Engine crewmen confer beside the cab ladder as the two Fairbanks-Morse diesels heading Milwaukee Road’s eastbound Olympian Hiawatha are fueled and watered during a passenger and service stop at Miles City, Mont., in the late 1940s or early ’50s. Don E. Wolter photo […]
MENDON, Mo. — Three people are dead after Amtrak’s Southwest Chief hit a dump truck and derailed Monday afternoon, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. NBC News reports two people from the train and one person in the truck were killed, according to Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Dunn. A significant number of others were […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The state of Pennsylvania says it has reached a deal with Norfolk Southern on a previously announced plan to upgrade infrastructure between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, which would allow a second daily Amtrak train between those cities. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the $200 million deal will be finalized by the end of the […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak’s Maple Leaf has resumed service to and from Toronto, marking the first cross-border rail service to be resumed since pandemic-related cuts in 2020. Amtrak announced this morning that the northbound Maple Leaf, operated in conjunction with VIA Rail Canada, would operate to Toronto today (Monday, June 27) with the first southbound […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority restored service on two subway lines Sunday evening, ending a shutdown over structural concerns about a downtown Boston parking garage above the subway tunnels. The agency said in a statement the move to restore full service on the Green and Orange lines followed “a comprehensive inspection of the […]
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court took almost six months to decide that Texas Central’s proposed 200-mph rail line between Dallas and Houston was entitled to take property through eminent domain provisions that were established for “interurban electric railways” in 1907. The question now is what life is left in the organization to push […]
RALEIGH, N.C. — A draft feasibility study for a 43-mile commuter rail line connecting Raleigh and Durham projects the project could cost $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion, WRAL-TV reports. The $9 million study for regional transit agency GoTriangle is now being presented to local officials for review. A final version is slated to be is […]
An Amtrak Cardinal day trip to Clifton Forge is well within reach! Don’t let Amtrak’s three-day-a-week schedule on the Cardinal route deter you from a scenic Amtrak day trip through the Appalachia Mountains of southern West Virginia and Virginia along CSX Transportation’s route through the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve. This passenger rail […]
HOMEWOOD, IIl. — Bringing Amtrak’s more than 500 stations into compliance with 1990’s Americans with Disabilities Act has been on Amtrak’s to-do list since the legislation was passed, but only with recent, specifically designated funding has the company prioritized the transformations. One such project was celebrated Saturday, June 25, in Homewood, Ill., with Amtrak brass […]
Join me in early mid-March, beside Amtrak City of New Orleans at Chebanse, Ill., a few weeks ahead of farmer’s spring planting — about 70 miles south of Chicago. It’s a breezy, crisp early morning before sunrise. The camera’s ISO is notched up to 2500. A lamp brightens the interior of the Chebanse depot, but […]
Governments in Europe have been turning to discounted and almost-free train travel for those facing huge rises in energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has pushed gas and electricity prices to levels never seen before. The aim of such policies, happening at the same time European economies are seeing near double-digit inflation for […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has suspended some service on its Orange and Green Line subway lines in downtown Boston after the discovery of what the agency termed “a structural issue” with a parking garage being demolished. The MBTA said in a Thursday press release that the company demolishing the Government Center Parking […]
