Landmark Green River, Wyo., station faces costly preservation effort

Black and white photo of large passenger station

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — The former Union Pacific depot in Green River could cost up to $20 million to restore for public use, with up to $3 million needed just for immediate stabilization and preservation efforts. Cowboy State Daily reports that the imposing structure, built in 1910 and donated by UP to the city in […]

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Canada’s Unifor to vote on strike against CPKC

Logo of Canadian union Unifor

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian union Unifor will vote on a potential strike against CPKC, saying negotiations with the railroad have reached an impasse. The union’s 101R, which represents approximately 1,200 CPKC employees nationwide in mechanical trades, said in a Friday, Nov. 29, announcement that it would hold the strike vote “in the coming weeks.” The […]

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Pere Marquette No. 1225 sidelined from North Pole Express excursions

Steam locomotive rounding curve on a sunny day.

OWOSSO, Mich. — The Steam Railroading Institute’s Pere Marquette 2-8-4 No. 1225 has been sidelined for the remainder of the organization’s North Pole Express excursion season, the organization has announced. The Lansing State Journal reports that the locomotive, built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1941, is not being run on the holiday excursions as […]

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Canadian government to help fund new Toronto subway cars

Logo of the Toronto Transit Commission

TORONTO — The Toronto Transit Commission will receive almost Ca$1.2 billion in federal funding, with more than half ticketed for 55 new subway cars, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced on Friday, Nov. 29. Some $758 million of the federal funds, to be provided over the next decade from the […]

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Wisconsin begins study of second Borealis round trip

Passenger train with road-switcher style locomotive in lead

MADISON, Wis. — The state of Wisconsin has begun studying the possibility of adding a second daily round trip to the Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities Borealis service, WisBusiness.com reports. The train’s ridership has been exceeding projections by 10% to 15% each month since its May 21 launch, Lisa Stern, chief of railroads and harbors for the Wisconsin […]

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Three men charged in theft of Air Jordan shoes from BNSF train

White basketball shoe with light blue sole

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Three men have been each been charged with a pair of felonies after allegedly stealing more than $300,000 in Air Jordan shoes from a BNSF train stopped in the Mojave Desert, the Orange County (Calif.) District Attorney said in a Nov. 27 press release. Nike had placed a GPS tracker in […]

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Lawsuit seeks to overturn Nashville transit plan approved by voters

Commuter train with purple and silver locomotive

NASHVILLE — A group opposing a transit improvement plan passed by Nashville voters earlier this month has filed suit seeking to overturn the results, arguing the plan includes projects not allowed under the state law governing the referendum. The Nashville Tennessean reports that the lawsuit was filed Wednesday, Nov. 27, by members of the Committee […]

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BLET members ratify contract with Florida, Gulf & Atlantic

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen at the Florida, Gulf & Atlantic Railway have ratified a five-year agreement, their first since joining the union last year, the BLET has announced. The agreement, ratified Nov. 21 and announced this week, establishes such work rules as a seniority roster, grievance procedures, […]

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FTA issues safety advisory on transit street running

Purple and silver light rail train rounds 90-degree curve

WASHINGTON — A safety advisory issued this week by the Federal Transit Administration is asking agencies overseeing transit operators to look more closely at street-running rail operations, noting the heightened risk of incidents including fatalities. The advisory issued on Monday, Nov. 25, notes that the number of incidents at street intersection grade crossings are about […]

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Hitachi Rail investing Ca$100 million in developing next generation signal technology

Logo of Hitachi Rail

TORONTO — Hitachi Rail and provincial business agency Invest Ontario are partnering on a more than Ca$100 million investment to develop a new generation of Communications Based Train Control signal technology. The effort will develop a CBTC system known as SelTrac (G9), including artificial intelligence, 5G communications, and edge and cloud computing. It will include […]

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Season arrives for commuter, transit holiday trains

EMU trainset with holiday lights at sunset

Increasingly, the holiday season is also a team for brightly decorated trains on major commuter and transit systems. The New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco areas will all see such trains this year, including a new train on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro North Railroad, and Metra trains with more elaborate decorations. Here’s […]

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NTSB issues preliminary report on fatal accident involving BNSF maintenance-of-way worker

Aerial view of fatal train vs. truck accident

WASHINGTON — A BNSF train was traveling about 46 mph when it struck a welding truck, killing a maintenance-of-way employee, in a Nov. 4 incident near New Rockford, N.D., the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary investigation report issued today (Nov. 27, 2024). A second employee in the truck was injured, treated at […]

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