CROZET, Va. — “Surprise and delight” is language public-relations gurus routinely apply to whatever they are promoting, though you never know when it will actually occur while looking out the window of an Amtrak passenger train. Last Sunday, Dec. 3, it happened aboard the Chicago-bound Cardinal about 12 miles west of Charlottesville, Va., on the […]
One of Amtrak’s retired HHP8 electric locomotives, with both pantographs removed, is being tested for possible use as a cab car. Amtrak is reportedly looking to bolster or replace its aging fleet of ex-Metroliner cab cars in the Northeast until Siemens’ new Amtrak Airo equipment arrives. The 15 Bombardier-Alstom locomotives, delivered in 2001, were plagued […]
RICHMOND, Va. — Amtrak projects that it will surpass pre-pandemic figures for ridership and revenue in 2024, company officials said Friday as executives joined the board of directors for the company’s second annual public meeting, an event mandated by 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law held this year at Richmond’s Main Street Station. This year’s gathering was […]
RICHMOND, Va. — Harking back to Amtrak’s yearly “National Train Day” events, the heads of various Amtrak departments and leaders of state passenger rail programs on Friday utilized the spacious halls of Richmond’s Main Street Station to explain capital investment, training, operations, and future goals. The “expo” was held in connection with Amtrak’s annual public […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has launched a “free companion” sale for roomettes on its long-distance routes, allowing two people to travel in one of the two-bed sleeping-car accommodations for the price of one. The sale began Thursday, Nov. 30, and runs through Friday, Dec. 8, and is good for travel between Wednesday, Jan. 3, and Wednesday, […]
DENVER, Colo. — Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 season of Amtrak’s Winter Park Express ski train service, which will operate on weekends beginning Jan. 12. Trains will operate Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays on weekends beginning Jan. 12-14 and concluding the weekend of March 29-31. Added this year are service on two holiday […]
WASHINGTON — More than 28 million passengers rode Amtrak in its 2023 fiscal year, the company today in announcing results for the year that ended Sept. 30. “Amtrak ridership continues to set post-pandemic records thanks to our customers who were anxious to travel again and attracted to the many benefits of train travel,” CEO Stephen […]
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Portland, Ore., will expand by two daily round trips as of Monday, Dec. 11, increasing service to six daily round trips between the two cities, as well as changes to service to Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia. Under the new schedules, the first trains each […]
WASHINGTON — Austin, Texas, Mayor Kirk Watson expressed strong support for expanded rail service in the San Antonio-Dallas-Houston “Texas Triangle” at a hearing of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s rail subcommittee in Washington today (Wednesday, Nov. 29). The session, however, primarily provided a platform for critics of the California High-Speed Rail Authority to […]
CHICAGO — Airports and highways generally get the most media attention at Thanksgiving because they accommodate the majority of the people on the move during the nation’s busiest travel period. Passenger rail did get rare coverage last week on “CBS Mornings” with coverage of Brightline including a live shot and an interview with Amtrak President […]
If you’ve read Model Railroader magazine for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed the hobby journey for many of our authors started with a train set. For baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, the set was often produced by Lionel or American Flyer. Fast forward a generation or two, and those sets were […]
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. — A technical issue at a 911 dispatching center and misidentification of the grade crossing played a part in the collision and derailment involving an Amtrak train in New Buffalo on Thursday, Nov. 16, according to the head of the dispatching center in Berrien County, Mich. The incident occurred at about 10 p.m. […]
