WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is renewing a call for Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to end the practice of using watchmen to notify track worker of approaching trains in areas where positive train control offers additional safety features. The recommendation comes in a report issued Thursday on the NTSB’s investigation of […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration is seeking information that could shape safety rules for public transit workers regarding rail transit Roadway Worker Protection and worker assault prevention. The agency has issued a formal Request for Information seeking public comment in both areas. A notification in the Federal Register includes information on how to comment, […]
ALLENSWORTH, Calif. — Amtrak will offer special train service on Oct. 9 for a celebration at Col. Allensworth State Historic Park, site of a former Black settlement in the San Joaquin Valley. Four Amtrak San Joaquin trains in each direction will stop that day at the site of the former station in Allensworth, located near […]
TORONTO — The next generation of transit in Canada’s largest city is expected to debut in 2022 when the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line begins service. The 19-kilometer (11.8-mile) east-west line will traverse the mid-section of Toronto along Eglinton Avenue, through densely packed residential and commercial neighborhoods both at grade and with 10 kilometers (6.2 […]
TORONTO — The first portion of VIA’s C$989 million order for 32 Siemens Charger trainsets has arrived in Canada. Running in darkness in Michigan and Ontario, it arrived in Toronto early Wednesday. With urgency, the train operated as CN P698 from Chicago to Montreal, arriving in Montreal less than 24 hours after it departed Chicago, […]
NEW YORK — A Metropolitan Transportation Authority plan to provide Metro-North service to Penn Station has received clearance from the Federal Transit Administration, setting the stage for construction of four new commuter rail stations as well as direct service from Connecticut. The project will use the existing Amtrak line over Hell Gate Bridge between Penn […]
CHICAGO — The widow of a man killed in Saturday’s Empire Builder derailment in Montana has filed suit against Amtrak and BNSF railway for their alleged role in her husband’s death. Courthouse News Service reports Rebecca Schneider, wife of 28-year-old victim Zach Schneider, filed suit Tuesday in federal court in Chicago for unspecified damages. Zach […]
BOSTON — No injuries were reported when a slow-moving MBTA Red Line rapid transit train derailed Tuesday morning, hitting the platform at the Broadway station in Boston. The Boston Globe reports the second car of a six-car train derailed about 9:45 a.m. The 47 passengers aboard were able to exit safely. A photo showed the […]
Passenger pioneer Amtrak No. 583 is a 3,000-hp, six-axle EMD SDP40F. The model was the first new diesel locomotive purchased by Amtrak in the 1970s. It has a different side panel arrangement and lacks the front platform of the earlier FP45. Jim Hediger photo […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brightline and Siemens Mobility are celebrating the completion of Brightline’s newest trainsets, which will roll off the assembly line at the Siemens Mobility North American manufacturing headquarters and prepare to begin passenger operations. In the coming days, the newest train will depart the factory on a cross-country excursion to West Palm Beach, […]
JOPLIN, Mont. — BNSF Railway’s busy Hi Line Subdivision is open again following the derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder over the weekend. According to KHQ News, a local NBC affiliate, the first BNSF freight train to pass through the community of Joplin, Montana, since Saturday’s derailment arrived just after 4 a.m. Tuesday. The train is […]
JOPLIN, Mont. — The vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board says Amtrak’s Empire Builder was traveling below its posted speed limit when it derailed and partially overturned over the weekend in rural Montana, killing three people. NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg told members of the media Monday afternoon that the eastbound Empire Builder […]
