Signal problems caused delays for Metra BNSF trains at Chicago Union Station on Thursday morning. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Metra BNSF line trains experienced delays arriving and departing from Union Station on Thursday morning because of Amtrak signal problems, WGN-TV reported. Delays of 30 to 45 minutes were reported during the morning commute. “Trains […]
The Empire Builder crosses the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minn., in September 2018. Planning continues for efforts to launch a second train on the Builder‘s route between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul. TRAINS: David Lassen PORTAGE, Wis. — A proposal for a second daily Amtrak train between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul should receive a waiver exempting […]
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao came under fire Wednesday at an appropriations hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives, with transportation subcommittee chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., charging the Trump administration with “neglecting to include even one cent for the Gateway project” in its fiscal year 2020 budget request. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposed […]
GLENVIEW, Ill. — The Glenview Village Board has voted to budget another $36,000 for its fight against efforts to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee, running the community’s total tab for the effort to more than $541,000. The Chicago Tribune reports that of the newly budgeted funds, $30,000 will go to a state […]
This NTSB diagram shows the site of the June 2017 accident that killed two CSX Transportation workers. National Transportation Safety Board WASHINGTON — The two CSX employees killed in a 2017 accident near Washington Union Station died as a result of their decision to walk on an active Amtrak track, the National Transportation Safety Board […]
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tuscaloosa has abandoned efforts to place a new Amtrak station in the city’s Alberta area, citing a breakdown in negotiations with Norfolk Southern over the railroad’s safety concerns. “In the final analysis, Norfolk Southern had concerns regarding sight distance at that site,” Mayor Walt Maddox told the Tuscaloosa News. “This made the […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak has announced it will no longer sell tickets for the Hoosier State after June 30 as the train nears cancellation as a result of loss of funding from the state of Indiana. The state currently provides $3 million in funding for the four-day-a-week train, while five local governments provide another $500,000. But […]
Siemens Charger SC-44 No. 4632 leads Amtrak train 391, the southbound Saluki from Chicago to Carbondale, Ill., on the Canadian National Centrailia Subdivision, after passing the coaling towers that were built for the then Illinois Central Railroad in 1949. 18302-27 Jim Pearson Question: What effect, if any, will the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading by […]
BALTIMORE — Amtrak will spend $90 million to upgrade Baltimore’s Penn Station, a move expected to ignite $400 to $600 million in development around the station area, the Baltimore Sun reports. Amtrak will make station and track improvements and lease an adjacent lot to a group, Penn Station Partners, to build a mixed-use project. “Amtrak […]
U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski is not satisfied with Amtrak’s response to his questions over a Feb. 28 incident that badly disrupted operations at Chicago Union Station. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, says he is “extremely disappointed” with Amtrak’s explanation for the […]
Michigan Central Station in 1981. A study is exploring the possibility of returning Amtrak service to the station. Ernest L. Novak DETROIT — The revival of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station could include passenger train service. Bridge Michigan, an online journalism cooperative, reports that the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority have begun a $30,000 feasibility study to […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s 2020 budget request includes a proposal to restore service between Detroit and Toronto, although it makes no estimate of the funding necessary to start the service. Curbed Detroit noted the line item, part of a table of “Funding Needs Above the Authorized Level,” which the report says “represents many of Amtrak’s priorities, […]
