WASHINGTON — Amtrak has reduced the price of its USA Rail Pass from $499 to $299 through Jan. 20. The unusually large discount affords travelers interested in covering a lot of ground or booking multiple-stop itineraries a cost-effective way to get around, as long as they can forego upgrades to sleeping car accommodations or business […]
What is Amtrak’s “rainbow” fleet? Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, and at the time had only one piece of equipment sporting Amtrak’s first logo, E8 No. 4316. This engine is currently offered by Rapido. All of the passenger equipment came from the railroads that joined to form Amtrak, including over 400 from the […]
LOS ANGELES — Extensive flooding and mudslides in the Santa Barbara area caused by more than a week of continuous rain pounding California’s coast have resulted in the cancelation of all Amtrak service north of Los Angeles through at least today (Wednesday, Jan. 11) The Coast Starlight had been cancelled north of Sacramento as a […]
CHICAGO — The Amtrak locomotives that sustained mid-route failures on the Empire Builder in December, stranding the eastbound train in rural Minnesota, are undergoing software and hardware modifications intended to prevent the problems from recurring. Responding to a Trains News Wire inquiry asking Amtrak why the Builder didn’t operate west of the Twin Cities for […]
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A series of storms that have brought significant rain to California have slowed efforts to repair an unstable slope along the Surf Line in Orange County, pushing back efforts to restore through rail passenger service between Los Angeles and San Diego while also raising the cost of the repair effort. The […]
Portland day-trip rail experience: In the coastal Pacific Northwest, a Portland day-trip rail experience is easy enough that you can leave your vehicle at your local train station, and not think about automobiles for the rest of the day. With all Amtrak corridor and long-distance trains calling on Portland, Oregon one can usually find a […]
LATROBE, Pa. — Several upgrades are planned for two Amtrak stations in Pennsylvania this year along the route of Amtrak’s New York–Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian. In Latrobe, Amtrak plans improvements to the Pennsylvania Railroad station built in 1903 to address Americans with Disabilities Act deficiencies found throughout the structure, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. The station has a large […]
CHICAGO — The well-publicized snows that buried Buffalo, N.Y., and resulted in a lengthy cancellation of the New York/Boston-Chicago Lake Shore Limited haven’t been this winter’s only disruptor of Amtrak’s national network. Extreme weather since late December has also been responsible for two significant Amtrak long-distance train cancellations in the west. Flooding truncates Starlight The […]
COATESVILLE, Pa. – Work is underway on a new $65 million Amtrak/SEPTA station in Coatesville, the West Chester Daily News reports. Expected completion is fall 2025. The job includes design, station and streetscape construction, and Amtrak track work at Fleetwood Street, just east of the existing Pennsylvania Railroad station building. According to a Pennsylvania Department […]
Although transportation demand surged during 2022, Amtrak was unable to accommodate much of it outside the Northeast Corridor. Long-distance frequencies cut Attributing cancellations to a surge in the COVID-19 Omicron variant in early January, management began cutbacks that constricted the ability of travelers to include Amtrak in their plans. Most significant was suspension of the […]
Continuing our countdown of the Trains News Wire Top 10 stories of 2022, as determined by a vote of Trains editors, columnists, and masthead correspondents: A lengthy and acrimonious process finally produced a settlement between Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and Alabama State Port Authority late in the year, providing a framework to bring passenger […]
Amtrak has updated its list of weather-related train cancellations for service to western New York, as well as the long-distance Empire Builder. As of 3:35 p.m. CST, these are the planned cancellations and other service change for Thursday, Dec. 29: — In New York, the Maple Leaf is canceled in both directions between Rochester and […]
