WASHINGTON — With Hurricane Ian bearing down on Florida and the Southeast, Amtrak has cancelled Auto Train in both directions Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 27 and 28. Amtrak also says in an online advisory that the New York-Tampa-Miami Silver Star that departed today (Monday, Sept. 26) is terminating at Jacksonville, Fla., Tuesday morning; its northbound […]
PITTSBURGH – In order to attract, hire, and retain conductors – and avoid crew shortages that snarl operations and hurt service – Class I railroads need to make the job more appealing to today’s workers. That was the consensus of shippers, railroaders, and analysts who spoke at the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference […]
NEW YORK – Coal is enjoying a day in the sun amid low stockpiles at power plants and high natural gas prices. Overall railroad coal volumes have improved since the second quarter of 2021 and the trend is expected to continue into next year. But then a wave of coal-fired power plant retirements will put […]
WASHINGTON — The parties involved in the dispute over Amtrak’s effort to launch Gulf Coast passenger service have asked the Surface Transportation Board for a second extension for their current board-sponsored mediation. In a request filed Friday, Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority jointly requested the board extend mediation by […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak says checked baggage service is being dropped this fall from two state-supported routes “due to equipment shortages” — even though the company received 70 new baggage cars as part of its 125-car Viewliner II equipment order from CAF USA in 2014-15. The company now says, however, that a notice posted in at […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation’s use of a weather alert system which did not sufficiently account for extreme rainfall was a contributing factor in a Feb. 13, 2020, derailment and fire caused by a mudslide in Draffin, Ky., the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in its final report on the incident. The report, completed in August, […]
WASHINGTON — The independent safety agency that oversees the DC Metrorail system says the wheel problems that have sidelined most of Metro’s newest railcars also existed on older cars, and may stem from a track issue the agency was told about in 2015 but never addressed. The Washington Post reports the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission […]
MIAMI — Four people were injured Saturday evening when two CSX freight trains collided near Miami International Airport, WPLG-TV reports. The accident was reported about 7 p.m. near the area of Northwest 15th Street and South Perimeter roads, with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue dispatching more than 25 units, including a hazardous materials team. The four people […]
PITTSBURGH — Service on the big four U.S. Class I railroads is improving slowly but remains uneven amid ongoing and sporadic crew shortages, shippers said this week at the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference. One thing that’s helped improve service is the resumption of hump operations at several yards over the past few […]
BERLIN — Progress Rail will provide up to four EMD Joule battery-electric locomotives to BNSF for testing in Southern California, the company has announced today at InnoTrans. The trial, to be supported in part by government grants, will also see Progress provide two charging stations for the locomotives. The SD70J units will have 8 Megawatt-hours […]
STRASBURG, Pa. – Jim Hager brings a host of skills and experience to his new job as general manager of the 190-year-old Strasburg Rail Road, America’s oldest short line and now one of the country’s busiest and longest-running steam tourist railroads. A New Jersey native, he started hanging around the Black River & Western, another […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its network by 2045, the company announced Thursday. “With new equipment, modernized stations, and net zero emissions, Amtrak can lead the drive toward sustainable transportation throughout the nation,” CEO Stephen Gardner said in a press release. The company said its efforts to […]
