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WASHINGTON — Record funding for large-scale infrastructure spending will make Amtrak more vulnerable to fraud, the passenger operator’s Office of Inspector General says in a report released this week, identifying four areas in which the company will be particularly at risk. “Industry research estimates that 10% of infrastructure investments could be lost to fraud,” Inspector […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern Railroad will donate $10,000 to the Downtown Pittston Partnership, a nonprofit group advancing the revitalization of downtown Pittston, Pa., the railroad has announced. “I would like to thank the owners [the Muller family] and administration of the Reading & Northern Railroad for not only their significant capital […]
OTTAWA — VIA Rail Canada no longer needs to run unoccupied “buffer” cars on trains with stainless steel Budd “HEP-1” and “HEP-2” passenger cars and rail diesel equipment, Transport Canada has announced. The order, effective at 11:59:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 17, repeals a previous order issued last October after questions surfaced about the […]
KEYETESVILLE, Mo. — A Chariton County judge has ruled that a series of lawsuits by Amtrak employees over the fatal June 2022 derailment of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief may be combined for a single trial, KMIZ-TV reports. In a Wednesday hearing, the judge said lawyers for Amtrak, BNSF, MS Contracting — owner of the truck involved […]
WASHINGTON — An inbound Metra BNSF Line train was traveling at 60.9 mph when it struck a 33,000-pound box truck at a grade crossing in Clarendon Hills, Ill., in a May 11, 2022, accident that killed a passenger, according to information in the accident docket released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The preliminary […]
NEW YORK — New subway fare gates and revised policies regarding activation of e-tickets on commuter trains are among proposals to address fare evasion across the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system, a problem estimated to have cost the MTA some $690 million in 2022. Those proposals come from a report included in the Final Report of […]
MONTREAL — An artificial intelligence pilot project aimed at reducing fuel consumption and support of more than 450 nonprofit organizations and charities are among actions VIA Rail Canada highlights in a yearly progress report on its 2021-25 sustainability plan. The update released Wednesday on the passenger operator’s environmental, social, and governance plan is available here, […]
MONTREAL — Mario Péloquin will become the new president and CEO of VIA Rail Canada as of June 12, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Tuesday. Péloquin becomes VIA’s fourth CEO in four years, following Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, Cynthia Garneau, and Martin Landry, who had been CEO since May 2022. Péloquin spent little more than a year […]
WASHINGTON — Chicago commuter operator Metra has become the third entity to sue over the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. In a single-page filing with the board, Metra notified the STB today (Wednesday, May 17) that it had initiated a suit on May 12 in the U.S. Court of […]
ORLANDO — Brightline’s Miami-Orlando schedule is out, and tickets are now on sale — even though an official start date has not yet been announced. Starting today, travelers can book tickets on Brightline trains between Orlando International Airport and South Florida destinations. Tickets are on sale for trips Sept. 1 through Jan. 7, 2024; however, […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ongoing problems in operating passenger trains between Los Angeles and San Diego are taking a significant toll on ridership, the managing director of the Amtrak service between the cities told a new state Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Efficiency held […]
LOS ANGELES — Metrolink has awarded Balfour Beatty a $60 million contract for communication and signal systems, continuing a 14-year relationship between the Southern California commuter rail operator and contracting and construction firm. The contract includes renovation and modernization of wayside signals and grade-crossing warning systems. It also includes installation, modification, and testing of wayside […]
