WASHINGTON — A coalition of 20 state attorneys general has filed two federal lawsuits over a threat to withhold transportation and disaster relief funds unless the states agree to comply with the Trump administration’s immigration policies. One lawsuit names Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, while the other targets the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department […]
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 34-year-old Buffalo man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for setting a fire on Norfolk Southern tracks, destroying trackside equipment. Michael B. Benitez was convicted of an attempt to wreck, derail, set fire to, or disable railroad on-track equipment for the incident in June 14, 2023. A press release […]
Editors note: For more on the Rhätishe Bahn and its heritage fleet, including Switzerland’s one-of-a-kind snowplow, see the July 2025 issue of Trains Magazine. PONTRESINA, Switzerland — Markus Zaugg, head of rolling stock for the Rhätische Bahn, is leading an informal tour of the railroad’s shop building in the mountain village of Pontresina. The town […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation has obligated more than $157 million in funding, allowing construction to move forward on the final phase of the Springfield (Ill.) Rail Improvements Project. The project involves relocating some rail lines from Third Street to 10th Street in the state capital, as well as several grade-crossing separations. The […]
NEW YORK — Rebuilding from hurricane damage and a major tunnel project cost CSX a million dollars a day in lost revenue in the first three months of 2025, the railroad’s top financial executive told an investor conference. “We got hit in the first quarter; it was a difficult winter,” said Chief Financial Officer Sean […]
By 1840, the nation had 2,800 miles of railroad track. In his book American Notes, novelist Charles Dickens captured the flavor of an 1842 trip on the Boston & Lowell Railroad. “On it whirls headlong, dives through the woods again, emerges in the light, clatters over frail arches, rumbles upon the heavy ground, shoots beneath […]
WASHINGTON — Prospective Amtrak board of directors nominee Robert Gleason made clear in his opening statement at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing today (May 13, 2025) that he is committed “to bringing better passenger rail service to small towns across America.” At the same hearing, former Pan Am Railways president David Fink stressed his […]
OWOSSO, Mich. — Pere Marquette 2-8-4 No. 1225 is undergoing a full retube of its boiler, according to a May 12 news release by the locomotive’s owner, the Steam Railroading Institute (SRI). The Berkshire-type locomotive was taken out of service in November 2024, on the eve of its 2024 North Pole Express excursions, due to […]
The Surface Transportation Board has appointed three senior advisors to Chairman Patrick Fuchs. Sharon Clark, Rob Reilly and Chris Bertram will serve in the temporary positions in an effort to help drive reforms, and underscore Fuchs’ commitment to leveraging expert advice, analysis, and ideas on mission-critical initiatives and agency functions, according to a press release. […]
WASHINGTON — With a strike looming as soon as Friday, officials of NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers met with the National Mediation Board on Monday in Washington. No agreement was reached. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri thanked the board for convening the meeting in a statement, adding, “We found the discussion to […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Prime Minister Mark Carney has reshuffled Canada’s cabinet following the Liberal Party’s victory in the April 28 national election — but the transport minister position is one of the few unchanged. Chrystia Freeland — who was Carney’s primary rival to lead the Liberals in party elections in — remains in the transportation […]
In the old days, when an accident had a rail line shut down, it was time to call the big hook, rugged cranes built for the biggest chores in the rail industry. The driving wheels of a passenger-service steam locomotive can be taller than a grown man, a 3-foot section of rail can weigh 155 […]
