Trails and Rails volunteer Andy Selden describes wildlife along the Mississippi River on the ‘Empire Builder’ in 2014. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON – Amtrak’s decision to no longer furnish meals or lodging for “Trails and Rails” program volunteers continues to curtail commentary on rail routes that used to have it. However, a new five-year agreement between […]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Bowing to opposition from the communities of Glenview and Lake Forest, the Illinois Department of Transportation will no longer support plans for two sidings that are part of a plan to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. Patch.com reports that acting IDOT Secretary Omer Osman said in a letter, released […]
Amtrak’s Freighthouse Square station in Tacoma is awaiting the return of trains to the Point Defiance Bypass. The release of the NTSB’s report on a 2017 derailment could hasten that process. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will release its report on the December 2017 derailment of an Amtrak Cascades passenger […]
NEW ORLEANS — Flooding has led to service disruptions on two Amtrak routes serving New Orleans, with the City of New Orleans and Sunset Limited both offering truncated service as a result. The triweekly Sunset Limited, which normally operates between Los Angeles and New Orleans, is currently unable to operate between Houston (or San Antonio) […]
North Carolina Department of Transportation Chief Deputy Secretary David Howard and Rail Division Director Jason Orthner shake hands in a photo taken at Raleigh’s Capital Yard on May 3, 2019, promoting the $1 Piedmont fare sale for trips Friday and Saturday. All trips are now sold out. North Carolina Department of Transportation RALEIGH, N. C. […]
A plant grows out of a heavily-damaged dining car at Amtrak’s Beech Grove, Ind., shops on Dec. 14, 2018. The car, out of service since 2002, is not among those included in Amtrak’s latest list of equipment for sale. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Superliners and Amfleet cars are among the latest batch of inactive rolling […]
Lamy, N.M. — In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike, Altiplano Rail is chartering four private railroad cars. The westbound Golden Spike Rail Tour, which began on May 2, 2019, will travel from Chicago to Los Angeles on Amtrak Southwest Chief, go north to Oakland, Calif., on the Coast Starlight, and then […]
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Expansion of Northern California’s SMART commuter rail into Napa and Solano counties, allowing a connection to Amtrak, would take six years and about $1 billion, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports. The figure comes from a study funded by the state of California into the possibility of a link from the […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak will cut its police force by 20% over the next three years, the New York Post reports, a move its union president says “will jeopardize the safety and security for the passengers and employees.” William Gonzalez, president of Amtrak’s Fraternal Order of Police, told the Post that Amtrak police chief Neil […]
NEW YORK — Calling the project “a matter of national security and economic stability,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy pushed Friday for funding for the Gateway Project, which includes a new tunnel between New Jersey and New York as part of a series of infrastructure upgrades to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line. Murphy, in testimony at […]
NEW YORK — The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has vowed to get a new rail tunnel built to connect New York and New Jersey, the Associated Press reports. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) made the pledge in comments at New York’s Penn Station as he and other members of his committee prepared […]
Trainmen uncouple the Hoosier State’s three car consist from the eastbound Cardinal at Indianapolis on April 23, 2019. The Hoosier trainset deadheads westbound on Mondays and eastbound on Tuesday to position equipment, and earns no revenue on Thursdays and Saturdays. Bob Johnston Amtrak operations guru Chris Jagodzinski uses an inspection trip for local leaders on […]
