WASHINGTON – The Metropolitan Police Department responded to a report of a deceased passenger on Amtrak train No. 92, the northbound Silver Star, at Washington Union Station on Monday, WUSA-TV reports. Police do not suspect any “criminal activity” took place. Passengers continuing north were accommodated on another train. The Silver Star operates daily between Miami […]
DARIEN, Conn. — Short line operator Genesee & Wyoming is seeking an investment partner or considering the outright sale of the company, according to a published report. G&W, which operates 120 railroads in North America, Europe, and Australia, is in early talks with potential suitors, including Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Neither […]
LA JUNTA, Colo. —Even as Amtrak withheld money related to a federal grant for improvements on the route of the Southwest Chief, engineering work for the project began. And in the wake of the death of former Amtrak president Joe Boardman, stakeholders are more determined than ever to obtain the funding needed to complete the […]
DULUTH, Minn. — After a day of meetings with local officials, an Amtrak executive promised Monday that the passenger railroad is “going to deliver” on proposed service between Duluth and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Joe McHugh, Amtrak’s vice president, state-supported business development, told the Duluth News-Tribune that the proposed 152-mile, 2 ½-hour Northern Lights Express is “in the […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s proposed 2020 budget calls for refocusing Amtrak on routes of less than 750 miles and would slash discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation by 21.5 percent, a decrease of $5.1 billion. “Simply put, Amtrak trains inadequately serve many rural markets while not serving many growing metropolitan areas at all,” […]
DULUTH, Minn. — Amtrak officials are scheduled to be in Duluth today and tomorrow for meetings about proposed passenger service between Duluth and the Twin Cities. The Duluth News Tribune reports that Joe McHugh, Amtrak’s vice president, state-supported business development, will meet with Duluth-area officials today and elected officials at the State Capitol in St. […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Bay Area Rapid Transit engineers are conducting “a comprehensive forensic evaluation” to determine what caused a shutdown of the BART system on Saturday. The Saturday morning outage began about 6 a.m.; service was not fully restored until about 11 a.m., the San Francisco Chronicle reports. BART’s preliminary report is that the closure […]
The funeral service for former Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman will be held Friday. Bob Johnston ROME, N.Y.—Services for former Amtrak president Joseph H. Boardman have been announced. Visitation is to be held this Thursday, March 14, in Rome, N. Y. from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Barry Funeral Home, 807 West […]
WASHINGTON — Ridership for the DC Metro rail system has dropped below an average of 600,000 weekday trips — the lowest figure since 2000, before the original system was completed. The Washington Post reports that the number of average trips for the period between July and December was 595,000, a significant fall from the 2008 peak […]
Gerald Murdock, SP’s last chief engineer ST. GEORGE, Utah — Gerald Lee Murdock, the last chief engineer of the Southern Pacific and the subject of a 1983 Trains story, died at age 90. Murdock hired out as a rodman in Ogden, Utah, on SP’s Salt Lake Division in 1947 and worked his way through the […]
WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, speaking on a panel this morning as part of the National League of Cities congressional conference, say they are aiming to complete an infrastructure bill by May. “I know May is probably a little ambitious, but that’s our goal,” says Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., […]
ROME — Italy’s prime minister has delayed the launch of a project to build a high speed rail link to France, a project which divides the two parties in the nation’s ruling government coalition. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte put on hold the finalization of tenders for the multi-billion-Euro project, which would create a high speed […]
