NEW YORK — The president of New York City’s chapter of the Transport Workers Union has resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct, the union announced. In a statement on its website, TWU Local 100 said that Richard Davis cited health reasons for his resignation, but that TWU International President John Samuelsen had suspended Davis following […]
LAS VEGAS — Brightline West no longer expects to launch operations in time to capitalize on visitors to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, according to a company bond offering. KTNV-TV reports that the 1,200 pages of documents related to that bond offering indicate that passenger service is now likely to begin in December […]
SEATTLE — Growing reliability issues with the expanding Link light rail system have led Sound Transit CEO Goran Sparrman to declare “the existence of an emergency” in the system, which will allow the agency to move more quickly to address operational issues. The Seattle Times reports the emergency declaration made on Jan. 21 is a […]
NEWARK, N.J. — An Amtrak employee has pleaded guilty to participation in a health-care scheme that defrauded the passenger operator’s health plan of more than $11 million. Rodolfo Rivera, 41, of Clayton, Del., pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of […]
WASHINGTON — While Amtrak’s string of weather-related cancellations in the Midwest is officially over, the company continues to deal with a pattern of equipment issues on the Northeast Corridor. Six Acela trains have been cancelled to begin today (Jan. 24, 2025) because of “equipment unavailability,” while a seventh has been scrubbed because of mechanical issues. […]
THOMASTON, Conn. — The Naugatuck Railroad has purchased three former Santa Fe Hi-Level railcars for its excursion operations, the short line has announced. The cars, two lounges and one coach, were acquired from the Steam Railroading Institute of Owosso, Mich., operator of Pere Marquette 2-8-4 No. 1225. The Institute acquired the cars in 2019 and […]
A replica Pioneer coach rides a special flatcar at the Chicago & North Western station in Fond du Lac, Wis., on June 27, 1948. The original operated with Galena & Chicago Union locomotive Pioneer, a C&NW predecessor, in October 1848. Harold Nehls, Lake States Railway Historical Society collection […]
SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Caltrain’s electrified equipment is performing far more efficiently than expected, the agency announced at its month board meeting, which could result in $3 million annually in electric savings. The regenerative braking on Caltrain’s Stadler trainsets is sending approximately 23% of the energy consumed by the system. Electric use is averaging 207 […]
WASHINGTON — Widespread support for a federal grade-crossing safety program emerged during a lengthy House subcommittee hearing, a session which also saw representatives of the railroad industry and rail labor lay down markers for their priorities in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill. The two-hour, 45-minute session today (Jan. 23) of the Transportation and Infrastructure […]
NEWARK, N.J. — N.J. Transit’s CEO says he is ready to “work all night” in an effort to reach an agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which is ready to strike in March if it does not reach a deal on a new contract. “Let’s do it tomorrow,” Kris Kolluri, who became […]
CHICAGO — Commuter operator Metra says it is considering the rarely used option of outside financing to address its increasingly urgent need to replace aging bridges. Metra owns 446 of the 926 bridges on its system, and of those 446, 50% are more than 100 years old and another 30% are more than 75 years […]
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Dreamstar Lines, which hopes to launch luxury overnight train service between San Francisco and Los Angeles, has released conceptual renderings of Art Deco-inspired interiors for its equipment. The company commissioned Designworks, a BMW Group company, to create initial concepts for its plan to retrofit cars with four types of accommodations, in […]
