Action may be required on your Trains.com account in order to continue accessing content. Click here to learn more.
Rocky Mountaineer’s GoldLeaf class equipment displays an open platform at Jasper, Alberta, in August 2009. Steve Hobson You may no longer be allowed to experience platform riding and open vestibules on Amtrak routes, but these amenities still appear frequently on tourist railroads and other passenger trains across North America. Several tourist railroads in the U.S. […]
Blue Line train from O’Hare to downtown Chicago travels along the center divider of Interstate 90, the Kennedy Expressway, on April 13, 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen This article is the first of five on transit in the U.S., and North America. Read parts Two, Three, Four, and Five online. Across the U.S., cities have added […]
Amtrak’s Illinois Zephyr passes through Lisle, Ill., on the BNSF Railway on May 25, 2019. Among items in the new Illinois budget is funding for two additional state-supported Amtrak trains and extension of BNSF commuter service into Kendall County. TRAINS: David Lassen SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — In a surprise Saturday session, the Illinois General Assembly passed a […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined a request from the Association of American Railroads to review a lower-court ruling regarding the authority of Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to establish on-time performance metrics and standards for Amtrak operation on host freight railroads. The convoluted legal history of the case has seen a […]
ST. LOUIS — Amtrak’s suspension of Missouri River Runner operation between St. Louis and Kansas City has been extended again, this time through at least Wednesday, June 5. Rerouted Union Pacific freight traffic, the result of flooding elsewhere in the Midwest, continues to lead to track congestion resulting in the suspension. Chartered buses are substituting […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Efforts to advance proposed Amtrak service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth-Superior will have to wait another year after the Minnesota legislature failed to address a bill which included funding for the proposed Northern Lights Express. The proposed $550 million cost of starting the service, including adding capacity to BNSF’s main line, […]
Connecticut Department of Transportation M2 No. 8705 leads a weekend Metro-North New Haven-Grand Central terminal train at West Haven, Conn., March 7, 2015. This M2 set would be one of the last of the fleet to operate until the end of 2018. Scott A. Hartley NEW HAVEN, Conn. – After more than 44 years of […]
A CSX Transportation freight passes Marion (Ohio) Union Station. The site is now a museum with a restored interlocking tower. Brian Schmidt Q Why is the word “Union” used so often in the names of passenger stations and terminals? For example, Cincinnati Union Terminal, St. Louis Union Station, or Denver Union Station. Is there a […]
The westbound California Zephyr passes through West Hinsdale, Ill., on May 23, 2019. The westbound Zephyr will return to its regular BSNF route today after two days of detours and cancellations, while the Southwest Chief and Texas Eagle are also experiencing service disruptions. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — An early morning track closure Friday because […]
A route map of the proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector streetcar. New York City Economic Development Corp. NEW YORK — The proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector light rail line, known as BQX, received its first city council discussion Thursday when the council’s task force on the project received an update on the 3-year-old plan. Gothamist reports that city officials […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate has passed a budget amendment to fund a study of electrification of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Fairmount commuter rail line, the Bay State Banner reports. Electrification is one of the alternatives proposed by the MBTA in its Rail Vision program to evaluate the future of its commuter rail system. Electrification […]
ST. LOUIS — The suspension of Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner service has been extended to at least Sunday, June 2. Flooding elsewhere in the Midwest has led Union Pacific to divert freight traffic onto the route, leading to the suspension of the passenger service. Chartered bus service is providing substitute transportation, stopping at all stations […]
