CHICAGO — As Trains News Wire has been reporting, a dearth of serviceable Superliners on Amtrak’s long-distance trains has limited mobility options in a year that has seen a significant surge in travel demand. Sellouts in coaches and sleeping cars for at least one segment of a route have been the rule, not the exception. […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Ottawa’s transit service manager now says she is “very confident” that the light rail Confederation Line will resume operation on Aug. 14, after initially hedging on that estimate. The Ottawa Citizen reports Renée Amilcar said Thursday that she holds that view “based on the work done by RTG [system operator Rideau Transit […]
BUTTE, Mont. — Federal railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose and Surface Transportation Board Vice Chair Karen Hedlund are among scheduled speakers at the third annual conference of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, set for Wednesday, Aug. 9, at the Hotel Finlen in Butte. The conference will bring together passenger advocates, government officials, railroad representatives, […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway this week released its 2023-24 Grain Plan, outlining its initiatives for handling Canada’s upcoming grain harvest. Efforts to handle grain traffic include deliver of another 750 new grain hoppers in 2024 and the recently announced expansion of the railroad’s locomotive modernization program [see “CN orders 60 more modernized diesels …,” […]
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The grade crossing near Mendon, Mo., that was the site of the fatal 2022 collision and derailment involving Amtrak’s Southwest Chief is among 52 included in plans for upgrades, closures, or other changes released Thursday by the Missouri Department of Transportation. The Kansas City Star reports the plan, with an estimated […]
CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker led an entourage of local and national political firepower Thursday in touting Amtrak’s application for federal funding for the Chicago Hub project, a more than $1.1 billion plan to improve Chicago Union Station and routes into the city. The request to the Federal Railroad Administration for an $872.8 million Federal-State […]
A newly tooled Gunderson 6,276-cubic-foot capacity 50-foot hi-cube boxcar is the latest release from Aurora Miniatures North America. The HO scale model, offered in six road names, features injection-molded plastic construction, prototype-specific trucks, and many freestanding details. The prototype The 6276 50-foot hi-cube boxcar has been a part of the Gunderson (Greenbrier) product lineup since […]
ATLANTA – Six months after the disastrous hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has penned a letter to area residents outlining the railroad’s ongoing commitment to the community and to improving its safety culture. “We promised to make things right for you and your neighbors, and we’ve made a […]
NEW YORK — Thirteen people are reported to have been injured after a Long Island Rail Road train derailed today (Aug. 3) east of the LIRR’s Jamaica station in Queens. The website amNY reports the train involved had left Grand Central Madison at 10:43 a.m. bound for Hempstead, and derailed about 11:15 a.m. FDNY Commissioner […]
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern, in a lawsuit filed this week in Delaware, accuses CSX Transportation of hampering its access to New England by repeatedly violating the operating agreements related to CSX’s 2022 acquisition of regional Pan Am Railways. The agreements became conditions for the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the June 1 Pan Am acquisition. […]
ELMA, Wash. — Shortline powerhouse Genesee & Wyoming has begun removing older locomotives from its roster as part of a consent decree reached with the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year. Part of the agreement requires G&W to disable or upgrade more than 70 locomotives to address Clean Air Act violations [see “Genesee & Wyoming agrees to […]
PHILADELPHIA — The Federal Transit Administration will play a part in the investigation of a recent rash of incidents involving Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trolleys and buses, WTXF-TV reports. SEPTA vehicles were involved in five incidents in a week in late July, including a collision of two buses that killed a 72-year-old woman and an […]
