BNSF Railway train Q-CHCSSE (quality intermodal, Chicago, Ill., to South Seattle, Wash.) pulls up the 2.2% grade at Berne on BNSF’s Scenic Subdivision in Washington Jan. 5, 2020. The train is about to enter the Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass. The snow on this day was the beginning of a multiple-day weather event in the […]
WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads has expressed support for a plan by the White House to dramatically change the National Environmental Policy Act and streamline the environmental review process for infrastructure projects. NEPA requires the federal government to review how major infrastructure projects would impact the environment, but federal officials say it is […]
Austin Capital Metro has resumed Saturday commuter rail service. The Saturday service had been stopped to allow for construction and positive train control installation. TRAINS: David Lassen AUSTIN, Texas — Austin’s Capital Metro has resumed Saturday service on its 31-mile commuter rail line between downtown and Leander, Texas, six months after suspending the service. KVUE-TV […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2020-2021 budget would provide $4.2 billion for the state’s High Speed Rail Authority over five years. “The High Speed Rail Authority is continuing to construct the Central Valley segment completing electrified High Speed Rail from Merced to Bakersfield with Proposition 1A bonds, federal funds, and 25 percent of […]
Southbound Amtrak San Joaquin train 710, operating former New Jersey Transit Comet equipment on BNSF tracks, passes under the American Avenue overpass south of Fresno, where California High Speed Rail construction segment CP-2 begins. The high speed rail right-of-way west of those tracks has been cleared in the foreground. Bob Johnston Behind the trees on […]
An inbound Metrolink Ventura County Line train approaches the Corbin Avenue grade crossing in Northridge, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2020. Metrolink will end its operating contract with Amtrak, according to an Amtrak memo. TRAINS: David Lassen LOS ANGELES — Commuter railroad Metrolink will not renew its operating contract with Amtrak, Amtrak executive Stephen Gardner has […]
CORONADO, Calif. — A few final notes from last week’s National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Conference at the Hotel Del Coronado: NS communications restructuring: One unique aspect of Norfolk Southern’s “reimagining,” — its label for Precision Scheduled Railroading-style changes — is that it has spun off its communication and signals group, historically part of its engineering […]
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner No. 785 heads north through Del Mar, Calif., just before sunset on Jan. 4, 2020. The San Diego Association of Governments is putting together a project to stabilize the slide-prone bluffs in Del Mar, but eventually wants to relocate the rail line inland. TRAINS: David Lassen CORONADO, Calif. — Transit agencies from San […]
A Tri-Rail train parallels Interstate 95 as it heads south from West Palm Beach toward Miami. The commuter railroad set a ridership record in 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen MIAMI — The Miami-area Tri-Rail commuter service set a ridership record in 2019, carrying 4,495,039 passenger, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority announced last week. The figure […]
KNAPP, Wis. – A Union Pacific freight train derailed near Knapp on Sunday, blocking UP’s former Chicago & North Western Milwaukee-St. Paul main line. The eastbound train, the MNPAL (North Platte, Neb., to Altoona, Wis.) derailed about 35 cars around 4 p.m. at U.S. Highway 12 and 190th Street near the Village of Knapp. The […]
No. 1216 leads an Escanaba & Lake Superior freight east of Channing, Mich., on Oct. 25, 1982. Steve Glischinski WELLS, Mich. – The owner of the only two surviving Baldwin RF-16 “Sharknose” diesel locomotives says they will eventually go to a museum. Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad owner and President John Larkin, in an exclusive […]
BNSF locomotives remain in the Kootenai River following a Jan. 1 derailment. Idaho State Police BONNERS FERRY, Idaho – BNSF Railway is going fishing for locomotives. More than a week after a derailment along Idaho’s Kootenai River closed BNSF Railway’s main line to the Pacific Northwest for nearly three days, two locomotives are still in […]
