OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian government has shut down Canadian National and Canadian Pacific operations through the area hit by a wildfire that devastated the town of Lytton, British Columbia. An order issued by Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra, effective as of 12:01 a.m. PDT today, required both railroads to halt train movements except for emergency […]
EDMONTON, Alberta — A major Canadian construction firm has announced formation of a partnership to pursue construction of an Edmonton-Calgary high speed rail line, an estimated $C9 billion, seven-to-nine year project. The CBC reports Mississauga, Ontario, firm EllisDon announced the project to connect the two cities via Red Deer, Alta., with a line to be built […]
TORONTO — The Canada Infrastructure Bank and governments of Canada and Quebec will provide some C$55 million to modernize the remote Tshiuetin railway, Canada’s first Indigenous owned and operated rail operation. The infrastructure bank will provide $50 million in a long-term, fully repayable loan, while Quebec will provide $5 million, repayable in two years. Transport […]
Canada’s busiest railroad corridor remains hobbled nine days after a devastating wildfire in Lytton, British Columbia. Lytton, which was virtually destroyed by the June 30 fire, is in the heart of the directional running zone Canadian National and Canadian Pacific use in the rugged Thompson and Fraser river canyons. Westbound traffic flows over CN’s single-track […]
TROIS-RIVIÉRES, Quebec — Canada’s Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, announced Tuesday that the government was taking the first steps in a long-discussed plan to build a “high-frequency” rail line serving the Toronto-Quebec City corridor, steps which could see procurements begin this fall for the proposed passenger-only trackage in part of the corridor. In advance of a […]
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia — VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian, luxury cruise train Rocky Mountaineer, and Amtrak’s Coast Starlight have had their operations disrupted by western wildfires, with trains running over only part of their routes because of fire damage. The wildfire that decimated the town of Lytton, B.C., halted last week’s westbound Canadian about 100 miles […]
PADUCAH, Ky. — New Brunswick Southern Railway SD70M-2, the first of six locomotives slated to be refurbished for the Canadian railroad, awaits departure from the Paducah & Louisville yard on June 26, 2021, following the completion of work by Progress Rail at its Mayfield, Ky., facility. New Brunswick Southern is one of three J.D. Irving […]
The company that has proposed building a rail line connecting Alaska to the rest of the North American rail network has filed for bankruptcy protection and may be sold to pay debts. Bloomberg reports Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corp. — which promoted itself under the A2A label — received protection from a Canadian court after the […]
Transportation Safety Board to investigate winter increase in grade-crossing accidents The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is opening an investigation to determine why grade-crossing accidents increase during winter months. The agency’s statistics show such accidents increase by 61% in non-vacation winter months (January and February) compared with non-vacation, non-winter months (May, June and September). Along […]
Canadian government stiffens fines for rail trespassing, interfering with operations The Canadian government is increasing fines for trespassing onto railroad property and interfering with railway operations. Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced Wednesday that fines for trespassing will increase from $100 to $500, while the fine for not giving way at railway crossings will increase […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National has released province-by-province plans for capital investments in its Canadian routes during 2021 as part of its C$3 billion capital plan. The railroad plans to replace more than 340 miles of rail in the eight provinces where it operates, in addition to bridge, culvert, signal, and general track infrastructure work across Canada. […]
Amtrak brings back second Valley Flyer, additional New Haven-Springfield trains Amtrak will restore a second weekday round trip of its Valley Flyer between New Haven, Conn., and Greenfield, Mass., as of July 26, along with restoration of three trains on the New Haven-Springfield, Mass., portion of the route that were suspended in March 2020. The […]
