If you believe the storyline, Precision Scheduled Railroading has two chapters. The first is an obsession with costs and efficiency that ultimately results in a railroad that moves its tonnage with far fewer locomotives, freight cars, shops, yards, and people. The second chapter is the so-called Pivot to Growth, in which the lean-and-mean railroad uses […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. and General Motors have announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on power systems for Wabtec locomotives, developing GM’s Ultium battery technology and Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell systems. Wabtec CEO Rafael Santana said in a press release that the company’s FLXdrive batter-electric locomotive, which recently completed testing on […]
WASHINGTON — Four light rail projects are among the 22 which have received a total of $250 million in funding under the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants program. Rail projects receiving grants are: — $20.7 million to Seattle’s Sound Transit for the 2.4-mile Hilltop extension of the Tacoma Link light rail project. — $17.4 […]
Metro-North to add trains, increasing service to 67% of pre-pandemic levels Metro-North Railroad will add trains on three lines as of Monday, June 21, bringing service to two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels, and will increase that to 83% of prior service levels as of Aug. 29. The Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven lines will each add […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will return to action Aug. 5, beginning a 10-state tour to include Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. In a message today, UP said the full itinerary has not yet been set, but offered this information where and when the locomotive […]
SMART-TD union asks STB to reject voting trust for CN-KCS deal A major rail union has asked the Surface Transportation Board to reject Canadian National’s request for a voting trust for its merger with Kansas City Southern. Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers, Transportation Division, says […]
North Freedom, Wis.-based Mid-Continent Railway Museum reopened in May for the first time since 2019. Learn how the museum made it through the pandemic and how it’s handling the new environment in which it’s operating. […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The East Broad Top Railroad reached a couple of restoration mileposts over the past week. On Friday, June 11, it reopened for scheduled public passenger service for the first time in 10 years. The owner, the nonprofit EBT Foundation Inc., has run trains for several special events. But this was the […]
MBTA commuter train to offer walk-up COVID vaccinations The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will operate a commuter train offering COVID-19 vaccinations June 16-20 at stations in Boston, Worchester, Lowell, Lawrence, and Fitchburg, Mass. The Boston Globe reports the “Vax Express” will offer walk-up vaccination; while no appointment is required, residents may book a time slot […]
One in an occasional series on Senior Editor David Lassen’s favorite Chicago-area railfan locations Railfanning LaFox, Illinois Well west of Chicago, in a still mostly rural area with suburbia gradually encroaching, is La Fox, Ill., on Union Pacific’s Geneva Subdivision. There’s barely a community to speak of, but it does have a Metra station. […]
In every issue News p. 4 One railroad, three countries; Amtrak asks STB to intervene on Gulf Coast Brian Solomon p. 10 Reading about the Reading Bill Stephens p. 11 Y’all aboard? Preservation p. 44 Trains’ 2021-22 Preservation Partnership: Nashville Steam’s 4-8-4 No. 576 Train-Watching p. 46 Short line: Indiana Eastern Ask Trains p. 48 […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Siemens is putting the finishing touches on Amtrak’s first ALC-42 locomotive, with its departure scheduled for this weekend. The first locomotive, AMTK No. 300, will be hauled in the consist of Amtrak’s California Zephyr departing Emeryville on June 12, a source close to the railroad tells Trains News Wire. After arriving in […]
