News photos: Metra tests waters of O’Hare service with convention shuttle

View of three-car train from atop building

CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention may be over, but Metra’s O’Hare Shuttle service, operating between Chicago Union Station and the airport, will continue for a few more days. The commuter operator arranged with Canadian National, host railroad on the North Central Service portion of the route, and CPKC, dispatcher of the Milwaukee West segment, […]

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Caltrain offers first look at all-electric schedules

SAN FRANCISCO — A month before Stadler electric, bilevel multiple-unit trainsets are set to completely transform Caltrain’s 51-mile corridor from downtown San Francisco to San Jose, Calif., commuters are getting their first look at specifics of the schedules to be implemented beginning Sept. 21. Some electric trainsets began operating earlier this month [see “News photos: […]

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Canadian commuter operations remain shuttered because of lockouts

Green and white commuter train led by cab car

The apparent end of lockouts at CPKC and Canadian National is not bringing an immediate return for commuter rail service halted by the labor dispute. Commuter lines suspended Thursday in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal will remain out of service today (Friday, Aug. 23) despite the government order to send the dispute between the railroads and […]

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Metro-North’s Waterbury Branch could remain closed for five weeks

Group of people looking over washout on rail line

WATERBURY, Conn. — It could take up to five weeks and several million dollars to repair severe flood damage on Metro-North Railroad’s Waterbury Branch, officials said during a Thursday tour of damage on the commuter rail line. Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi said the damage from the storm on Sunday, Aug. 18, that halted operations caused […]

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Lockouts begin on CN, CPKC

Red locomotives of CN and CP in yard

Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are now shut down in Canada after locking out Teamsters Canada Rail Conference operating crews beginning at 12:01 a.m. today (Aug. 22) — the first time both railroads have been hit by a work stoppage at the same time. A lockout of CPKC rail traffic controllers began […]

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New Portland, Maine, Downeaster station site selected; public input sought

Passenger train crossing street

PORTLAND, Maine — Following a pair of community outreach sessions that began last April, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority has settled on a site for a relocated Portland station that would eliminate the time-consuming backup move for Downeaster service that dates to its launch in December 2001. The agency is soliciting further public […]

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NYC’s Riley on the IC

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New York Central’s Chicago–Cincinnati streamliner, the James Whitcomb Riley, speeds past Illinois Central’s suburban-train station at 75th Street on the South Side of Chicago in 1947. The Riley left from IC’s Central Station on the lakefront and switched to NYC rails at Kankakee. Willard A. Gardner photo […]

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Operating Behind the Scenes | La Mesa Model Railroad Club’s Tehachapi Subdivision

Operating Behind the Scenes | La Mesa Model Railroad Club’s Tehachapi Subdivision | Join Model Railroader Editor Eric White for a rare, insider look at a world-class operating session over the gigantic HO (1:87) scale public display highlighting Southern California’s famed Tehachapi Loop. Peer into the invite-only November 2023 session that required more than 30 […]

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Canadian commuter rail operations prepare for work stoppage

Blue and silver locomotive with commuter train

The potential strike by CPKC rail traffic controllers — set to begin Thursday morning — will scramble commuting in Canada’s three largest cities. Commuter rail operations in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal all rely on CPKC dispatching to varying degrees, and those operations will cease during a strike by controllers. Hardest hit will be Montreal, where […]

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STB to end discovery portion of Sunset Limited on-time performance probe

Two silver locomotives with passenger train at station

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will wrap up the discovery portion of its investigation into the on-time performance of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited on Friday and has set a schedule for the remainder of the proceeding. In a decision issued yesterday, the STB also ordered Amtrak to provide an opening statement that addresses several key […]

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