PORTLAND, Ore. — Amtrak service between Seattle and Portland has been canceled through at least Wednesday after a landslide between Vancouver, Wash, and Kelso, Wash., on Monday. Amtrak announced the service disruption on Monday evening following the cancellation of the Seattle-Portland portion of several Cascades trains earlier in the day. The passenger operator cites a […]
Colorado Pacific Railroad, the rail enterprise of Colorado billionaire Stefan Soloviev, is no longer pursuing purchase of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western Tennessee Pass line, according to the nonprofit website Colorado Newsline. The railroad’s general counsel, William Osborn, told the site Soloviev — a major New York developer and chairman of Crossroads Agriculture, […]
CHICAGO — With horns blaring while track crews working in the tunnel at the scene of Sunday afternoon’s derailment stepped safely out of the way, the westbound Empire Builder emerged from the north side of Chicago Union Station this afternoon (Monday, May 8) with an extra coach and two additional sleeping cars compared to its […]
SEATTLE — Light rail service is returning to normal frequencies through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, Sound Transit has announced, following a period of single tracking for emergency repairs at the Westlake station. The repairs, required after a ground-level construction crew broke through the roof at the Westlake station, were completed ahead of schedule. The […]
Union Pacific’s decision to challenge the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger is likely a last-ditch attempt to protect its cross-border traffic from upstart CPKC. Last week UP asked a federal court to review the STB’s March 15 decision that allowed the CP-KCS merger to proceed on April 14 without […]
EDMONTON, Alberta — Early-season forest fires in Alberta temporarily shut down Canadian National’s main line between Jasper and Edmonton over the weekend, forcing VIA Rail Canada to turn the westbound and eastbound Canadians at those locations and bus passengers between them. Meanwhile, a variety of issues inflicted significant delays on Amtrak long-distance trains. This included […]
Bay Area Rapid Transit has unveiled a new track geometry car, which it is calling its Rail Inspection Vehicle or RIV, which can develop a track profile while operating at speeds up to 70 mph. In a press release, the transit system said the RIV can measure track position, curvature, smoothness, alignment, as well as […]
During an epic battle to reopen Cumbres Pass after a late December 1951 storm, a worker uses a shovel to clear the discharge chute of Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge rotary OM of heavy, wet snow. John Norwood photo […]
KINGSTON, R.I. — No injuries were reported after an Amtrak Northeast Regional train struck track equipment near Kingston on Friday night, according to news reports. WJAR-TV reports Washington-Boston train No. 178, carrying about 200 passengers, struck the equipment about 11:20 p.m. The station’s website has a photograph of an Amfleet coach immediately behind ACS64 locomotive […]
SD40JR Joule locomotive WILMINGTON, Calif. — Pacific Harbor Line showed off its new battery-electric locomotive as part of a May 4 event welcoming the railroad’s latest graduating class of locomotive engineers. The Progress Rail/EMD SD40JR Joule locomotive had arrived the week before to start a year-long evaluation on the railroad serving the ports of Long […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is seeking a regulation which would require two-person crews for trains operating within the state, calling it a “commonsense, necessary measure” for the safety of communities and crew members. Kelly, a Democrat, said in a press release that she has directed the state’s Department of Transportation to propose […]
BOSTON — Commuter rail service will be replaced on weeknights and on two weekends from Monday, May 8, through Thursday, June 1, on a segment of three Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority lines, the MBTA and contract operator Keolis Commuter Services have announced. Shuttle buses will operate between South Station and Braintree on the Kingston, Middleborough, […]
