Joe Boardman, near his home in Rome, N.Y., in 2018. Bob Johnston Reactions to the passing of former Amtrak president and CEO Joe Boardman, who died Thursday at age 70 From Rail Passengers Association President and CEO Jim Mathews: “Joe Boardman believed in his bones that all Americans should have the ability to choose to […]
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Former Amtrak President Joe Boardman seated at his former office in Washington, D.C. Bob Johnston EDITOR’S NOTE: This Q&A interview was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Trains Magazine. It is being re-published on news of his death in March 2019. Since retiring as Amtrak’s president and CEO in 2016 after eight years […]
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PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa., remains suspended after problems with the overhead power lines stopped service on Monday, but the passenger railroad says service will be restored today. Amtrak’s notice on the outage does not indicate a projected time for the restoration of service, interrupted early Monday because of weather-related problems. […]
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PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak has suspended all service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg because of problems with the overhead wire west of the Elizabethtown, Pa., station. The suspension was announced at 6 a.m. EST on Monday, and is in effect pending the completion of repairs. Watch Amtrak.com for updates. The passenger railroad had previously announced the cancellation […]
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The driver of a garbage truck hit by this Amtrak charter has been acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 31, 2019, accident. Rep. Jeff Denham, via Twitter CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The driver of a garbage truck has been found not guilty of charges resulting from a 2018 accident in which his truck was hit […]
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NEW YORK — Amtrak has cancelled one train today and several on Monday in anticipation of a winter storm striking Pennsylvania. Cancelled today (Sunday, March 3) is the westbound Pennsylvanian, train No. 43, which was supposed to depart New York Penn Station at 10:51 a.m. and arrive in Pittsburgh at 7:59 p.m. Cancelled for Monday, […]
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Thursday’s signal outage at Chicago Union Station was reportedly caused by a worker falling on a circuit board during an equipment upgrade, according to a U.S. Senator. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — That “human error” that snarled Metra’s Thursday evening commute? It wasn’t just someone flicking the wrong switch or a programming mistake. U.S. Sen […]
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WASHINGTON — Ninety-one members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson demanding answers to a long list of concerns “regarding changes that Amtrak has recently implemented and is reportedly considering making to its operations” posed by their constituents. The 11-page letter — slightly more than […]
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Metra and Amtrak trains move into Chicago Union Station in March 2017. Traffic in and out of Union Station was snarled for much of Thursday by Amtrak signal issues. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson has offered an explanation and an apology for signal problems at Chicago Union Station that snarled Metra […]
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RENO, Nev. — Amtrak has announced plans to resume full service on its California Zephyr and Coast Starlight routes, both currently disrupted after snow-related closures. According to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, the first Zephyrs to cross Donner Pass after that route was closed by a Feb. 26 avalanche near Truckee, Calif., are scheduled to do […]
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JACKSON, Miss. – Beginning Thursday, and just days before the big Mardi Gras weekend, Amtrak’s City of New Orleans from Chicago will start making a same day turn at Jackson with chartered Amtrak Thruway buses making all scheduled intermediate stops to and from the Crescent City. The northbound bus will leave New Orleans Passenger terminal […]
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WASHINGTON — Amtrak has informed federal, state and local officials along the route of the daily Southwest Chief that, with the enactment of the recent full-year funding bill by Congress, it will provide matching funds to enable a federal grant to be awarded for safety and reliability upgrades on the train’s route in Kansas, Colorado, […]
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