Wednesday morning railnews: SMART officials ask for vaccine priority for transit workers Officials with Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit are urging California’s governor to give transit workers priority in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, including those who operate SMART’s trains. The Marin Independent Journal reports that, in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, board president Eric Lucan […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration is proposing changes to positive train control regulations that would change the process which railroads must follow in order to make changes to their PTC safety plans and FRA-certified PTC systems, and change railroads’ requirements for reporting on PTC performance. In a proposed rule published earlier this month, the […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has granted BNSF Railway temporary trackage rights over its lines between Stockton and Keddie, Calif., for the movement of unit ballast trains to and from a quarry at Elsey, Calif. The trackage rights, disclosed in a regulatory filing this week, cover UP’s Oakland, Sacramento, and Canyon subdivisions. The 187.5 miles of […]
Tuesday afternoon rail news: BART to stop accepting new Bombardier railcars because of reliability issues Bay Area Rapid Transit will stop accepting delivery of new railcars from Bombardier because of unresolved reliability issues. KNTV-TV reports BART says the “Fleet of the Future” cars have software issues that make the train routinely stop while in service, […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration says U.S. railroads have met the deadline for positive train control implementation, with the safety system in operation on all 57,536 miles where it is required, FRA certification of all host-railroad systems, and interoperability functioning where required between host and tenant railroads. “On behalf of extraordinary professionals at FRA […]
By: Dan Zukowski The COVID-19 pandemic dominated transit industry news this year, but there were other important stories not to be overlooked: Remembering transit workers felled by the coronavirus Nearly 900 Chicago Transit Authority workers tested positive for COVID-19 and eight have died. In New York, a quarter of transit workers contracted the disease, with […]
Trains Magazine’s offices are set for an extended closure this, along with those of other Kalmbach Media publications, as staff members get to welcome the New Year with their families. After closing at the end of today’s normal business hours, the offices will remain closed Dec. 30-Jan. 3. If you contact us during that period, […]
Tuesday morning rail news: Cleanup of NS derailment in Gary, Ind., could keep highway closed 10 days It could be another 10 days before U.S. Route 12 is reopened in Gary, Ind., at the site of a pre-Christmas derailment of a Norfolk Southern train. The Chicago Tribune reports that while NS reopened its line on […]
By: Dan Zukowksi For America’s transit riders, the decade that opened on Jan. 1, 2020, offered the promise of more and better train service. Over the past 20 years, 17 new commuter rail systems and 21 additional light rail and streetcar lines gave riders more choices and faster commutes. For America’s transit agencies, the two […]
By: George W. Hamlin LYNCHBURG, Va. – The COVID-19 pandemic, and associated restrictions on travel and large group meetings has played havoc with a number of railroad-oriented events in 2020. Both the annual Summerail and Winterrail photography-oriented events were cancelled, as was the annual National Railroad Historical Society’s national convention. In some cases, local and […]
Removal of tank cars from site of BNSF derailment, fire to begin After the Washington Department of Ecology spent the weekend emptying any remaining oil, removal of the tank cars involved in last week’s derailment and fire of a BNSF oil train in Custer, Wash., is scheduled to begin today, KING-TV reports. Multiple agencies continue […]
Three freight rail stories that may not have received the attention they deserved: FRA’s new brake rule The Federal Railroad Administration’s new rule extending the time parked freight cars can be left off air will accelerate operational changes that were already under way on the Class I railroads. The long-awaited rule, adopted Dec. 11, will […]
