Digest: Endangered-species listings forces update to California high speed rail plan

California High Speed Rail Authority logo

Monday morning rail news: Endangered-species listings force California high speed rail to revise environmental report Listing of the Southern California and Central Coast mountain line and monarch butterfly as candidates for endangered species lists have added to the complications faced by the California High-Speed Rail Authority in planning the Bakersfield-Palmdale section of its route. The […]

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Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum photo gallery

Steam locomotive exhausts steam near the ground

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, one of the sacred places of American railway preservation, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary with special operations of legendary Southern Railway steam locomotives Nos. 4501 and 630 and night photo sessions. Sol S. Tucker photographed the activities for Trains the weekend of Oct. 23 and 24, 2021. Nos. 4501 and 630 […]

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FRA issues emergency order requiring train crews to wear masks

FRA logo

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued an emergency order requiring train crews to wear face masks, effective Monday, March 1. The order, to be published in Monday’s Federal Register, is to bring employees into compliance with an executive order requiring masks to be worn on trains and most other forms of transportation, as […]

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BNSF sees 2020 revenue and earnings decline because of pandemic

Train yard

OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s revenue and profits fell in 2020 due to the pandemic-related declines in traffic volume, the railroad’s corporate parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday. Pre-tax earnings declined 6.3%, to $6.8 billion, as revenue fell 11.3%, to $20.2 billion. The railroad’s net income fell 5.8%, to $5.2 billion. BNSF’s operating ratio for […]

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Amtrak seeks to start New Orleans-Mobile service in 2022

Train stopped while a crowd stands beside it

MOBILE, ALA. — Amtrak, attempting to move forward a project that has most funding in place, says it has notified host railroads CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern that it plans to start two daily round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., sometime in 2022. The passenger carrier announced its intentions even though a traffic […]

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