WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration will hold a meeting this week with South Florida rail operators, as well as government and law-enforcement officials, to discuss safety efforts in the wake of ongoing fatal accidents involving Brightline passenger service. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports Brightline, Amtrak, CSX, and commuter agency Tri-Rail will be part of […]
Southern Railway 2-8-2 No. 4505 — sister to excursion star 4501 — tramps up Saluda Grade in the pouring rain on Aug. 3, 1950. You can bet there’s another engine shoving hard on the rear to get the train up the 4.7 percent grade. August A. Thieme Jr. photo […]
WASHINGTON — Questions raised by Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman and other board members Wednesday, during the second day of a hearing over Amtrak service on the Gulf Coast, pointed to the key issues on which the case will likely be decided. Following Wednesday’s conclusion of the public-comment portion of the case, which featured […]
WASHINGTON – Active cross-examination by Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman and other board members marked almost eight hours of testimony Tuesday on the first of two days of public comment on the ramifications of two proposed daily Amtrak round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. Some 45 witnesses spoke Tuesday. While most repeated […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — Brightline has completed construction in the first of the four construction zones in its expansion from West Palm Beach to Orlando, Fla., finishing the small but complicated 3.5-mile Zone 2 in and around Orlando International Airport. “Our construction through OIA presented one of the most complex construction efforts of this entire project […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has released the list of those scheduled to testify during the public-comment portion of its hearing on Amtrak’s request to start Gulf Coast service, the first stage of which is set for Tuesday, Feb. 15. Tuesday’s proceeding will be held via Zoom starting at 9:30 a.m. EST, beginning with […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Brightline train has arrived in Orlando for the first time. The new “Bright Blue 2” trainset was delivered to the passenger operator’s Vehicle Maintenance Facility, nearing completion. The facility is near Orlando International Airport, the northern terminus for the extension of service planned in 2023. “To see these trains begin to […]
DOUGLAS, Ga. — Both members of the train were reported to have been taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries after a CSX intermodal train struck a truck and derailed in Douglas, Ga., on Monday afternoon. WFXL-TV reports that the train of two locomotives and 39 cars struck an unoccupied semi truck that […]
WASHINGTON — There are now dueling petitions over Amtrak’s effort to launch Gulf Coast passenger service. CSX Transportation last week asked shippers to sign a petition or send letters to the Surface Transportation Board in support of its position opposing Gulf Coast service unless Amtrak pays for extensive infrastructure work [see “CSX seeks shipper support […]
WASHINGTON— More than a dozen rail shippers and trade associations from across North America have written to federal regulators to express concern about how proposed Amtrak service on the Gulf Coast could harm freight service between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans. Most of the submissions are form letters that urge the Surface Transportation Board to […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation aims to round up shipper support before a Surface Transportation Board hearing this month regarding Amtrak’s controversial quest to launch passenger service on the Gulf Coast. In an email to the railroad’s customers, CEO Jim Foote asked shippers to sign a petition or to write to the STB directly regarding […]
Amtrak has added to its previously announced list of storm-related cancellations for today (Thursday, Feb. 3; see “Winter storm brings cancellations …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 2, 2022), while also modifying schedules for trains in New England today and Friday and adding one Friday cancellation in the Midwes Added to the previously list of cancellations […]
