40s on Amtrak as well as the first P40 to go to a third party for scrap. Stephan […]
Eastbound Wolverine No. 352 pounds across the South Shore diamond at Michigan City, Ind., on July 3, 2019. While Amtrak is offering a sale on coach fares, Wolverine fares illustrate that the discount is not offered on all dates and trips. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s latest fare sale is offering “Amtrak Across America” discounts […]
