OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Department of Transportation has issued a request for proposals for an operator of a 90-mile branch of a state-owned short line in eastern Washington. The Palouse & Lewiston branch is one of three sections of what’s collectively known as the Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad. The Palouse & Lewistown […]
Zone & Region: Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest officials begin push for ‘ultra’ high speed rail NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The topic of high-speed rail for the Vancouver, B.C.-Seattle-Portland, Ore., corridor continues to generate interest in the region. Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia are cooperating on a study of routes, stations, equipment, and costs of a high-speed rail system operating at up to 250 miles per hour. Microsoft is also funding the study, […]
Seattle politicians seek to build over-budget streetcar; funding expected NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The mayor of Seattle says she wants to go ahead with a long-delayed, over-budget, mile-long downtown streetcar line, but there’s still the small matter of finding the additional millions of dollars to pay for it. Mayor Jenny Durkan put the project on hold in March 2018 for a review; the report itself and […]
Coast Guard seeking comments on BNSF bridge proposals in the Pacific Northwest NEWSWIRE
SANDPOINT, Idaho — The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for public comments on how two bridge proposals by BNSF Railway would affect navigation on the Pend Oreille River and Lake Pend Oreille. Two new bridges would parallel the existing 1905-built Northern Pacific bridges on BNSF’s “Northern Transcon.” One would be 4,874-feet-long. The other would be […]
Washington governor says I-5 bridge project must include light rail NEWSWIRE
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Any replacement for the century-old Interstate 5 bridge connecting Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., must include light rail, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said last week. Inslee, speaking at a preview of the 2019 legislative session that beings today, said light rail will be included because Oregon, which will pay for half of […]
FTA finalizes grant for Sound Transit light rail project NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration have finalized an agreement for $1.2 billion in funding for an 8.5-mile extension of its light rail system. The FTA announced the grant on Thursday, after the conclusion of a 30-day congressional review period for the funding agreement announced in November. [See “Sound Transit, FTA reach […]
One year after ‘Cascade’ derailment, route awaits return to service, investigation continues NEWSWIRE
A year after the fatal derailment of Amtrak Cascades train No. 501, service has not yet returned to the Point Defiance Bypass. Steve Carter A northbound Amtrak Cascades train passes the southern end of the Point Defiance Bypass, the track at right, at Nisqually, Wash., in June 2018. A year after the derailment of the […]
Progressive Rail short line taking charge of tracks in Pacific Northwest NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — In a busy year for changes in operators for short lines in the Pacific Northwest, here’s another one. This time it’s a BNSF Railway-owned line in northeastern Washington and southern British Columbia currently operated by OmniTrax subsidiary Kettle Falls International Railway. The new operator, according to Surface Transportation Board filings, will […]
Earthquakes shut down Alaska Railroad NEWSWIRE
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad has been shutdown following two earthquakes north of Anchorage on Friday morning. The back-to-back quakes measuring in 7 and 5.8 on the Richter scale shook buildings and damaged roads across the southern part of the state. The Associated Press reports that there were no immediate reports of death or […]
Shake-up on Pacific Northwest short lines NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The Pacific Northwest has an abundance of publicly and privately owned short lines. Two of the publicly held railroads have new operators. Oregon In the case of the International Port of Coos Bay in Oregon, the new operator is the port itself. The 133-mile line, running west from Eugene, Ore., to the coast […]
Major bridge, tunnel projects underway on BNSF in the Pacific Northwest NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — BNSF Railway is starting work on a number of major bridge and tunnel projects in Washington, Idaho, and Montana that promise to maintain and even increase freight capacity in the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, BNSF is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to determine how it will replace a century-old bridge across Salmon […]
Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: A Day at the Office
Just another day at his downtown Seattle office for Charlie Conway – until he discovered that a cut of empty hoppers had derailed on the busy BNSF main line routing in front of the building! Chas grabbed his camera and captured the Hulcher Services crew working to get trains rolling again. […]
