MILWAUKEE — The state of Wisconsin has filed a brief document with the Federal Transit Administration in support of a private corporation’s plan to provide commuter rail service between Milwaukee and Kenosha, Wis. — a long-discussed but moribund project dating to 1998. The two-page “Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail Project Development Profile” was filed by the Wisconsin […]
READING, Pa. — The recently created agency to revive passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia has selected a consultant for the project. Patch.com reports the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority voted to employ Washington, D.C., based Transportation for America as consultant, subject to review of the contract by the authority’s solicitor. Transportation Economics & […]
German rail network operators will be able to override existing contracts to prioritize the transport of oil and coal for power generation — potentially delaying passenger and other freight service — under a draft emergency law published last week by the German government. The rule also covers moves of heavy equipment, such as transformers, needed […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak continues to have difficulty operating its full slate of state-supported trains from its Chicago hub, although the reasons for the issues vary. On Sunday, train No. 364, the Blue Water to Port Huron, Mich., and Chicago-Pontiac, Mich., Wolverine No. 354 were combined between Chicago and Battle Creek, Mich. The trains departed Chicago […]
MIDDLETON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has begun service to its newest Regional Rail Station, at the same time it has introduced new schedules. The new Wawa Station at 1490 W. Baltimore Pike in Media, Pa., is the southwestern endpoint of what is now the Media/Wawa line (formerly Media/Elwyn), and carries the […]
KENT, Wash. — The opening of several Sound Transit light rail extension projects will be delayed a several months to more than a year because of various construction issues, the board for the Seattle-area agency was told last week. The Seattle Times reports the East Link project, a line from downtown to Bellevue and Redmond, […]
Thomas T. “Tom” Taber III, 93, of Muncy, Pa., author of numerous railroad books, died Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, at Hillside Senior Living Center in Montoursville, Pa. A Life Member of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, he had been active in the organization since his childhood when he accompanied his father, Thomas T. Taber, […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California High-Speed Rail Authority has completed environmental clearance for the Northern California portion of its route — and for 420 miles of the entire 500-mile route from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim — after certifying the environmental documents for the San Francisco-San Jose section. The final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental […]
UNION, Ill. — Under leaden skies, rainwater pools on the walkway of Progress Rail EMDX SD70ACe-T4 demonstrator No. 7723. On the passenger platform at the Illinois Railway Museum, a much earlier product of Electro-Motive Division rolls to a stop with the museum’s caboose train. Its rain-soaked carbody shining, SD24 No. 504, built in 1959 for […]
READING, Pa. — As promised, Reading & Northern’s restored Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4, No. 2102, saw action in freight service on Friday, Aug. 19, hauling a 28-car train (plus caboose) from Tamaqua to Reading after a light-engine move from Port Clinton, Pa., to Tamaqua. Photographer Gary Pancavage provides two shots of the action. […]
NEW YORK — Domestic intermodal service is running at historically low levels, with trains routinely arriving a day or two behind schedule, J.B. Hunt executives say. “We never saw numbers like this before the pandemic,” Darren Field, J.B. Hunt’s intermodal president, told an investor conference this week. “It’s really a labor and crew issue for […]
NEW YORK — Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation executives say their railroads are slowly on the mend as more conductors begin active duty and start to ease the crew shortages that have caused widespread service problems. Neither railroad has been able to handle freight demand and both have lost traffic to trucks as on-time performance […]
