JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons will sign legislation this week including $50 million in funding for grade-crossing improvements, and will announce a crossing safety plan with the Missouri Department of Transportation, WDAF-TV reports. Parsons will sign House Bill 4, an appropriations bill governing the Department of Revenue and Department of Transportation passed […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Return of Ottawa’s light-rail Confederation Line has been pushed back at least 10 days to allow for additional track work, city officials were informed on Friday. Aug. 10 is now the earliest the system could resume operation. CTV News reports Renée Amicar, the city’s general manager of transit services, told the city […]
WASHINGTON — Track conditions led to the fatal derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder in Joplin, Mont., in September 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its final accident report released today (July 27) Three passengers were killed and 49 other people were injured in the derailment of the westbound train on BNSF’s Hi Line […]
RUTLAND, Vt. — Vermont Rail System continues to make progress in repairs to flood damage sustained by its lines earlier this month, company president Selden Houghton told a local news site on Wednesday. “Hopefully, by next week, we’ll be 100% put back together,” Houghton said in a phone interview with the VTDigger. Houghton detailed the […]
WASHINGTON — Sixteen tank cars, 15 of them carrying hazardous materials, derailed in the Montana Rail Link incident involving the Reed Point bridge collapse on June 24, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report on the incident released on Monday. The NTSB’s investigation is only considering the performance of DOT-111 tank cars […]
CHESTERTON, Ind. — South Shore Line rail service between Michigan City and Gary, Ind., which has been replaced all or in part by buses since February 2022, should resume early in 2024, South Shore President Michael Noland said Monday. Noland, speaking to a meeting of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board, said the Double […]
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Canadian National’s main line to the Port of Halifax, Canada’s fourth-largest port, has been washed out as a result of flooding that caused “unimaginable” damage, according to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston. Reuters reports a storm that arrived on Friday left more than 10 inches of rain in a 24-hour period […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The KC Streetcar is back in operation. Streetcar service resumed this morning (July 21), 17 days after being halted because of track failure on a portion of the Main Street bridge over Interstate 670. The streetcar operator says multiple factors led to the track failure, including thermal expansion and degradation of […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has completed work on a section of the Orange Line known as the Tufts Curve, concluding one of the Corrective Action Plans addressing issues raised by the Federal Transit Administration in 2022 and eliminating a long-running speed restriction. The FTA officially closed the corrective plan in writing, confirming […]
Track classifications are among the most basic — and essential — operating considerations in railroading, and an army of workers keep watch over the rails. You’ve seen them out there nearly every day in their hi-rail trucks, motoring quietly up and down the main and not-so-main lines of America. Perhaps you’ve waited for them to […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — RideKC, operator of the Kansas City streetcar, reports “significant progress” in repairs to track damage that has shut down the system since July 4, and anticipates providing information on the return of service later this week. A Sunday update reported that weekend work on the Main Street bridge across Interstate 670 […]
LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec — Lawyers representing some of the residents whose land will be expropriated by the Canadian government for a planned Lac-Mégantic rail bypass are seeking an injunction to halt the process, the Canadian Press reports. The government announced it would pursue expropriation in February after it was unable to negotiate purchase of the necessary […]
