SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s legislature has passed a bill seeking to expand the state’s collaboration with Washington state and other entities to improve passenger and freight rail operations in the Cascades Corridor. HB3233 was passed by a 16-12 vote of the state Senate on Tuesday, April 29, after the House passed it by a 44-12 […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has eliminated 20 chief dispatching positions at its Network Operations Center. “We consolidated some duties to better reflect the flow of traffic on our network,” railroad spokesman Zak Andersen says. “Those affected will return to their previous roles as dispatchers.” Separately, BNSF is seeking to extend a crew district […]
WASHINGTON — Responding to criticism on a number of fronts, Amtrak President Roger Harris said the company’s plan for repairs to New York’s East River Tunnel is “the safest, most efficient, reliable, and timely to complete the full rehabilitation … making it the best use of taxpayer investments.” Harris, in a three-page letter dated May […]
DENVER — Colorado has joined the lengthy list of states where lawmakers are seeking to address rail safety, but its legislators are taking a different approach. Senate Bill 162 would charge a fee to state’s Class I railroads and passenger operators to fund the hiring of safety inspectors by a state rail safety agency. It […]
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit is urging customers to work from home if possible and limit travel on its system to “essential purposes only” in the event of a strike by locomotive engineers, which could come as soon as Friday, May 16. The transit agency today (April 30) released a contingency plan for a potential […]
Add carbon capture to the list of potential ways railroads could reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from their fleets of diesel-electric locomotives. Remora, a Michigan-based startup company, is developing a tender-based system that can capture carbon dioxide from locomotive exhaust, liquify the gas, and store it on board. The liquified carbon dioxide would be […]
BOSTON — A Massachusetts Senate committee has announced an investigation into the early operating issues on the South Coast Rail project that opened last month, saying responses to date “lacked specific assurances to riders and the public at large.” The Bedford (Mass.) Standard-Times reports that Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), chair of the Senate Committee […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — With transit agencies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh both warning of catastrophic service cuts without additional state funding, two Pennsylvania state senators have announced plans for legislation to help fund transit statewide. State Sens. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) and Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) are proposing creating funding from three sources: — A 6% excise fee […]
INDIANAPOLIS — A broken rail led to the derailment that sent several cars off an overpass and onto an Indianpolis roadway earlier this month, CSX Transportation told the Indianapolis Star. The broken rail in the railroad’s Hawthorne Yard in southeastern Indianapolis led to a six-car derailment about 6:35 p.m. on April 6, with five cars […]
BRUNSWICK, Maine — Maine Switching Services on Monday (April 28) finalized a lease agreement with Maine’s Department of Transportation that will allow freight operations to resume on the 56.6-mile, state-owned former Maine Central branch between Brunswick and Rockland, Me. The operating entity will be known as the Cumberland & Knox Railroad (CKRR), named for the […]
FEDERALSBURG, Md. — Shortline company Carload Express has officially assumed control of the Maryland & Delaware Railroad, a move approved by the Surface Transportation Board earlier this year. The transaction — approved by the STB in a decision announced Jan. 2 — became official on April 23. The railroad’s rebuilt Alco RS3m locomotives have been […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling for Amtrak to revise its plans for East River Tunnel repairs in light of cuts to Empire Service operations that began on Monday, as well as concerns about the impact on Long Island Rail Road commuters. Also, one of New York’s members of Congress has […]
