A TEXRail train passes the station at Grapevine, Texas. TEXRail and Trinity Railway Express service is being reduced as of today. Lance Lassen A roundup of Monday morning rail news: — Amtrak has suspended all Acela Express service on the Northeast Corridor, reflecting a dramatic drop in usage for America’s only high speed rail service. […]
Dr. Josef Theurer Plasser & Theurer — Plasser & Theurer founder Dr. Josef Theurer has died, the track maintenance equipment firm has announced. Theurer, 91, died March 19. A holder of more than 1,000 patents, Theurer and Franz Plasser founded the company, which developed machinery to replace much of the manual labor in track maintenance, […]
Just as rail blockades end in one country, they resume in another. On the same day Canadian protestors in Quebec ended an almost month-long blockade [see “Trains News Wire Digest for Friday, March 6“], Kansas City Southern has informed customers that protests are once again disrupting operations on Kansas City Southern de Mexico, as well […]
WALLAN, Australia — Two crew members are dead following the derailment of a Sydney-to-Melbourne passenger train today. The Age newspaper reports the XPT train derailed about 7:50 p.m. local time in Wallan, about 45 kilometers ( miles) north of Melbourne. The train, which was due in Melbourne at 6:30 p.m., was running about two hours […]
SAINT-OUEN, France — Rail equipment manufacturer Alstom will acquire Montreal-based Bombardier Transportation in a deal worth 5.8 to 6.2 billion Euros ($6.28-$6.71 billion), Alstom has announced. It is Alstom’s second attempt to grow in an effort to compete with China’s CRRC, the world’s largest manufacturer of rail equipment. A previous attempt to merge with Germany’s […]
Catching up on weekend rail news: — Protesters continued to block Canadian National rail lines near Belleville, Ontario, disrupting Canadian National and VIA Rail Canada. The National Post reports that VIA cancelled 18 trains on Sunday and said service will not resume “until the issue is resolved.” The indigenous group blocking the tracks is demonstrating […]
A look at Thursday morning rail news: — Light rail operators on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Transit system told a state legislative panel that they fear for their safety while at work, and that they often witness criminal activity including drug deals and assaults, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The two operators testified during a […]
Notable rail news for your day-after-the-Super-Bowl Monday: — The Federal Railroad Administration will hold a hearing for rural landowners to comment on the Texas Central high speed rail project. The Dallas Business journal reports that U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who opposes the project, announced the hearing last week. No date or location has been […]
Your morning look at rail news headlines: — The Associated Press reports that Virginia’s House of Delegates is scheduled to vote next week on a transportation bill that includes creation of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, to oversee state rail operations. — As part of its efforts to find alternative funding, the Southeast Pennsylvania has […]
MONTREAL — While Bombardier remains in “active talks” with French-based Alstom over a merger of the companies’ rail equipment manufacturing, the Canadian firm has also approached Japan’s Hitachi about a possible deal, Reuters reports. The Bombardier-Alstom talks were reported earlier this week by Bloomberg [see “Report: Bombardier, Alstom discussing combining rail units,” Trains News Wire, […]
CHICAGO – Two British heritage railways connected to the embattled Iowa Pacific have been put up for sale. The Weardale Railway and Dartmoor Railway, as well as an engineering and equipment leasing business, were all recently listed. The properties are being sold for between $610,000 and $854,000. The railroads are owned by British American Railway […]
BERLIN — German national passenger rail operator Deutsche Bahn has dropped fares for intercity travel for the first time in 17 years, with a 10% on tickets for intercity travel of more than 31 miles (50 kilometers). The lower fares reflect a decrease in the German government’s value-added tax on rail travel, from 19% to […]
