Metra adds tool to track occupancy rate on trains

More Wednesday rail news in brief: Metra tests ridership dashboard Metra has joined the list of commuter railroads providing online ridership information to help passengers make decisions on finding less-crowded trains. The ridership dashboard, a test program, will classify trains according to four levels of occupancy: low (green), with an average of less than 50 […]

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Metra to add service on three lines

Tuesday morning rail news in brief: Metra to add service on three lines Metra will offer express trains on the North Central Service and SouthWest Service lines — the first time express service has been offered on either route — as part of an increase in service on those two lines and the Heritage Corridor […]

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Thom Radice’s HO scale W&A background images

Thom Radice’s HO scale W&A layout

It’s before sunrise on April 12, 1863, at the Atlanta Car Shed, and Western & Atlantic 4-4-0 locomotive The General is steaming up for its 4 a.m. run to Chattanooga, Tenn. While the crew eats breakfast at the Lacy Hotel, about 20 Union soldiers disguised as civilians will commandeer the train, leading to the events […]

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MPI work now fully relocated to Wabtec plant in Erie

ERIE, Pa. — At first glance the 111-year-old locomotive plant built by General Electric in Erie looks no different, but new signs emphasize GE is no longer part of Erie. A new era has begun. So what is happening in Erie more than a year after Wabtec took control? The biggest change includes the integration […]

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CN, CP interchange dispute in Chicago drags on

WASHINGTON — The long-simmering Chicago interchange dispute between Canadian National and Canadian Pacific is bubbling over again. Both railroads continue to exchange cars at the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard, as they have under an August 2019 interim agreement that shifted the interchange location from Spaulding in Bartlett, Ill. But CN in April told […]

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Amtrak asks STB to settle dispute with Metra over Chicago Union Station, seeks more than $17 million annually (updated)

Chicago Union Station exterior

The dispute between Amtrak and Metra over Chicago Union Station is back before the Surface Transportation Board. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — Amtrak has filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board asking the agency to settle its ongoing dispute with Metra over terms and compensation for Chicago commuter railroad’s use of the Amtrak-owned Chicago […]

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