Baltimore light rail service to resume Saturday

Yellow and white light rail trainsets in yard

BALTIMORE — Service on the Baltimore Light RailLink line will resume Saturday, just over two weeks after it was suspended to allow for emergency rolling-stock repairs, the Maryland Transit Administration announced today (Friday, Dec. 22). Mechanics have finished work on 18 cars, WBAL-TV reports, with at least 14 available for service on Saturday. The 30-mile, […]

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Customs officials reopen Eagle Pass and El Paso rail gateways

Train on bridge approaching small building covering tracks

WASHINGTON — The Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, railroad border crossings will reopen at 1 p.m. Central today, ending a shutdown that had stranded freight on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border since 8 a.m. on Monday. Railroads cheered the announcement that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials made today. “The Biden Administration made […]

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MBTA work eliminates 22 Green Line speed restrictions

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority logo

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority removed 22 speed restrictions, reducing travel times by about 9 minutes, during track work on the Green Line’s D branch that was completed in Wednesday, Dec. 20, the agency announced Thursday. The MBTA also completed work during evening shutdowns on the Green Line extension between North Station and […]

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Top 10 stories of 2023: The runners-up

Man holding papers gestures while seated next to American flag

As always, some notable events did not quite crack our list of the Top 10 stories of the year. And as it happens, the four stories that finished just outside the Top 10 are closely related: Chairman Martin J. Oberman’s forthcoming departure from the Surface Transportation Board; UP’s service issues and change of CEOs; the […]

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Latest addition to Phoenix light rail to open Jan. 27

Purple and silver light rail train rounds 90-degree curve

PHOENIX — The latest addition to the Phoenix area’s light rail system is scheduled to open Jan. 27, officials have announced. Valley Metro’s Northwest Extension Phase II will add 1.6 miles and three stations to what is currently a 28.2-mile, 38-station system. The extension will include the system’s first elevated station, as well as a rail-only […]

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Shippers and railroads square off over STB’s service-based reciprocal switching proposal

Hopper car in rail switching yard

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board’s controversial service-based reciprocal switching proposal faced another round of criticism this week, with many shippers saying it doesn’t go far enough and railroads saying it’s an unworkable, unrealistic rule that goes too far. The proposal, unveiled in September, would allow shippers located in terminal areas to seek access to […]

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Hershey Transit: a 1946 Christmas memory

Two trolley cars parked on street in front of brick hotel

Readers of the Mileposts blog hardly need be sold on the close connections between the holiday season and trains, especially in memory. From traveling home by train to see loved ones to seeing snow flying outside the window of a dining car to watching Lionel trains race around a department store window, this season is […]

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BNSF near reopening of Southern Transcon in Arizona

BNSF Railway logo

ADAMANA, Ariz. — One track of BNSF’s Southern Transcon main line is expected to reopen today (Thursday, Dec. 21) through Adamana at approximately 7 a.m. local time following a Wednesday derailment, according to a customer service update by the railroad. No estimate has yet been determined to reopen the second track through the site. One […]

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