European rail line caught up in geopolitics stemming from Ukraine war

Flat-front European diesel locomotives in yard

A rail line through the small European country of Lithuania has become the site of serious geopolitical wrangling between the Lithuanian government, the European Union, and Russia. The rail line connects the otherwise isolated small Russian region of Kaliningrad with the rest of Russia, via both Lithuania and Russian ally Belarus. Financial and other sanctions […]

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Amtrak service resumes through Albany

Amtrak logo.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Amtrak has resumed service through Albany, N.Y., as of Monday afternoon, ending a three-day suspension of service triggered by falling pieces from a building next to the tracks. The trains will operate with a speed restriction past the Central Warehouse, a long-vacant cold storage facility. Pieces from the wall of the 12-story […]

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Massachusetts legislation includes East-West Rail funding

Map of proposed passenger route in Massachusetts

BOSTON — The Massachusetts legislature has passed a transportation bill including $275 million in funding for the East-West Rail project, which would extend existing rail service west from Worcester to Springfield and Pittsfield, Mass. The Boston Globe reports the $11.3 billion transportation and infrastructure bill was part of a flurry of legislation passed late Sunday […]

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Canadian National releases 2022-23 Grain Plan

Cover of document with CN locomotive

MONTREAL — The continued addition of more new grain hoppers, along with the addition of new locomotives and ongoing hiring efforts, are key elements in Canadian National Railway’s 2022-23 Grain Plan, released last week. The plan outlines CN’s preparations for moving up to 27 million metric tons of grain from western Canada in the crop […]

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Canadian National blasts Amtrak proposal for dispatching control as ‘outrageously self-serving’

City of New Orleans hurries through Matteson, Ill., on May 21, 2020

WASHINGTON — Canadian National calls an Amtrak proposal that would give it dispatching control over CN lines with poor passenger performance “an outrageously self-serving recipe” that would “cause profound harm to freight railroads, freight customers, American consumers, and the broader economy,” and urges the Surface Transportation Board to reject the concept “out of hand.” Amtrak, […]

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UP plans major locomotive rebuild program (updated)

Yellow locomotives on train of tank cars

Wabtec will modernize 600 locomotives over a three-year period for Union Pacific in a deal valued at more than $1 billion, the largest such program in railroading history. The Associated Press first reported the agreement on Tuesday evening. The program will include 525 AC4400 and AC6000 locomotives, as well as 75 Dash-9 units which will […]

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