Amtrak filing in Sunset Limited case says UP has failed to preserve key information

Passenger train stopped at station platform under blue skies

WASHINGTON — Union Pacific is not preserving dispatching information relevant to its handling of the Sunset Limited, Amtrak has claimed in a new filing with the Surface Transportation Board that asks the board to order UP to show cause why the railroad is not complying with an STB order to do so. The “petition to […]

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Resourceful Amtrak crew opens lounge for sold-out train’s customers: Analysis

Passengers departing passenger train

CHICAGO — More than 430 passengers rode at least a portion of Amtrak’s southbound Saluki and northbound Illini between the Chicago and Carbondale, Ill., on Monday. Many were taking advantage of a schedule change which made it possible for customers to witness a rare four minutes of totality in the southern Illinois city during the […]

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Amtrak chooses contractor for Unified Operations Center in Wilmington

Corner view of office building

WILMINGTON, Del. — Wohlsen Construction Co. has been awarded the contract for Amtrak’s Unified Operations Center project in Wilmington, Del., the company announced on Friday. The project, expected to cost more than $53 million, will built a 24-hour operations center for national operations, including fleet and onboard crew assignments and coordination of the response to […]

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Superliner shortage limits Illinois eclipse viewing ridership potential

Passenger train crosses road and approaches signal

CARBONDALE, Ill. — For a few hours Thursday, travelers along Illinois’ Chicago-Carbondale Amtrak corridor could book a daytime round trip to next Monday’s solar eclipse “path of totality,” thereby avoiding monumental traffic jams along parallel highways that occurred during a similar event in August  2017. But that window of opportunity closed when seats that briefly […]

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Amtrak chooses joint AECOM/Jacobs venture to oversee Frederick Douglass Tunnel project

Map showing route of the current B&P Tunnel and the planned route of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel which will replace it.

BALTIMORE — Amtrak has selected Advance, a joint venture by infrastructure firms AECOM and Jacobs, to manage oversight of design, construction, contract management, administrative support, and other aspects of the $6 billion Frederick Douglass Tunnel project. The project includes replacement of the nearly 150-year old, 1.4-mile B&P tunnel, a major bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor, […]

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STB’s new passenger committee scope still to be defined: Analysis

Inside of passenger car with "quiet car" signs

WASHINGTON — The “Quiet Car” has become a staple on most U.S. corridor trains and many commuter operations. The innovation was first suggested in 1999 by an Amtrak volunteer organization later dissolved by CEO Richard Anderson after the former head of Delta Airlines was hired by Amtrak’s board of directors in 2017. Amtrak’s Customer Advisory […]

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Union Pacific seeks more time to address operating questions in STB Sunset Limited case

Two silver locomotives with passenger train at station

WASHINGTON — Union Pacific is seeking more time to address one aspect of the Surface Transportation Board case regarding issues with on-time performance of the Sunset Limited. In a filing earlier this week, the railroad requested a 90-day extension to address “narrative explanations of the root cases” of specific delays of 90 minutes or more […]

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CT rail passenger service along the Hartford Line

Travel with Trains.com to the Hartford Line, a busy stretch of commuter railroad operating passenger service between New Haven, Conn. and Springfield, Mass. Opened in 2018 and featuring up to 35 passenger trains a day, this state-supported passenger rail corridor features both CT rail service and Amtrak Regionals. In addition, we’ll view Amtrak Vermonter, which […]

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Port Authority approves project providing neighborhood access to Newark Airport station on Northeast Corridor

Passenger train with electric locomotive

NEWARK, N.J. — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved a project that will provide the ability for local residents to use the Newark Airport station on the Northeast Corridor, previously accessible only for NJ Transit and Amtrak passengers going to the airport. NorthJersey.com reports the Port Authority board this week […]

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Amtrak modifies April 8 schedules for eclipse viewing in Carbondale, Ill.

Passenger train stops at station

CHICAGO — Amtrak will operate modified schedules for two Illinois Service trains to allow passengers to better view the solar eclipse coming up on April 8, the passenger operator has announced. On that day, Saluki train No. 391 will depart Chicago earlier, at 6:35 a.m., arriving at Carbondale, Ill., at 12:05 p.m. to reach the […]

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Illinois senators meet with CN CEO about Chicago Hub project

Passenger train with Chicago skyline in background

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (both D-Ill.) met with Canadian National Railway CEO Tracy Robinson on Tuesday to discuss the railroad’s involvement in the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, the plan to modernize Chicago Union Station and rail routes leading to the station. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) also participated in the […]

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News Photos: Amtrak celebrates California Zephyr’s 75th birthday

California Zephyr logo

CHICAGO — Passengers who drifted in to the westbound California Zephyr’s crowded Sightseer Lounge leaving Chicago on Tuesday found themselves in the middle of an Amtrak-sponsored onboard event commemorating the first runs of the original Burlington-Rio Grande-Western Pacific streamliner on March 20, 1949. They were treated to an informative lecture by Thomas Whitt, director and […]

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