SAN CARLOS, Calif. — The first full month of electrified service on Caltrain’s San Francisco-San Jose route spurred significant ridership growth, the commuter rail operator says. All-electric operations began Sept. 21. In October, Caltrain carried more than 753,000 passengers, a 54% increase from October 2023. That included average weekday ridership of about 27,000, up 38%, […]
LONGUEUIL, Quebec — Eight cars of a Canadian National train derailed today (Thursday, Nov. 14) in suburban Montreal, releasing a cloud of a potentially hazardous material and leading to a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents as well as area schools. The derailment occurred after 8 a.m. in the community of Longueuil, on Montreal’s south shore, […]
ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Carriers Conference Committee has announced a third tentative national agreement, this time with SMART-MD, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Department. The NCCC is the negotiating unit for the National Railway Labor Conference, which represents U.S. Class I railroads and some smaller operations. It opened […]
PITTSBURGH — The light rail Silver Line will be closed the remainder of this week for emergency repairs after the failure of an electrical cable early Wednesday, Pittsburgh Regional Transit has announced. The affected area is one of the oldest parts of the light rail network, an area where the overhead wire system was rebuilt […]
CHICAGO — Metra’s board of directors on Wednesday approved a $1.135 billion operating budget that maintains current fares, as well as a $366.4 million capital spending plan to continue improvements to bridges, stations, and rolling stock. The budget, about 4.1% higher than that for 2024, includes projections that ridership will increase by about 7%. It […]
NEWARK, N.J. — A new company will become the contract operator of NJ Transit’s Hudson-Bergen light rail line, the NJ Transit board has decided. The board has awarded a $1.5 billion, 15-year contract to the ACI-Herzog joint venture effective Sept. 15, 2025, to take over operation of the 24-station, 20.6-mile light rail line. The contract, […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — VIA Rail Canada is asking a Canadian court to review speed restrictions imposed on its Venture passenger equipment by Canadian National Railway, saying CN has not provided any evidence or valid reasoning for the move. The Canadian Press reports VIA said in a Federal Court filing that “there is no evidence to […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak has fully restored service between New York Penn Station and New Haven, Conn., the company says in an update on its website. Service had been halted between New York and New Haven since Tuesday afternoon because of fires affecting Amtrak’s catenary power system [see “Fire knocks out power …,” Trains News […]
What happened to the caboose? Many factors helped seal their fate, and the demise of the caboose has been mourned in many places, including in the pages of Trains, which bid farewell in a special issue in August 1990. But the caboose hasn’t disappeared. Even today, you can find a few cabooses still at work. […]
WAYCROSS, Ga. — If there’s one dot on the CSX system map that’s more important than any other, it’s Waycross, Ga., the home of Rice Yard. CSX’s largest and busiest hump yard sits at the junction of the railroad’s main corridors to Chicago, New York, Florida, and New Orleans. And with CSX expecting a wave […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak operations between New York’s Penn Station and New Haven, Conn., remains suspended to begin today (Wednesday, Nov. 13) as a result of Tuesday electrical fires in the Bronx. Service was suspended as of Tuesday afternoon because of a pair of fires, one involving a transformer fire at a warehouse and another […]
LOS ANGELES — AAA members now have a new benefit in Southern California: discounts on Metrolink commuter rail tickets. As of Tuesday, Nov. 12, current members of the AAA Auto Club of Southern California will be eligible for a 20% discount on round-trip Metrolink tickets. Members will need to log into their AAA account to […]
