More Friday morning rail news: — The Tennessee legislature’s transportation committee has passed a bill supporting a feasibility study for Amtrak service between Nashville and Atlanta, responding to an idea proposed by Amtrak in January [see “Amtrak suggests new routes to Tennessee legislative committee,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 17, 2020]. Curbed Atlanta reports the study […]
A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Jamaica station on Aug. 18, 2019. The LIRR’s efforts to implement positive train control face a new issue involving interoperability with Amtrak trains. TRAINS: David Lassen A look at Friday morning rail news: — Installation of positive train control on the Long Island Rail Road faces a […]
New EMD F40PH diesels lead the westbound San Francisco Zephyr east of Denver in June 1981. Amtrak acquired more than 200 such locomotives in multiple batches. Bob Johnston photo […]
The left operator’s screen displays brake pressure, power consumption, and other information. The temporary wi-fi antenna above the screen facilitated transmission of data from sensors during the train’s trip to Colorado. Bob Johnston The screen shown above is to the left of the operator’s seat, which is centered in the cab interior. TRAINS: David Lassen […]
LISLE, Ill. – Amtrak’s next generation Acela Express equipment is continuing its journey west to Pueblo, Colo., for high-speed testing this week. Trains’ staff caught up with the train at Lisle on Tuesday evening after it departed Chicago Union Station. The prototype set is traveling from Buffalo, N.Y., to La Junta, Colo., on the route […]
Monday morning rail news: — Amtrak service to and from Canada was disrupted Sunday by the rail blockades in that country. The Maple Leaf originated and ended in Niagara Falls, N.Y., instead of Toronto; the northbound Adirondack terminated in Albany rather than Montreal, while the southbound train originated in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Some Amtrak Cascade trains […]
WASHINGTON – The first of Amtrak’s 28 new Acela trainsets, scheduled to enter service throughout the Northeast Corridor in 2021, will be leaving from Alstom’s facility in Hornell, N.Y. on Monday, Feb. 17 for high-speed testing at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colo. Nine months of dynamic testing will include the trainset’s pantograph, railway […]
A jury has awarded more than $10 million to a passenger injured in the December 2017 derailment of an ‘Amtrak Cascades’ train in DuPont, Wash. Steve Carter More Thursday morning rail news: — In the latest trial stemming from the fatal December 2017 crash of an Amtrak Cascades train at DuPont, Wash., a jury has […]
Five men have filed suit over this January 2018 accident involving a chartered Amtrak train for Republican members of Congress. Rep. Jeff Denham, via Twitter Still more news for your Monday morning: — Four people who were aboard a special Amtrak train that hit a trash truck in a fatal 2018 accident have sued the […]
Catching up on weekend rail news: — Protesters continued to block Canadian National rail lines near Belleville, Ontario, disrupting Canadian National and VIA Rail Canada. The National Post reports that VIA cancelled 18 trains on Sunday and said service will not resume “until the issue is resolved.” The indigenous group blocking the tracks is demonstrating […]
LOS ANGELES — An acupuncturist was sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison on February 4, and was ordered to pay more than $2.68 million in restitution to Amtrak after defrauding the railroad’s health care plan for approximately $3.8 million in acupuncture treatments and other services that were either medically unnecessary or never provided. […]
MOBILE, Ala. — The Mobile City Council has pledged its financial support to returning Amtrak service to the Gulf Coast, voting 6-1 to support the Southern Rail Commission’s grant application for the New Orleans-Mobile service, WKRG-TV reports. With the vote, the council pledges up to $3 million toward operating expenses over the first three years […]
