TILDEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man on his way to work at a fast-food restaurant has been charged with risking a catastrophe after allegedly tampering with a Reading & Northern railroad crossing signal, the Reading Eagle reports in a paywalled article. The article was also posted on the Tilden Township police Facebook page. Ryan M. […]
Rail and road bridges have been key targets as Ukrainian military forces began a counterattack in the south of the country to liberate the city of Kherson and its surrounding area from Russian occupation, according to announcements from the Ukrainian government. The city was occupied in early March. The counter-attack, officially announced in late August, […]
CHICAGO — Metra operated a passenger special Saturday, Sept. 3, for members of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners from Chicago Union Station and return, operating on Metra’s Milwaukee West and Milwaukee North lines. The train’s route took it to Elgin, Ill., on Metra’s Milwaukee West line. The special then retraced most of […]
Two more unions have announced tentative agreements with the railroads’ bargaining group in the current national contact negotiations, the National Carrier Conference Committee. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and American Train Dispatchers Association have informed their members of the deals, bringing the five the number of unions that will bring agreements to their members […]
WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic was up for the second consecutive week, compared to 2021, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Aug. 27, U.S. railroads handled 511,574 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.4% from the same week a year earlier. That figure included 242,633 carloads, up 3.4%, […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has approved an $811 million contract for new light rail vehicles to be built by CAF USA, the American affiliate of Spanish rail equipment manufacturer CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles). A CAF news release says the order will be for 102 vehicles, two driving simulators, parts, tools, […]
CHICAGO — Percy E. Fields III has been named as president and general manager of the Belt Railway of Chicago, succeeding Mike Grace. Fields, 42, has spent more than 22 years in railroading, beginning his career as a conductor for the Union Pacific Railroad. He has most recently been Belt Railway of Chicago’s general manager. […]
Ukraine’s railways have been vital to the country’s war effort since the Russian invasion in February, moving refugees west, away from the fighting, and taking troops and equipment east to the battlefront. In addition, national rail company Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) has been trying to help keep the country’s economy running by enabling exports by rail. In […]
AUBURN, Maine — An Aug. 25 hearing before a Maine Department of Transportation advisory council heard conflicting proposals to use 25 miles of idle state-owned tracks for a Portland-Auburn commuter rail system, or to remove those tracks to create a trail. Meanwhile, a Canadian-based organization, the Night Trains Foundation, has suggested yet another use: as […]
CHENA HOT SPRINGS, Alaska — A small number of the thousands of people who travel to Alaska each winter hoping to see the Aurora Borealis will have a new and very different viewing point starting in 2023. How about soaking in a large tub of natural hot spring water in a warm private room aboard […]
STRASBURG, Pa. — Famed Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 No. 611 will return to steam this fall in a series of limited-time-only events announced by the Virginia Museum of Transportation, owners of the locomotive, and the Strasburg Rail Road, which together are completing the most recent federally required inspection of the 72-year-old locomotive. Among […]
MOBILE, Ala. — A former Alabama Export Railroad locomotive engineer has been charged with reckless manslaughter in the Nov. 17, 2020, death of a Mississippi man who was killed when his track maintenance equipment was struck by the engineer’s train at Prichard, Ala., just outside Mobile. The Associated Press reports that James Jeffery Elder, 49, […]
