UNION, Ill. — Former Chicago & North Western Railway SD50 No. 7009 is headed to the Illinois Railway Museum after two benefactors provided the funds to purchase the locomotive from the dead line at National Railway Equipment in Silvis, Ill. IRM says the locomotive is the first SD50 to be preserved by a museum. The […]
BOSTON — Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Steve Poftak has announced his resignation, effective Jan. 3. The Boston Globe reports the resignation comes nearly a full year ahead of the end of his contract, but will coincide with the arrival of a new governor. It will end four years during which Poftak has led […]
SCRANTON, Pa. — Pennsylvania will provide $3.7 million for track improvements needed for a possible Scranton-New York City Amtrak route, the Pocono Record reports. The grant through the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program has been awarded to the Monroe County Industrial Development Authority. It will provide half the funding for 43,000 new crossties on a […]
GLENDALE, N.Y. — John Gleeson has been named director of sales and marketing for the New York & Atlantic Railway as of Oct. 17. He will succeed Charles Samul, who will retire in early 2023. Gleeson has nearly 20 years in on the customer and supplier side of the rail industry. He previously developed rail […]
WASHINGTON — The parties involved in the fight over Amtrak Gulf Coast service want to make one more effort to settle the matter without resuming their hearing before the Surface Transportation Board. Just five days after the STB issued its schedule for additional hearings, and indicated it could vote on a resolution as soon as […]
LAREDO, Texas — With simultaneous ceremonies in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Kansas City Southern marked the start of construction on a second span of the International Railway Bridge across the Rio Grande. KCS CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer led the ceremony in Laredo on Monday, Oct. 31, while KCS de Mexico President Oscar del Cuento hosted […]
Switchers are resilient: Less than 4% of Electro Motive Division SW- and MP-series switching locomotives manufactured between 1966 and 1987 remain in use on Class I railroads today. Of the more than 2,900 locomotives built in those 20 years, TRAINS calculates less than 12 SW and approximately 100 MP switchers still earn revenue for Class […]
WASHINGTON —The Federal Railroad Administration has launched a website for comments leading to an evaluation of long-distance service Amtrak had previously discontinued, as well as its two current triweekly routes, the New Orleans-Los Angeles Sunset Limited and the New York-Washington-Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Chicago Cardinal. The “Amtrak Daily Long-distance Service Study” site, which began operation Oct. 28, now only […]
WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport will open Nov. 15, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has announced. The 11.5-mile, six-station extension will open about four years behind schedule, the Washington Post reports, completing a 23-mile line on which construction began in 2009. The Post notes Metro still needs a […]
OTTAWA — More than 50 parties have made initial inquiries regarding the High Frequency Rail project, the plan to build a passenger-only right-of-way for VIA Rail Canada’s Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City corridor, Transport Canada said Monday in announcing the next step in the government’s procurement process to develop that corridor. The initial step, the Request for Expressions […]
STEILACOOM, Wash. — Efforts to save Steilacoom’s 1914 Northern Pacific depot, which remains largely intact though closed since 1972, are being revived, KIRO Radio reports, after having been dormant since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Current owner BNSF Railway has been prepared to donate the building for several years, says Gus Melonas, a retired BNSF […]
WASHINGTON — Clearly displaying frustration that it is still dealing with the matter, the Surface Transportation Board has asked Amtrak and Canadian National to address errors and omissions in filings on their long-running dispute over a new operating agreement. The disagreement dates to 2013, but its most recent history includes a 2019 interim decision sending […]
