LOS ANGELES — BNSF will extend a weekend incentive program it has been offering at two LA-area intermodal facilities as part of ongoing efforts to address congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The program introduced in September, offering a $50 incentive for oceangoing containers that arrive at its Hobart and Commerce […]
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — With environmental planning completed for construction of a 200-mph electrified railroad from Las Vegas, Nev., only as far as Victorville, Calif., Brightline West has entered into a memorandum of understanding with California transportation authorities to explore extending tracks to an existing Metrolink commuter rail station in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where passengers […]
PETALUMA, Calif. — Current Utah Transit Authority official Eddy Cumins will become the new general manager of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, the agency has announced. KPIX-TV reports Cumins, UTA’s chief operating officer, will join SMART on Nov. 29. “This is a terrific hire for SMART,” the agency’s board of directors said in a statement. “Eddy […]
WASHINGTON — Unsatisfied with their individual efforts, California’s three entities operating intercity passenger rail corridors announced Wednesday that they have formed a coalition to jointly advocate for their operations. The agencies operating Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliners, and San Joaquin will be linked in an organization known as CIRCLE, an acronym that stands for California’s […]
LOS ANGELES — Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight service has been altered because of wildfires in the Santa Barbara, Calif., area. The Alisal fire, burning northwest of Santa Barbara and south of the town of Solvang, has closed the Union Pacific rail line and a portion of U.S. Route 101. KCBS-TV reports the fire, […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Schedule changes are coming later this month for Amtrak San Joaquin and Pacific Surfliner service. Beginning Monday, Oct. 18, the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority will again offer direct Amtrak train service between Sacramento, the state capito,l and Bakersfield, Calif., when it adds a sixth San Joaquin round trip south of Stockton, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway hopes to have its fire-damaged Inside Gateway main line linking the Pacific Northwest and Northern California back in service later this month. The Gateway Subdivision between Stockton, Calif., and Klamath Falls, Ore., has been out of service since July 21, when the Dixie Fire approached the railroad and later […]
PERRIS, Calif. — The Southern California Railroad Museum has added a former Santa Fe bicentennial locomotive to its collection. SD45-2 No. 5704, built in 1973, was one of five repainted locomotives repainted into red, white, and blue at Santa Fe’s San Bernardino shops in 1975 and 1976, and saw action on priority freight trains as […]
LOS ANGELES — Metrolink commuter rail service in south Orange County, and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner operations between LA and San Diego, were scheduled to resume this morning (Monday, Oct. 4) following the conclusion of emergency repairs to tracks near San Clemente, Calif. Service was halted Sept. 16 after a landslide pushed the rail line out […]
PALM DESERT, Calif. — Two people suffered what were described as “critical burn injuries” after a container on a Union Pacific train caught fire Friday, leading to a temporary halt to traffic on the rail line as well as closure of one direction of adjacent Interstate 10 for about two hours. The Desert Sun newspaper […]
ALLENSWORTH, Calif. — Amtrak will offer special train service on Oct. 9 for a celebration at Col. Allensworth State Historic Park, site of a former Black settlement in the San Joaquin Valley. Four Amtrak San Joaquin trains in each direction will stop that day at the site of the former station in Allensworth, located near […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brightline and Siemens Mobility are celebrating the completion of Brightline’s newest trainsets, which will roll off the assembly line at the Siemens Mobility North American manufacturing headquarters and prepare to begin passenger operations. In the coming days, the newest train will depart the factory on a cross-country excursion to West Palm Beach, […]
