News photos: Electrified service begins on Caltrain

Electrified and diesel trainsets meet at station

After a Aug. 10 event involving Gov. Gavin Newsom and other elected officials and VIPs, public service using Caltrain’s electric multiple-unit trainsets began on a limited basis on Sunday, Aug. 11, between San Jose, Calif., and San Francisco [see “Caltrain to place first electric trainsets in service,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 9, 2024]. Two of […]

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Norfolk Southern sets date for RoadRailer finale

ATLANTA — RoadRailer has reached the end of the line. The last runs of Norfolk Southern Triple Crown RoadRailer trains 255 and 256 are scheduled to depart their respective terminals outside of Detroit and Kansas City on the weekend of Aug. 24-25. The freight the aging equipment carries — auto parts in general and particularly […]

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Brightline West obtains $1 billion bond offering

Group of people pose for photo behind "Brightline West Groundbreaking" banner

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Trains News Wire has obtained an 1,160-page “Limited Remarketing Memorandum” issued earlier this month announcing the $1 billion availability of bonds by California and Nevada authorities. The financing is part of Brightline West’s quest to secure operating capital for its proposed 218-mile high speed venture between Las Vegas, Nev., and Southern […]

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Northernmost point on North American rail network to lose service

Map of northern Alberta and Northwest Territories

HAY RIVER, Northwest Territories — Canadian National Railway has begun the process of ending service to Hay River, which currently holds the distinction of being the northernmost point connected to the North American rail network. Cabin Radio reports the railroad filed in May to discontinue service on its Meander River Subdivision between mileposts 354 and […]

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Incoming Mexican government will need $4.4 billion to complete Maya Train, Interoceanic rail projects

Train passing through shower of confetti

XALAPA, Mexico — Mexico’s president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, said Thursday it will take an additional 83 billion pesos ($4.4 billion) to complete the Maya Train and Interoceanic rail projects begun under current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mexico News Daily reports that figure includes about 35 billion pesos ($1.86 billion) for infrastructure to make the Maya […]

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Chicago may ask Union Station to house Greyhound passengers

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago wants Chicago Union Station to provide waiting-room space for Greyhound bus passengers after the expected closure of the city’s Greyhound station in mid-September, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. But Amtrak — Union Station’s owner — says it hasn’t been contacted about any such plan and has reservations about the area’s […]

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VIA Rail Canada’s public meeting discusses challenges, offers explanations: Analysis

VIA corridor assenger train with heritage HEP cars

MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada recaps the company’s forward-looking initiatives and financial performance for calendar 2023 in a 30-minute audio recording of its annual public meeting released on Wednesday, Aug. 7. The session is moderated by Jamie Orchard, VIA’s senior advisor of corporate communication, and features board of directors chair Francoise Bertrand, CEO Mario Peloquin, […]

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California High-Speed Rail Authority selects new CEO

California High Speed Rail Authority logo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ian Choudri will be the new CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the agency’s board of directors announced after a closed-session meeting today (Aug. 8, 2024). Choudri, currently senior vice president for consulting firm HNTB, has more than 30 years in transportation, including work on high speed rail projects in France […]

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Brightline on-board workers file to form union (updated)

Yellow and white streamlined locomotive at station

WASHINGTON — On-board workers with Florida’s Brightline have filed to form a union, the Transport Workers Union of America has announced. The workers made the filing today (Thursday, Aug. 8) with the National Mediation Board, the government agency that handles labor relations with railroads and the airline industry under the Railway Labor Act. Workers involved […]

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