Wednesday morning rail news: Minnesota Legislator fails to fund second Chicago-Twin Cities train Efforts to launch a second daily Amtrak train between Chicago and the Twin Cities suffered a setback when the Minnesota Legislature adjourned without providing $10 million in matching funds for a federal grant to advance the plan. The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports that […]
More Wednesday morning rail news: Metra to make changes on UP North, Northwest schedules Metra will adjust schedules on its Union Pacific North and Northwest lines as of Monday, Nov. 2, adding express trains and addressing gaps in the current reduced COVID-19 schedules. On the North line, changes include two inbound trains and one outbound […]
Wednesday afternoon rail news: Groundbreaking for South Shore project features first ‘commuter train’ to Dyer, Ind. Arriving on a South Shore Line train using parallel CSX tracks, officials at a groundbreaking Wednesday in Munster, Ind., for the commuter railroad’s West Lake Corridor project touted the significance of the 8-mile, $945 million branch line that will […]
Still more Wednesday morning rail news: BNSF to resume taconite payments to Superior, Wis., homeowners BNSF Railway will resume taconite-dust cleaning payments to homeowners near its taconite loading facility in Superior, Wis., after having stopped some of the payments earlier this year. Wisconsin Public Radio reports the payments, which the company has paid out for almost 50 […]
Amtrak has released a new video providing a preview of the interior on its New Acela trainsets, with an emphasis on the touchless nature of many features — an important COVID-19 consideration — as well as environmental features like the use of recycled leather for seating. Caroline Decker, Amtrak’s vice president, Northeast Corridor service line, hosts the […]
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern’s third-quarter revenue and profits sank due to pandemic-related traffic declines, but CEO Jim Squires says the railroad is picking up the pace of Precision Scheduled Railroading improvements. “As we continue rolling out PSR, our team sees additional opportunity for efficiency and growth that will close the [operating ratio] gap with […]
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Former Norfolk Southern and Amtrak CEO Charles “Wick” Moorman and retired NS executive Deborah Butler Painter are among members of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority board of directors, which held its first meeting Monday to begin its efforts to improve rail transportation in the state. Created by a law passed earlier this year, the […]
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Two Indonesian narrow gauge locomotives have begun their long voyage home after repairs by Progress Rail in Tacoma, Wash., leaving via the Port of Olympia, Wash., on Oct. 23, 2020. The 3-foot, 6-inch gauge EMD GT38AC locomotives of PT Kereta Api Indonesia, the government-owned primary operator of the nation’s railways, came to […]
The third of 32 steam generators built by BWXT of Cambridge, Ontario, destined to the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station on the shore of Lake Huron, rounds a curve on the Canadian Pacific Waterloo Subdivision, formerly the Grand River Railway, during its Oct. 24, 2020, move on CP. The generator requires three railroads for a line haul of […]
WASHINGTON — Connecticut has received $144.9 million in grants for bridge replacement, NJ Transit has received $18.3 million for upgrades to a Trenton passenger station, Michigan has received $15.57 million for improvements to state-owned rail right of way, and San Diego’s North County Transit District will receive $9.8 million for signal and crossing upgrades as […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — The nonprofit organization that now owns the East Broad Top Railroad is considering rebuilding a mountainous branch line that’s been inactive since the 1940s, a move that would provide spectacular ridgetop vistas and increase the number of destinations available to visitors. The nonprofit EBT Foundation, Inc., owner of the historic narrow-gauge […]
Tuesday morning rail news: Metra board to vote on proposal to lower fares on two lines Fares on the Metra Electric and Rock Island District lines would drop to $2.50 per ride, the same as those for Chicago Transit Authority L service, under a proposal by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. The Fair Transit […]
