High-horsepower, six-axle road locomotives are generally regarded to be units making between 3,800 to 4,400 hp. Over the last four decades the horsepower output has steadily grown to the high end of this range for the majority of the North American locomotives built. When this threshold was first reached with EMDs SD60 at 3,800 hp […]
WASHINGTON — The first day of automated operation on DC Metrorail’s Red Line went well, a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority representative told local news media. Sunday, Dec. 15, was the first day for use of Automatic Train Operation on any part of the system since it was disabled following a fatal 2009 collision [see […]
CHETUMAL, Mexico — Saying that “only in Mexico can you build a train of more than 1,500 kilometers … in just four years,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Saturday and Sunday marked the opening of the final section of the Maya Train project on the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as the first anniversary of the […]
Amtrak has returned one of its stored Viewliner I sleeping cars to service — and introduced a new passenger-car variant of the Phase VII locomotive paint scheme at the same time. Sleeper No. 62032, the Iroquois River, was caught by photographer Nathan Richters on the southbound Floridian at Fredericksburg, Va., on Saturday, Dec. 14. The […]
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Port Authority Trans-Hudson rail passengers with disabilities will receive a 50% fare discount beginning in 2025, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board of commissioners has decided. The board on Dec. 12 approved the program, which had been proposed in November by the governors of the two states […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Stadler and Caltrain have signed an agreement covering technical support for the commuter operator’s fleet of Stadler-built electric multiple-unit trainsets, the manufacturer has announced. The Technical Support and Spare Supply Agreement, or TSSSA, covers on-site technical support, maintenance management software, material management for preventive and corrective maintenance, and diagnostic assists. It […]
CHICAGO — If there were two messages hammered home during a press conference to celebrate the latest federal funding for the CREATE project, they were these: CREATE may be a local program, but it has national implications. And it is the textbook example of public-private partnership. The event today (Friday, Dec. 13) was to mark […]
CHICAGO — Artificial intelligence is weaving itself into the daily operations of big U.S. railroads, helping managers make data-backed decisions about operating plans and identify trends among virtually any process. As railroads migrate from mainframe-based systems to cloud-based platforms with real-time data components, railroads are plugging in generative AI — machine-learning tools — to make […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has led his team to a run at a playoff berth this season. On Monday, Dec. 9, Darnold and the team made another kind of run: they took a ride on the North Pole Express powered by Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 at St. Paul Union […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has again extended the mediation process for Union Pacific and Metra as they try to work out the details of the transfer of Metra operation on three UP-owned routes. The board granted UP’s request — agreed to by Metra — to extend the mediation period through Jan. 31, 2025. […]
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — NJ Transit has begun work on a new facility to provide storage for locomotive and railcars that protects against flooding, a project reflecting the impact of 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. Groundbreaking was held today (Dec. 12) for the County Yard/Delco Lead Storage and Inspection Facility project, to be built along the Northeast […]
ELKHART, Ind. — Newly installed cameras that automatically feed real-time information to a website are helping first responders and the general public know when trains are occupying grade crossings near the northern Indiana town of Goshen, Ind., near Elkhart. BlockedCrossings, a private company, recently installed eight cameras at intersections in and south of Goshen, Ind., […]
