Friday morning rail news in brief: Metro Transit shutdown extended through weekend, now includes commuter rail Citing safety concerns over ongoing civil unrest, Metro Transit in Minneapolis/St. Paul has extended its suspension of all bus and light rail service through Sunday, and expanded it to include Northstar commuter rail. The lone exception is the Blue […]
U.S. Sugar used its restored ex-Florida East Coast locomotive on a cane train this week to mark the end of the harvest season. U.S. Sugar More Friday morning rail news in brief: U.S. Sugar uses steam locomotive on cane train, announces plans for ‘Sugar Express’ Restored U.S. Sugar 4-6-2 No. 148, a former Florida East […]
Former Chicago, South Shore & South Bend car No. 13, left, and Sheboygan Light Power & Railway No. 26 are posed in East Troy, Wis., for a nighttime photo shoot in 2017. The tourist railroad is re-opening to the public with extra health safety measures on May 29. Trains staff EAST TROY, Wis. — The East […]
The dispute between Amtrak and Metra over Chicago Union Station is back before the Surface Transportation Board. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — Amtrak has filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board asking the agency to settle its ongoing dispute with Metra over terms and compensation for Chicago commuter railroad’s use of the Amtrak-owned Chicago […]
Thursday morning rail news in brief: BART announces ‘Welcome Back Plan’ Bay Area Rapid Transit has introduced a 15-step “Welcome Back Plan” for riders returning to the San Francisco-area rail system after the COVID-19 lockdown, including use of long trains to accommodate social distancing, increased train frequency as ridership dictates, and a possible new seating […]
PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak’s next-generation Acela made its first test on Amtrak trackage on Thursday, with the second Alstom-built trainset making a round trip from Penn Coach Yard in Philadelphia to Thorndale, Pa., some 35 miles West of Philadelphia on the line to Harrisburg, Pa. The first Acela trainset continues to test at the Transportation Technology […]
A-Trains meet at the Hebron station in Lewisville, Texas, in 2017. Denton County’s transit agency has approved a budget with staff and service cuts, and deferred capital projects, to deal with financial losses because of the coronavirus. TRAINS: David Lassen More Thursday morning rail news in brief: Denton County amends transit budget because of virus […]
U.S. rail traffic by commodity group and totals for the week ended May 23, 2020 Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 23, 2020. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 428,715 carloads and intermodal units, down 19.2% compared […]
Wednesday afternoon rail news in brief: Virgin Trains, Miami-Dade in talks on commuter operation Virgin Trains USA is in talks with Miami-Dade County about creating a commuter-rail operation on the southern end of its existing Miami-West Palm Beach Brightline route, a $350 million proposal that would see the privately owned passenger operation build five stations […]
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has postponed its Victorian Iron Horse Roundup, a planned gathering of 19th-century locomotives set for Aug. 22-31, to 2021. The event was planned as part of the tourist railroad’s 50th anniversary [see “Cumbres & Toltec announces schedule for 19th-century locomotive event,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 27, 2020]. In a […]
An Amtrak train passes through the bluffs at Del Mar, Calif. The location is set to receive more than $11.5 million for erosion control work. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration today announced the recipients of more than $302 million in grant funds under the Federal-State Partnership for […]
Open-air cars, like this one on the Leadville, Colorado & Southern — shown on a Trains Tour of Colorado private excursion — are in demand for tourist railroads looking to operate in the COVID-19 environment. TRAINS: David Lassen Guidelines for reopening in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak has made one thing clear for museums […]
