BOSTON — Former Long Island Rail Road President Phillip Eng will become the new general manager of the problem-plagued Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced Eng’s selection in a statement today, saying Eng “is the proven leader the MBTA needs to improve safety and reliability across the system and restore the public’s […]
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WASHINGTON — The independent body which oversees safety matters for the DC Metrorail system is investigating an incident in which a train operator improperly used Metrorail’s automated operating system, and is working to determine if other operators have done so, as well. The Washington Post reports the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission is looking into a […]
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CHICAGO — Amtrak departures from Chicago began at mid-morning today (Sunday, March 26) following two days of widespread cancellations because engineers couldn’t register, or initialize, trains in the interoperable positive train control system shared with host railroads. The impact of those cancellations will reverberate for days because equipment isn’t available to return to Chicago. Today’s […]
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CHICAGO — Amtrak’s PTC issues have stretched into a third day and is leading to widespread National Network cancellations, although the company no longer has a notification of the problem on the front page of its website. As of 8:15 a.m. CDT today (Sunday, March 26), the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed is listing the following […]
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BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced a significant number of service disruptions in April for track work to address speed restrictions on its rail rapid transit network, as well as some commuter rail work. No work is planned the weekend of April 15-16 because of anticipated increased ridership for Boston Marathon events. […]
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Crowds swarm around Burlington Route 9901 and 9902, the original three-car Twin Zephyr diesel trains, during a publicity event before the pair entered service between Chicago and the Twin Cities in April 1935. CB&Q photo […]
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CHICAGO — Ongoing issues with the server involved with Amtrak’s positive train control system have led to the cancellation today (Saturday, March 25), of a number of trains in the Midwest and elsewhere. According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, 11 of the 13 Hiawatha service trains between Chicago and Milwaukee have been canceled as […]
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A coalition of eight shop craft unions have reached a tentative agreement with Amtrak, the unions announced Friday. The TCU & Shop-Craft Coalition said in a brief statement that it had reached the agreement on Thursday, March 23. “We appreciate the patience of our members, and we will be providing all the details of this […]
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If you’re like me, you love riding Amtrak and modeling the trains you have ridden. But scale passenger equipment can get expensive, especially if you add lights and figures. The first two Amtrak cars that I got were Superliner coach and diner cars; I thought I needed to save up for a whole train. This […]
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CHICAGO — Amtrak trains on some routes are experiencing cancellations or delays today (Friday, March 24) as a result of a nationwide server issue that is keeping the positive train control initialization process from taking place. “It is a back-office issue, and we have been working with our [PTC] vendor to resolve it,” Amtrak spokesman […]
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BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Board is now providing online information on speed restrictions on its rail transit network through on online tool launched on Thursday. The Speed Restriction Dashboard provides information on the location, speed limit, date a restriction was put in place, and the reason for the restriction, on the Red, Orange, […]
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OTTAWA, Ontario — VIA Rail Canada says it will work with the National Council of Canadian Muslims to improve its diversity training following an incident in which a Muslim man was told by a security guard not to pray at VIA’s Ottawa station. In a press release, the passenger operator said it had met with […]
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