Scotland’s ‘Harry Potter’ train suspends operations

Steam train on curved viaduct with large number of people taking photos in foreground

LONDON — British passenger charter train operator and car leasing company West Coast Railways has announced it is suspending operation of the world-famous “Jacobite” train between Fort William and Mallaig on Scotland’s west coast, popularly known as the “Harry Potter train” for the train’s role in the popular movies. The decision, announced just a week […]

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Caltrain retires 32 gallery cars

Commuter train with stainless steel bilevel cars

SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Caltrain has retired 32 of its bilevel gallery commuter railcars to make room for coming electrified equipment, sending them to Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit for storage until a buyer can be found, the agency has announced. The nearly 40-year-old cars were built in San Francisco by Nippon Sharyo and entered service […]

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Broken rail caused 2021 CP potash derailment, TSB determines

Cleanup of derailment scene

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — An undetected rail flaw that led to a broken rail as the train passed over it caused the derailment of a Canadian Pacific potash train at Silton, Saskatchewan in October 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released today (Tuesday, March 26). The incident occurred at 5:02 […]

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BNSF continuing cleanup after Monday derailment in New Mexico

BNSF Railway logo

SOCORRO, N.M. — BNSF Railway is estimating it will reopen its main line at approximately 7 a.m. local time Wednesday after a Monday, March 25, derailment of an undetermined number of railcars near Socorro. The railroad indicated in an advisory to customers that the derailment occurred about 10 p.m. KOB-TV reports that no one was […]

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NTSB looks at NS rules, procedures, and training as investigation of three-train Pennsylvania incident continues (corrected)

Scene of three-train derailment along river

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at Norfolk Southern rules, procedures, and crew training relating to train handling as it continues its investigation into the collision and derailment involving three trains that occurred March 2 in Lower Saucon Township, Pa., according to the preliminary investigation report issued today (Tuesday, March 26). The […]

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Activist investor group would put Norfolk Southern back on PSR path, reduce operating ratio to 57%

Black diesels with high short hoods work at yard

CLEVELAND — An activist investor group says its proposed Norfolk Southern management team would improve the railroad’s operations, service, and profitability by jettisoning CEO Alan Shaw’s resilience strategy and adopting the low-cost Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model. In a letter to shareholders today, Ancora Holdings says its plan for NS would cut costs, focus on […]

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Union Railroad buys land at former steel plant for transload facility

Map of the Union Railroad

DUQUESNE, Pa. — Pittsburgh’s Union Railroad is buying 13 acres of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works to develop a transload facility, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The railroad purchased the land from the Regional Industrial Development Corp. for $400,000 to develop a facility for truck-to-rail and rail-to-truck transloading, according to the development agency’s president, Don […]

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Canadian government to fund rail project at Port of Montreal

Containers on dock at port

MONTREAL — The Canadian government will fund a C$16.75 million project to improve rail access and add storage at the Port of Montreal, Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced Monday, March 25. The project will include rehabilitation of, and adding a fourth track to, the Pie-IX rail bridge, along with adding a storage area, which Transport […]

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