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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, […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak spent at least $23.2 million on unnecessary leases of office space, and could have made at least $6.8 million in additional revenue through better management of its property, according to a report from the Amtrak Office of the Inspector General. The report found Amtrak needed better data on its office space, citing […]
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A Battle Creek police officer is questioning Amtrak’s decision to remove a 13-year-old girl traveling alone from a train, but the passenger railroad says acted within its ticket policies and with safety in mind. WOOD-TV reports the incident in question occurred March 26, when the 13-year-old boarded a train in Lapeer, […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak has revised its plans for the return of California Zephyr service along the train’s full route, now aiming for April 4 as the date for the restablishment of service. The train has not been operating east of Denver because of flooding in the Midwest. The passenger carrier had originally set today (April […]
WASHINGTON—In addition to its “Equipment Asset Line Plan” [see “Amtrak fleet plan would replace Amfleet I cars, prepare for replacement Superliners,” Trains News Wire, March 25, 2019], Amtrak this week released companion five-year plans dealing with the following categories (click on each for the documents): Infrastructure Stations Transportation assets Service lines (Northeast Corridor, state-supported, and […]
The rerouted Californiz Zephyr passes through Nelson, Ill., on Union Pacific’s Geneva Subdivision on March 23, 2019. Initially rerouted because of flooding, the train has not operated east of Denver since March 26, but service is being restored as of April 1. John Troxler OMAHA, Neb. — Beginning with trips originating in Emeryville, Calif., on […]
NEW YORK — An Amtrak employee shot his supervisor and later killed himself in New York on Thursday morning, police report. NBC News reports that the shooting occurred at Sunnyside Yard in Queens. The 53-year-old supervisor was wounded in the leg, and is expected to recover. Officers chased the 48-year-old suspect to the parking lot […]
SEATTLE — Positive train control is now fully operational on the route of the Amtrak Cascades, the Washington state Department of Transportation has announced. However, there is still no date for returning Cascades trains to the Point Defiance bypass south of Tacoma, Wash. Seattle TV station KIRO reports PTC equipment is now in place from […]
WASHINGTON — While it is less than a definitive document, Amtrak has outlined its five-year plan for its equipment fleet, indicating the locomotives and cars it aims to replace or refurbish, as well as indications of how it would use that fleet. Amtrak’s “Five Year Equipment Asset Line Plan,” issued last week, is presented as […]
Passengers board the southbound City of New Orleans at Greenwood, Miss., on Sept. 10, 2015. Rural and mid-sized communites could lose intercity passenger service under the corridor-focused plans put forward by the Trump administration and Amtrak. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — More details have emerged from President Donald Trump’s proposed Amtrak cuts in the 2020 federal […]
