WASHINGTON — With all long-distance trains except Auto Train now running on less-than-daily schedules, Amtrak has finally introduced a booking feature on its website that automatically directs customers to the next available day when they request tickets on a day a train is not running. Downloadable and printable schedules that reflect days of service for each station on a long-distance […]
Sound Transit has named David H. Wright as Chief Safety Officer, filling a position created as a result scrutiny stemming from the fatal December 2017 wreck of an Amtrak Cascades train on a rail line owned by the agency. His career includes 16 years in safety roles at the Chicago Transit Authority, including a key […]
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern will idle the hump at its yard in Macon, Ga., next week and close several local yards around Atlanta as part of a redesign of its carload and intermodal networks in the South. Macon will be the sixth hump NS has idled since 2019 under its shift to a Precision […]
WASHINGTON — Continuing recent trends, U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 24, 2020, showed an overall increase over the corresponding week in 2019 thanks to increased intermodal volume, while year-to-date traffic remains well below 2019 levels. Total traffic for the week was 522,653 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.9% increase over previous-year levels. […]
WASHINGTON — Eleven projects in nine states have received grants totaling more than $291 million under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. Awards were announced this morning. The program is intended to improve intercity passenger rail performance with repair or replacement of publicly owned assets; many of the projects receiving […]
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 […]
