Schamber named as Metrolink chief financial officer

Smiling man in black coat and maroon shirt with tie.

LOS ANGELES — Tom Schamber has been named as chief financial officer of Los Angeles-area commuter rail operator Metrolink. The appointment, announced Monday, Aug. 18, is effective immediately. Schamber, who has more almost three decades of management experience in accouting, audit, and financial operations, has been with Metrolink since 2016 and has led the financial […]

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News photo: Caboose, remnant of Fillmore & Western, heads to new home

Crane lifting red caboose

FILLMORE, Calif. — A former Santa Fe caboose, one of the last pieces of equipment owned by the defunct tourist line Fillmore & Western that was still on successor Sierra Northern Railway in Fillmore, was moved last week to a new private owner in San Diego. The caboose, Santa Fe No. 999091, was built by […]

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MP15CC pressed into service on the Richmond Pacific

Blue and black, diesel-powered switcher

Richmond, CA — The Richmond Pacific Railroad, a division of Levin Richmond Terminal that serves the Port of Richmond and surrounding industries, announced that its active roster now meets full Tier IV emissions standards. This milestone in environmental compliance was achieved through the recent commission of a MP15CC that was repowered by Western Rail, Inc. […]

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Talgo, LA Metro settle lawsuits over subway car refurbishment

Subway train in station

LOS ANGELES — Milwaukee-based rolling stock manufacture Talgo and transit agency LA Metro have settled a pair of lawsuits filed in 2022 over a cancelled contract for Talgo to refurbish LA subway cars, an attorney for Talgo reports. LA Metro sued Talgo in September 2022, saying Talgo had defaulted on the contract to refurbish 74 […]

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Pacific Surfliner, Coast Starlight route to be disrupted in California

Blue and silver passenger train with bilevel equipment

GOLETA, Calif. — A 16-day project to replace a Union Pacific bridge  beginning Aug. 1 will shut down the route used by two Pacific Surfliner round trips that extend to San Luis Obispo, Calif., as well as Amtrak’s Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight. Replacement of the 127-year-old La Cañada Honda Bridge over Honda Creek in northern […]

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Former Amtrak employee sentenced to 25 months in prison for false unemployment, medical claims

U.S. Department of Justice seal

LOS ANGELES — A former Amtrak employee has been sentenced to 25 months in prison for conspiring to steal nearly $1 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits and fraudently obtaining more than $63,000 in sickness benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California has announced. In sentencing on Thursday, July 17, 2025, […]

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California sues over FRA cancellation of high speed funding

Man speaking at podium under banner marking California high speed rail construction

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California High Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump administration over its termination of $4 billion in previously awarded federal funding for the state’s high speed project. A press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom says the lawsuit alleges the Federal Railroad Administration’s termination of the funding is political retribution “motivated by […]

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FRA kills funding for California high speed project (updated)

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has terminated some $4 billion in federal funding awarded to but not spent by California’s high speed rail program, following through on a longstanding goal of the Trump administration. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the move “illegal” and vowed to fight the decision. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in […]

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CSX and BNSF team up on Florida National Guard’s biggest rail deployment since World War II

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX and BNSF Railway recently completed the Florida National Guard’s largest rail deployment since World War II. CSX originated 10 unit trains that carried 1,265 military vehicles, containers, and systems that were loaded at Fort Stewart, Ga., and transported to Birmingham, Ala., for interchange with BNSF, which then operated the trains to […]

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BNSF and UP settle dispute over Salt Lake City trackage rights (updated)

WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Union Pacific settled their Salt Lake City trackage rights dispute yesterday prior to a scheduled meeting with federal regulators. The deal allowed BNSF to begin international intermodal service between Southern California ports and a new intermodal terminal on Salt Lake Garfield & Western Railway. In a filing posted on the […]

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Long Beach, Calif., container terminal begins major expansion

Aerial-view illustration of container terminal at Port of Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Container terminal operator International Transportation Service has announced the start of a $365 million project expansion of its terminal at the Port of Long Beach that will increase capacity up to 50% and accommodate some of the world’s largest container ships. The South Slip Fill Project, to be completed by 2028, […]

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