NEW YORK — Some direct Amtrak service between New York Penn Station and Albany-Rensselaer will resume Thursday, Nov. 16, with the rest restored on Friday, WNBC-TV reports. Service has been disrupted since Sunday, Nov. 12, because of structural issues with a parking garage above Amtrak’s right-of-way in Manhattan [see “Amtrak disruption of service …,” Trains […]
WASHINGTON and MIAMI — Rail passengers who are able to lock down travel plans in advance can benefit from two pre-Black Friday sales now underway at Amtrak and Florida’s Brightline. Amtrak Winter Sale Through this Wednesday, Nov. 15, Amtrak is offering “flash sale” advance purchase fares for travel Dec. 4, 2023, through March 15, 2024, […]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Amtrak has reached a tentative contract agreement with its more than 1,400 locomotive engineers, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has announced. If ratified, the agreement would run through 2028. Features include retroactive payments retroactive to 2022, a 30% wage increase (34.12% compounded); 10 weeks of paid parental leave; increased away-from-home […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak service will be disrupted on its New York-Albany route on Tuesday for a third straight day, according to an updated service advisory on Amtrak’s website, although the service suspension is now officially between Penn Station and Croton-Harmon. According to the advisory posted at 5 p.m. EST, service will be much as […]
WINDSOR, Ontario — The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, released a “fact sheet” to local media last week which outlines a $44 million plan to convert a daily Wolverine Corridor Amtrak round trip and a Southwest Ontario VIA Rail Canada round-trip from Toronto into a Chicago-Toronto train. First reported in an interview with radio station CKLW […]
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority has received a $150,000 grant to support its efforts to revive Amtrak service on Montana’s “southern tier” route, as well as other rail projects in a five-state region in the Pacific Northwest. The Missoula Current news site reports the grant was awarded by the Pacific Northwest […]
PINECLIFFE, Colo. — Fifteen cars of a BNSF freight train derailed early today (Sunday, Nov. 12) in the Rocky Mountain foothills west of Denver, leading to a closure expected to block Union Pacific’s main line for 36 hours, according to preliminary estimates. KCNC-TV reports the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office was informed of the derailment at […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak service, between New York City and Albany today (Sunday, Nov. 12) because of structural issues regarding a building adjacent to the line between Penn Station and the connection to Metro-North’s Hudson Line, will see that extension continue into Monday, Amtrak has indicated in an updated service advisory. WABC-TV reports the problem […]
Even if the shoe doesn’t fit, wear it! This is the sort of story that often leads to the most frequently asked question posed to me after speaking publicly, or having written a humorous story: “Did that really happen?” Yes, it did. To quote my favorite locomotive engineer school instructor, “If you tell me that […]
Amtrak Cincinnati services arose from the need to move people between the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. Amtrak moved from Cincinnati Union Terminal to a new station, its first new-built station on its vast network, located on River Road west of downtown on Oct. 29, 1972. On July 29, 1991, Amtrak returned to the monolithic […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Transportation presented a tentative operating schedule for an extension of Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kan. — where it would connect with the Southwest Chief — as part of an online informational meeting Wednesday to seek public comment. The 20-minute presentation included in the meeting […]
NEW YORK — Delays in launching Amtrak’s next-generation Acela fleet have cost the passenger company $140 million so far, and the figure continues to grow, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday in a paywalled article. The figure includes the growing maintenance costs of keeping the current Acela trainsets — the first of which entered service […]
