Amtrak’s Illinois Zephyr passes through Lisle, Ill., on the BNSF Railway on May 25, 2019. Among items in the new Illinois budget is funding for two additional state-supported Amtrak trains and extension of BNSF commuter service into Kendall County. TRAINS: David Lassen SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — In a surprise Saturday session, the Illinois General Assembly passed a […]
ST. LOUIS — Amtrak’s suspension of Missouri River Runner operation between St. Louis and Kansas City has been extended again, this time through at least Wednesday, June 5. Rerouted Union Pacific freight traffic, the result of flooding elsewhere in the Midwest, continues to lead to track congestion resulting in the suspension. Chartered buses are substituting […]
DALLAS — Trinity Rail Maintenance Services, a subsidiary of carbuilder Trinity Rail, has announced it will build a $60 million railcar repair facility in the eastern Iowa community of Shell Rock. The company, headquartered in Dallas, has purchased a 230-arce site for the facility, which will employ more than 250 people when completed in 2020. […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Efforts to advance proposed Amtrak service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth-Superior will have to wait another year after the Minnesota legislature failed to address a bill which included funding for the proposed Northern Lights Express. The proposed $550 million cost of starting the service, including adding capacity to BNSF’s main line, […]
CHICAGO — Canadian National officials seek to double-track 4.27 miles of former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern track to speed the flow of freight and bypass Chicago’s congested rail hub, but the plan is facing a regulatory hurdle and growing opposition from municipalities and residents. CN, acting under its Wisconsin Central Limited Railroad subsidiary, has applied […]
CHICAGO — BNSF Railway and CREATE have announced the completion of a CREATE project on the Western Avenue Corridor, the fourth of eight projects completed on that section of the project to improve Chicago rail traffic flow. Overall, 30 projects are now complete of the 70 that make up the entire program. The newest project, […]
New York Central SW8 8626 stands at the road’s Avon Yard near Indianapolis in 1966. Another EMD switcher powered the E&W Turn some 140 miles to the north. Louis A. Marre As a struggling schoolteacher in northern Indiana in the early 1960s, I worked a few summers as a brakeman on a couple of local railroads, […]
Equipment at Nippon Sharyo’s closed Rochelle, Ill., plant — shown in May 2014 — will be auctioned off in June. Bob Johnston ROCHELLE, Ill. — A June auction will sell off equipment from Nippon Sharyo’s former railcar manufacturing facility in Rochelle, which closed in July 2018 after eight years of operation. The plant, which built […]
An outbound Metra train arrives at the Barrington, Ill., station in April 2019. Barrington will begin offering a $1,200 premium parking permit at the station. TRAINS: David Lassen BARRINGTON, Ill. — Commuters who want that really prime parking space at the Metra station can now assure themselves of getting it every morning — but it’s […]
WELLINGTON, Ohio — Media outlets are reporting that there are no injuries after a CSX Transportation train derailed in north-central Ohio town of Wellington on Tuesday. The Elyria, Ohio, Chronicle-Telegram reports that 22 cars and two locomotives derailed Tuesday morning in the center of Wellington on the former “Big Four” New York Central main line. […]
Union Pacific derailed several cars blocking access to St. Paul Union Depot from the east on May 28. Khang Lu ST. PAUL, Minn. – The derailment of a Union Pacific freight train at the east end of St. Paul Union Depot Tuesday has temporarily turned the station into a stub-end facility. Six cars of sand […]
DAYTON, Ohio – Rail activity is still suspended in Dayton after several tornadoes tore through the city and southwestern Ohio communities late Monday night. CSX Transportation confirms it has temporarily ceased all rail operations through Dayton due to down power lines and other debris across mainline tracks. “CSX personnel are working closely with the electric […]
