WASHINGTON — Amtrak and Canadian National Railway have asked the Surface Transportation Board to extend the deadline for filings in their long-running dispute over an operating agreement, telling the board they are “actively engaged in discussions aimed at settling this complex and long-standing case.” In a joint filing on Friday, Sept. 26, the two sides […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX today announced the re-opening of the expanded Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore following a double-stack clearance project that began on Feb. 1. “The completion of the Howard Street Tunnel reflects the dedication of our people — a once-in-a-generation achievement that will drive commerce, jobs, and growth across Maryland and the East […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board today proposed a procedural schedule it will follow as part of its review of Union Pacific’s $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern. The schedule the board is proposing slightly tweaks the schedule that UP and NS outlined in July. The railroads had proposed reducing the amount of time the […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate an incident on Thursday, Sept. 25, that injured all 11 people aboard a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trolley in Springfield, Pa. The NTSB announcement says the incident involving a trolley on the Media-Sharon Hill line “resulted in the pantograph assembly separating from the trolley and penetrating […]
MONTREAL — The firm building Montreal’s Réseau express métropolitain light rail system has announced additional delays in opening more of the system. CDPQ Infra said in a Thursday (Sept. 25) press release that the RM’s Deux-Montagnes branch will open sometime in November, while the Anse-à-l’Orme branch will not open until spring 2026. A year ago, […]
WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation will loan the Port of Longview, Wash., up to $35.9 million to support the port’s rail expansion project, which will double capacity and enable the Columbia River facility to handle longer unit trains. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the loan yesterday as part of improvements to the Transportation […]
CHICAGO — Metra will be putting its prototype Café Car into service this fall, rotating it across most of its busiest lines and stations and asking riders to take a survey about whether they like the concept and about what amenities and features they would like to see. The car will make its debut in […]
SLOUGH, England — File this under “knowledge I could have done without:” home COVID-19 tests are far less expensive in the UK than the U.S. I know this because I needed to take one, tested positive, and am now self-quarantining on the outskirts of London while the Trains/Special Interest Tours UK Steam trip moves on […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has proposed building a new five-mile branch line to reach a petrochemical plant in Bay City, Texas, that is currently served only by rival BNSF Railway. UP, in a Sept. 24 filing, asked the Surface Transportation Board to exempt the project from regulatory review, as is common for relatively small projects. […]
Of all the bylines to grace Trains magazine’s pages over its 85-year history, likely none matches the record of transportation journalist and railfan Don Phillips, whose monthly column ran in the publication in two separate stints between 1977 and 2018, and whose feature stories covered everything from the creation of Amtrak and Conrail to Staggers […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic declined 2.2% in the week ending Sept. 20 compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported today. Total carloads were down 1.8% compared with the same week in 2024, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was down 2.5% compared to 2024. Two of the 10 […]
OTTAWA — Transport Canada and Canadian Pacific Kansas City have submitted their final application to the Canadian Transportation Agency related to construction of a proposed bypass around Lac-Megantic, Quebec, the site of a 2013 Montreal, Maine & Atlantic oil train runaway and derailment that killed 47 people. The application includes technical documents, reports, and monitoring […]
