Brightline to begin 125-mph testing on Cocoa-Orlando corridor

Train approaches after passing through small S curve

ORLANDO, Fla. — In a significant milestone toward its effort to launch service to Orlando by midyear, Brightline will being testing at speeds up to 125 mph on its new 35-mile corridor between Cocoa, Fla., and Orlando International Airport as soon as today, March 1. In a Tuesday evening announcement, the passenger operator said test […]

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Propane tank cars involved in Florida derailment

Map of railroad in southwest Florida

BRADENTON, Fla. — Seven cars of a Seminole Gulf Railway train — two of them carrying propane — derailed this morning, Tuesday, Feb. 28, near Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, the Bradenton Herald reports. One of the propane cars was among six cars that ended up on their side; the other five cars were carrying sheetrock. The other […]

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CSX activates third train inspection portal near Waycross, Ga.

Train passes through shed-like structure over main line

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation has activated its third train inspection portal, the railroad said today (Tuesday, Feb. 28). The three inspection portals — which use advanced imaging and analysis technology — are all located on lines that radiate out from CSX’s yard at Waycross, Ga. “CSX strategically positioned the three TIPs near Waycross as […]

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FRA makes safety recommendations for hotbox detector warnings

Black cloud of smoke above town

WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration today encouraged railroads to improve the way they collect and use data from wayside hotbox detectors in order to prevent catastrophic derailments like the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio. “Preliminary investigation of recent train derailments indicates the cause of, or contributing factor to, […]

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Cancellations, other operational issues plague Amtrak

Passenger train arrives as people on platform take pictures with phoone

CHICAGO — Amtrak says “forecasted inclement weather conditions” are prompting it to cancel the Southwest Chiefs departing Chicago and Los Angeles today (Feb. 28) and continue truncation of the California Zephyr as a Chicago-Salt Lake City train that began Monday. Meanwhile, more Amtrak locomotive failures, along with host railroad track problems and freight train interference, […]

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FRA look at Amtrak long-distance service yields wealth of data

People lined up to board bilevel passenger cars

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has published a surprisingly detailed summary of regional forums held during the past month in which the agency solicited opinions regarding the public’s interest in strengthening Amtrak’s national network. As part of Amtrak’s reauthorization, 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act tasked the FRA to conduct a study that would […]

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Transferring a transcontinental sleeper

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Chicago & North Western 0-6-0 2624 passes the busy C&NW-MILW-PRR junction at Western Avenue, Chicago, with a Union Pacific sleeping car bound for North Western Station, where it will join a train for the West Coast. The Pullman had arrived at Grand Central Station or La Salle Street Station on a B&O or NYC train […]

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Ukraine’s railways mark one year of war

Four tracks of stored boxcab-style diesel locomotives

KYIV, Ukraine — Memorial stones and plaques are common at railway stations around the world, commemorating rail history, anniversaries, or rail employees who died in service. On Feb. 24, at the central station in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, a new memorial was unveiled to the 353 Ukrainian railway workers who had been killed during the first […]

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