LONDON — As widely expected, the British government has announced the end of the passenger franchise system introduced as the means of privatizing the rail industry in 1996 and will introduce a new concession system to take its place. U.K. Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps told the media last month, “The model of privatization adopted 25 […]
Saturday morning rail news: Blockade blocking KCS de Mexico service to port reaches 24th day A blockade of Kansas City Southern de Mexico tracks in Michoacan, Mexico, reached its 24th day on Friday, continuing to halt service to and from the port of Lazaro Cardenas. Mexico News Daily reports that more than 70 teachers and […]
Monday morning rail news: CN workers suffer serious injuries when hit by vehicle at grade crossing Two Canadian National Railway employees were hospitalized with serious injuries when they were struck by a vehicle while doing repairs at a grade crossing in Alberta late Friday night. Global News reports the accident occurred about 11:30 p.m. when […]
Thursday midday rail news: Ford plant in Mexico hit by rail blockade Operations at Ford’s auto plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, and cross-border import-export traffic are being affected by a rail blockade in Mexico, the automaker said Wednesday. Reuters reports the blockade in the border state of Sonora by the indigenous Yaqui community, demonstrating for land […]
Wednesday afternoon rail news in brief: Virgin Trains, Miami-Dade in talks on commuter operation Virgin Trains USA is in talks with Miami-Dade County about creating a commuter-rail operation on the southern end of its existing Miami-West Palm Beach Brightline route, a $350 million proposal that would see the privately owned passenger operation build five stations […]
A view of Athens. ABB ATHENS — Legend has it that the Ancient Greek goddess Athena dropped a rock in shock after bad news and out of it grew Mount Lycabettus. Today the mountain is one of Athens’ most popular tourist destinations, offering panoramic views across the city. Each year, thousands of visitors make the […]
Long Island Rail Road trains await action at New York’s Hudson Yards. More than 40% of New Yorkers surveyed indicated they will avoid transit after the coronavirus pandemic. TRAINS: David Lassen More Friday morning rail news in brief: — More than 40% of New York City residents surveyed say they plan to avoid mass transit […]
A doubleheaded Cumbres & Toltec train heads out of Chama in October 2018. The narrow gauge railroad plans to run just one train daily in 2020. TRAINS: David Lassen Wednesday morning rail news: — The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad will operate six days per week and only run one train per day during its […]
Trains’ International news round-up for May 11, 2020 — MONGOLIA (via AKIPress.com) Construction of more than 400 miles in rail line continues in southern Mongolia despite threats posed by Coronavirus, according to AKIPress. The new lines connect two settlements in the south part of the country with the border with China at Gashuunsukhait. One of […]
A Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train heads toward downtown from O’Hare Airport. The CTA is among agencies asking for $32 billion in federal aid. TRAINS: David Lassen Saturday morning rail news: — Chief executives of 15 major transit agencies, including New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles Metro, and the Chicago Transit Authority, have […]
Editors’ note: The author and photographers are graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s rail engineering program. This is their first Trains byline. In North America, the days of steam railroading are a distant memory, and coal traffic is slowly headed the way of steam. In Europe and Japan, steam enthusiasts eagerly attend steam […]
One end of an ETR500 train set. Bombardier’s expertise will ensure continuous availability of consumable spare parts and repairable components for the ETR500 Frecciarossa fleet. Bombardier BERLIN — Bombardier Transportation and Trenitalia have signed a new contract for integrated logistics services to support the fleet of ETR500 very high-speed trains. The base order is for six […]
