NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Valley Flyer service between New Haven, Conn., and Greenfield, Mass., will be made permanent, Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Amtrak officials announced Friday. The extension of New Haven-Springfield service to Greenfield was launched as a two-year pilot program on Aug. 30, 2019 [see “‘Valley Flyer’ shuttles … to being Aug. 30,” Trains […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled two more days of hearings next month on Amtrak’s efforts to launch Gulf Coast passenger service after the passenger carrier, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile, Ala., failed to reach an agreement through board-sponsored mediation. The evidentiary hearings will be Nov. 17-18, beginning at […]
Amtrak will change its policies in the wake of a disastrous trip of a Chicago-bound Wolverine train earlier this month, prioritizing getting passengers off trains without heating, air condition, electricity and/or toilets, the MLive.com news site reports. Passengers involved in the 19-hour trip from Pontiac, Mich., to Chicago that began at 6 a.m. on Oct. […]
ST. LOUIS — Amtrak’s board of directors will hold a public meeting on Dec. 1 at the Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, the company has announced, with the public invited to attend in person or on line. The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. CST, and will review fiscal 2022 and […]
Amtrak St Louis services have included routes to the East, Southwest, and other Midwest points throughout its 50-plus-year history. At one time, the Gateway City was a secondary Midwest hub for Amtrak. Long-distance trains serving St. Louis through the years included the Inter-American, National Limited, and Texas Eagle. Additional short-distance trains include services to Chicago […]
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Metrolink will resume weekend operations to and from its San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, and San Clemente Pier stations as of this Saturday, Oct. 29, while Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner will offer an updated schedule for service south of Irvine as of Monday, Oct. 31. Metrolink’s limited return of service will be […]
Amtrak NPCU “Cabbage” Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin plug, $239.95; with dual-mode sound decoder, $349.95 Era: 1990s to present (varies depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Amtrak Non-Powered Control Unit features: Enlarged marker lights, supplementary air reservoirs, and a K5LA horn Operating strobe lights, […]
WASHINGTON — The Rail Passenger Association is asking for an expedited federal review of the disastrous 19-hour trip of an Amtrak Wolverine train earlier this month — a 304-mile trip that should take less than six hours — and is asking to be allowed to observe that review when it takes place. That Oct. 7 […]
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Iowa City City Council has approved the purchase of three residential properties for the site of a possible Amtrak station, the Daily Iowan newspaper reports. The three parcels are being purchased for $475,000. They would provide the location for a station should Amtrak launch a long-discussed Chicago-Quad Cities passenger service, […]
MONTREAL — Operating as Amtk 694 (the train number Canadian National has always assigned to the southbound Adirondack while on CN rails), an Amtrak requalification run heads to Montreal’s Central Station on Thursday as it passes the mostly drained Peel Basin. While Amtrak service to Vancouver and Toronto was restored earlier this year, there is still […]
California Zephyr day trip to Winter Park Amtrak’s California Zephyr is irrefutably one of the passenger railroad’s most picturesque and famed routes, for rail enthusiasts and historians alike. And thanks to the California Zephyr schedule today, passengers can enjoy a beautiful segment of the route in a single day and mostly in daylight hours year-round. […]
KEYTESVILLE, Mo. — Amtrak and BNSF have requested a change of venue for state lawsuits resulting from June’s fatal derailment of the Southwest Chief. KMIZ-TV reports the companies are asking that at least three suits be moved from Chariton County — site of the accident near Mendon, Mo., that killed four people — under a […]
