New Amtrak station to be built in Vermont (updated)

Amtrak logo.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – Construction on a new Amtrak station in Brattleboro is set to begin March, the Commons News reported. The station, which will be served by Amtrak’s Vermonter, will cost $10 million and take 18 months to complete. It will include the first high-level passenger platform in Vermont. In November 2020, Amtrak announced it […]

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BART new car fleet under budget

New transit train with mountains in background

SAN FRANCISCO – Here’s something you don’t hear very often in 2024: a rail transit project coming in under budget. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) did just that with its order for new “Fleet of the Future” cars. Thanks to a revised schedule, and an accelerated monthly delivery rate of the new cars, the project […]

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Mexico planning new passenger route

Trains Magazine logo

TIJUANA, Mexico – With the Tren Maya (Maya Train) rail project in Mexico’s Quintana Roo and the Yucatan set for completion next month, Mexico is planning to build another passenger rail line. The Cabo Sun reports that the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has set his sights on a new project: building a passenger […]

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Caltrain celebrates 160 years of rail service

two red and white trainsets on tracks

SAN FRANCISCO – This week Caltrain celebrated 160 years of rail service between San Francisco and San Jose about 50 miles south. Passenger train service began Jan. 16, 1864. Its creation was said to be central to the development of the San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay. Over the year, the majority of the cities […]

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Pinning an EMD turbocharger

EMD turbocharger in a shop

EMD turbochargers For decades, railroads have adapted locomotives to meet the service to which they are assigned. As newer and more powerful locomotives arrive on a roster, older units cascade down to lesser roles. Oftentimes these new assignments don’t require as much horsepower as mainline duties. In low-speed, local or yard service, weight and adhesion […]

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Broken rail led to CN derailment, TSB tells news site

Canadian National logo

LA BROQUERIE, Manitoba — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada reports a broken rail at a grade crossing has been confirmed as the cause of last week’s derailment of a Canadian National train near La Broquerie, the website Steinbach Online reports. The 27-car derailment occurred Thursday, Jan. 11, at about 7:15 p.m. There were no […]

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Amtrak cancellations start shifting east and west (updated)

Passenger cars in yard with snow on ground

CHICAGO — With daytime Midwest temperatures expected to push above zero beginning Wednesday, Amtrak today (Tuesday, Jan. 16) began resuming departures on some long-distance routes west of Chicago, although trains serving western New York and the Pacific Northwest were cancelled today and Wednesday, Jan. 17. A cancellation advisory posted this afternoon indicated alternate bus transportation […]

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FRA seeks public comment on proposed autonomous railcar test program

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration is seeking public comments on Genesee & Wyoming short lines’ request to test Parallel Systems autonomous, self-propelled battery-electric freight cars. The FRA, in a decision published in the Federal Register today, said it has accepted the Georgia Central Railway and Heart of Georgia Railroad petition for a test program […]

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NTSB to investigate rail worker death in Ohio

Logo of the Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road

JEWETT, Ohio — The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation after a railroad worker was killed Monday in Jewett, the agency announced Monday. WOIO-TV reports the worker was an employee for the Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road, a Genesee & Wyoming property, and quoted a statement from the parent company said its […]

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