Flooding, tornado affect UP operations in Midwest NEWSWIRE

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OMAHA, Neb. – Five Union Pacific subdivisions in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are out-of-service Thursday as a result of extreme weather in that part of the country and the railroad is warning customers that the worst might be yet to come. UP officials say the Cherokee Subdivision between Parsons, Kan., and McAlester, Okla.; the […]

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Illinois infrastructure plan would include $100 million for extension of Metra service NEWSWIRE

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YORKVILLE, Ill. — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal for a six-year, $41.5-billion infrastructure program in the state includes $100 million for the expansion of Metra service into Kendall County, the Kendall County Record reports. A total of $3.4 billion in the plan is for transit projects, the Chicago Tribune reported earlier this week, with $2.9 […]

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Next stop for Big Boy No. 4014: Iowa. From there, eastbound? NEWSWIRE

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No. 4014 will travel to Iowa on an excursion on July 15. Trains: Jim Wrinn OMAHA, Neb. – Where is Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 headed next? The UP Museum has confirmed that its fund-raising trip of July 15 from Omaha to Boone, Iowa, will be pulled by the newly restored 4-8-8-4 that returned […]

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Birmingham Rail & Locomotive acquires Ohio company NEWSWIRE

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham Rail & Locomotive has acquired Ohio’s Austintown Rail Supply, a manufacturer of track products. Birmingham will retain Austintown’s 10 employees and expects to add more to support a rail crane facility at the Austintown, Ohio, site, AL.com reports. Birmingham Rail & Locomotive supplies new and reconditioned rail and other rail materials […]

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Metra board OKs engineering study for extension of BNSF service NEWSWIRE

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An inbound Metra BNSF train stops at the Route 59 station in Aurora, Ill. Metra’s board has approved spending $4.7 million in federal funds to study extension of the BNSF line beyond Aurora into Kendall County, Ill. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — A longstanding effort to extend Metra’s BNSF line service beyond Aurora, Ill., west […]

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Twin Cities light rail line to end 24-hour weekday service NEWSWIRE

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MINNEAPOLIS — Metro Transit will end around-the-clock service on one light rail line, the agency announced Friday, after five years of 24-hour operation. Beginning in August, the Green Line will shut down from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on weekdays, while continuing 24-hour service on weekends, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. That will leave only LA […]

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Wisconsin, Illinois still want more ‘Hiawatha’ trips NEWSWIRE

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Northbound Amtrak Hiawatha No. 333 passes Tower A20 in Glenview, Ill., on May 18, 2019. This is where Canadian Pacific trains enter and leave the Chicago-Milwaukee main line via the tracks at right to reach the railroad’s Bensenville Yard. Bob Johnston A southbound Hiawatha passes Metra’s Glen of North Glenview station in January 2019. Plans […]

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Report: Illinois governor’s infrastructure plan to include $2.9 billion for Metra parent NEWSWIRE

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CHICAGO — Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority would receive almost $2.9 billion in funding under an infrastructure plan set to be unveiled by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Chicago Tribune reports. Those funds would be part of a total of $41.5 billion in a six-year plan to be introduced by Pritzker and paid for in part through […]

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Metra to boost service on BNSF, add summer weekend runs on 2 lines NEWSWIRE

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CHICAGO – Metra will schedule a new train during morning and evening rushes on its busy BNSF Line to address overcrowding issues that developed as a result of positive train control implementation, CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski says. Both trains will be included in a new BNSF Line schedule to be unveiled in June, […]

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UP aims to begin triple-tracking near Geneva, Ill., in spring 2020 NEWSWIRE

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Metra Train No. 25 arrives at Geneva, Ill., on May 7, 2019. Union Pacific hopes to begin triple-tracking this section of main line in the spring of 2020. TRAINS: David Lassen GENEVA, Ill. — Union Pacific is aiming to begin the triple-tracking of a section of its main line through Geneva in the spring of […]

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Illinois DOT bows to opposition on sidings for Hiawatha expansion

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Bowing to opposition from the communities of Glenview and Lake Forest, the Illinois Department of Transportation will no longer support plans for two sidings that are part of a plan to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. Patch.com reports that acting IDOT Secretary Omer Osman said in a letter, released […]

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