The governors of New York and New Jersey have signed an agreement detailing how the two states will fund their portion of the Northeast Corridor’s Gateway bridge and tunnel projects. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy addresses funding for the Portal North bridge over […]
OTTUMWA, Iowa — The City of Ottumwa has agreed to purchase the city’s Amtrak depot, currently owned by the Iowa Heartland Historical Connection. The Ottumwa Courier reports that, by a 4-1 vote on Tuesday, the Ottumwa City Council agreed to purchase the building at a cost of $480,000, funds included in bond approvals earlier this […]
CHICAGO — When bad CSX track caused the northbound Auto Train to derail 14 of 16 Superliners at Crescent City, Fla., on April 18, 2002, Amtrak strategists scrambled but were able to counteract the resulting equipment shortage. Dealing with a similar shock to the system today — such as the one caused by last week’s […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak will restore a second day round trip of the Missouri River Runner between St. Louis and Kansas City as of Monday, July 18, reflecting additional funding by the state of Missouri. The additional round trip will see train No. 311 depart St. Louis at 8:15 a.m. and arrive in Kansas City at […]
Lawsuits continue to mount in the wake of the fatal June 27 grade crossing collision and derailment of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, with suits filed Friday on behalf of five passengers and two Amtrak crew members. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star reports that, while the crossing where the accident occurred was on a state list of […]
SEATTLE — Amtrak Cascades service to Vancouver, British Columbia, is now set to resume in September, according to transportation officials in Washington state and Oregon. A post on the Amtrak Cascades Facebook page says “Amtrak was able to advance the schedule” from its most recent estimate of December 2022, and that the transportation departments in […]
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego area will receive $300 million from the new California state budget for a plan to relocate the Surf Line inland from the Del Mar bluffs, a contribution a regional official called “a critical down payment” on a project estimated to cost $2.5 billion or more. The San Diego Union-Tribune […]
RICHMOND, Va., and ATLANTA — The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and Norfolk Southern have completed financing on the agreement which will expand passenger service to Roanoke, Va., and extend service southwest into the New River Valley. The Western Rail Initiative Agreement sets the stage for the launch of a second daily Amtrak round trip between […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Amtrak and BNSF Railway have filed suit against the company that owns the dump truck involved in Monday’s fatal collision and derailment of the Southwest Chief — and the widow of the truck driver has sued a BNSF employee and the county where the accident occurred. KCTV reports Amtrak and BNSF […]
CHICAGO — The Southwest Chief that departed Los Angeles Tuesday evening and its westbound counterpart leaving Chicago today (Thursday, June 30) are the first Chiefs to operate over the train’s full route, passing the scene of the fatal derailment in Mendon, Mo., since that accident on Monday. Monday’s westbound Southwest Chief was cancelled, and the […]
MENDON, Mo. — The Southwest Chief was traveling at 87 mph — just under the track speed of 90 mph — when it struck a dump truck and derailed Monday in the accident that killed four people, including three passengers on board the Amtrak train. National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy provided that information […]
MENDON, Mo. — National Transportation Safety Board investigators spent their first day on the scene of Monday’s fatal Southwest Chief derailment worked to gather information on train speed and other data from the locomotive event recorder, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Tuesday evening. The NTSB also sought to examine video from the P42 […]
