BNSF, electrical workers announce tentative contract agreement

BNSF Railway logo

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract, while the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers has ratified its agreement with the railroad. The BNSF-IBEW agreement is the ninth reached by the railroad in the last two months ahead of the […]

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Transit Workers Union authorizes strike against SEPTA

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority logo

PHILADELPHIA — Members of the union representing more than 5,300 workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority have voted to authorize a strike effective at midnight on Nov. 7, when their current contract expires. Members of Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents subway, trolley, and bus operators, mechanics, and other workers, voted unanimously in […]

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10 must-see Colorado railroad attractions

A narrow gauge tank type steam locomotive in an earthen cut.

1. Take the train from Cripple Creek Our list of 10 must-see Colorado railroad attractions starts with a trip back in time. Railroads arrived in the mining town of Cripple Creek in 1893, and today the best way to see the “World’s Greatest Gold Camp” is aboard Colorado’s only 2-foot narrow-gauge steam railroad, the Cripple […]

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Projects in Illinois, Virginia receive CRISI grants

Logo for Federal Railroad Administration

WASHINGTON — Two more awards have been announced under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program. The first of what Washington state’s two senators said will be 122 grants totaling $2.477 billion were announced late last week [see “Announcements of 2024 CRISI grants begin,” Trains News Wire, Friday, […]

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Public Amtrak board meeting set for Seattle in December

Man at podium with Amtrak logo

WASHINGTON — Amtrak announced late Friday that its federally mandated annual public Board of Directors meeting will be held in Seattle on Dec. 4, 2024. As in past sessions staged at St. Louis Union Station in 2022 and at Richmond, Va. Main Street Station in 2023, company officials will review operating results from the just-completed […]

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Amtrak asks STB to dismiss Gulf Coast case

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has asked the Surface Transportation Board to dismiss its petition asking the board to compel freight railroads to allow operation of Gulf Coast service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., saying the terms of an agreement between the passenger operator, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority have been fulfilled […]

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Canadian union calls for CN to prioritize passenger operations

Passenger train on multi-track main line adjacent to highway

OTTAWA, Ontario — Unifor, Canadian’s largest private-sector union, is calling on Canadian National Railways to prioritize passenger operations — and for more government oversight of the relationship between freight and passenger service — in the wake of restrictions CN has placed on VIA Rail Canada corridor trains in Ontario and Quebec. “This is about CN […]

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MBTA Orange Line project eliminates 20 speed restrictions

Machinery working on underground rail line

BOSTON — A 13-day suspension of service for maintenance on a portion of the Orange Line led to the lifting of 20 speed restrictions, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced. The ongoing, year-long Track Improvement Program has now reduced the amount of the MBTA rail transit system under speed restrictions to 1.8 miles, or […]

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Denver Union Station: Gem of the West

The façade of Denver Union Station on a sunny day

Denver Union Station’s predecessor established the city as the transportation hub of the West and the primary gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Opened on June 1, 1881, where 17th Street dead-ends into Wynkoop Street, Denver Union Depot was 504 feet long and 65 feet wide, the largest structure in the West. Within a decade, 100 […]

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