WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded more than $570 million for grade-crossing elimination projects in 32 states, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today. The funds, from the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program, will fund a total of 63 projects, addressing more than 400 grade crossing by separating roads and rail rights-of-way, closing […]
BALTIMORE — Baltimore’s Board of Estimates, which awards contracts and supervises city spending, will vote this week to settle a lawsuit by CSX Transportation over a water main failure that caused a 2019 derailment in the Howard Street Tunnel. The Maryland Daily Record reports the board will vote Wednesday, June 7, on a proposed $245,000 […]
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The Union Pacific Museum is auctioning the opportunity for one person to ride in the cap of Big Boy No. 4014 on Monday, July 3, from Pine Bluff, Wyo., to the UP Steam Shop in Cheyenne. The auction is being held in lieu of a passenger excursion fundraiser for the museum. […]
NEW YORK — Madison Square Garden’s location and boundaries are no longer compatible with the operation of Penn Station, the station’s three passenger operators say — a statement likely to complicate the effort by the arena’s owners to extend their permit to operate the structure. The current Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968, was […]
BOSTON — The incidents that led federal officials to reject a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority safety plan included one in which a track worker was hospitalized after being struck by a 2,000-pound counterweight, the Boston Herald reports. The Herald reviewed documents with details on six incidents that caused the Federal Transit Administration to order the […]
BALASORE, India — A signal error caused a collision that has killed at least 275 people and injured more than 1,000, according to India’s railway minister. The Guardian reports that Ashwini Vaishnaw said the full investigation into the Friday crash was continuing but “the root cause has been identified.” Preliminary findings indicate the train, the […]
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has ratified a new contract with Amtrak, the union announced today (Sunday, June 4). General Chairman Daniel N. Tavares III said in a letter to members that the agreement includes a 30% wage increase over the life of the contract, which compounds to […]
ANGOLA, Ind. — Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765 debuted for its 2023 operating season during the Memorial Day weekend with one-hour Indiana Ice Cream Train rides out of Angola. The 1944-built 2-8-4 officially kicked off the second year of the Indiana Rail Experience, a program of events and excursions in partnership with the […]
WASHINGTON — “Amtrak Operations: Examining the Challenges and Opportunities for improving Efficiency and Service” is the topic of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing set for Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. EDT. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is one of two witnesses scheduled to testify; the other is Mitch Warren, Northeast Corridor Commission executive […]
CALGARY, Alberta — CPKC is stoking interest in the revival of Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 Hudson No. 2816, which will set out on a tour this summer to celebrate the CP-Kansas City Southern merger. In social media posts, the railroad this week teased the progress made on the locomotive’s overhaul in preparation for its first outing […]
CHICAGO — Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw says the railroad remains steadfast in its commitment to taking a long-term view and a strategy that prioritizes service and growth. NS will continue to be a customer-centric, operations-driven railroad that realizes it makes and sells just one product: service. “Our customers have options. They’re really smart. And […]
BOSTON — Major improvement in Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rail operations will take a year or more, MBTA board chair Thomas Glynn said in an online forum Thursday. “I think people will see a different T a year from now,” Glynn said, according to a Boston Herald report, “but I don’t know if they’ll see […]
