Monday morning rail news: Maryland set to take over Purple Line construction The state of Maryland will take over management of the troubled Purple Line light rail construction project if the current public-private partnership is dissolved, state transit officials said last week in a letter to subcontractors. The consortium that has been managing the project […]
Monday afternoon rail news: Work on bridge for high speed rail project stopped by errors Construction errors, along with possible design problems, have halted work on a major bridge for California’s high speed rail project in Central California, the Los Angeles Times reports. The bridge in Madera County, north of the town of Madera, will […]
Saturday morning rail news: Brightline severs ties with Virgin, will retain current name, image Florida passenger operator Brightline says it has ended its agreement with Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises and will retain its Brightline name and image, although Virgin may challenge termination of the two companies’ licensing agreement. Forbes reports that Brightline reported the move […]
Second in a series NEW ORLEANS – Centralized decision-making dominated Amtrak’s management philosophy both before and after Tom Downs’ stint as president between 1993 and 1998, but his belief that service, revenue, and expense managing choices had to be made close to the customer fueled the return to daily frequencies. To rectify the situation Downs […]
Wednesday morning rail news in brief: Work continues at Tempe derailment site The Federal Bureau of Investigation has completed its investigation into the July 29 derailment of a Union Pacific freight in Tempe, Ariz., KJZZ-FM reports. The derailment and subsequent fire damaged a bridge over Town Lake and closed the railroad’s branch to Phoenix. A […]
Friday morning rail news: Tank car leak at Tempe derailment site contained The tank car leaking a hazardous material at the site of Wednesday’s Union Pacific derailment in Tempe, Ariz., has been contained, officials said Thursday. An estimated 500 gallons of cyclohexanone, a flammable solvent, leaked from the car into a storm drain near the […]
More Friday morning rail news: CN marks record grain year, releases plan for 2020-21 Canadian National announced completion of a record year for grain movement on Thursday, and said it would dedicate more equipment to the commodity next year as part of its 2020-21 Grain Plain. CN moved more than 30 million metric tons of […]
More Friday midday rail news: High speed rail project gets OK for activity bonds from Nevada XpressWest, the Brightline/Virgin Trains subsidiary planning a high speed rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas, has received unanimous approval from the Nevada State Board of Finance for allocation of $200 million in tax-exempt private activity bonds. The […]
Thursday morning rail news: Groups ask U.S. to level sanctions against China’s CRRC A U.S. rail lobbying group is among those asking the Trump administration to level strong sanctions against Chinese rail equipment manufacturer CRRC, in light of a U.S. Defense Department statement linking the firm to the Chinese military. Reuters reports that the Rail […]
Thursday midday rail news: Ford plant in Mexico hit by rail blockade Operations at Ford’s auto plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, and cross-border import-export traffic are being affected by a rail blockade in Mexico, the automaker said Wednesday. Reuters reports the blockade in the border state of Sonora by the indigenous Yaqui community, demonstrating for land […]
Saturday rail news in brief: Damage to W&LE shops could reach $3 million The Wheeling & Lake Erie shops in Brewster, Ohio, sustained damage estimated at close to $3 million in a fire that broke out Thursday evening and was not fully extinguished until early Friday morning. The Wooster Daily Record reports that 23 fire […]
More Friday morning rail news: South Shore aims for October start to West Lake extension work Construction on the South Shore Line’s West Lake Corridor extension, an 8-mile commuter rail branch between Hammond and Dyer, Ind., could begin in October. The Times of Northwest Indiana reports. That date reflects an expectation that the Northern Indiana […]
