The Metra station in Mount Prospect, Ill., is one of 11 closed by Union Pacific over coronavirus concerns. TRAINS: David Lassen Wednesday morning rail news: — An increasing number of workers either with confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus or self-quarantining because of possible exposure have left New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority struggling to maintain […]
A Rocky Mountaineer train arrives in Kamloops, British Columbia, in October 2018. The passenger operator has delayed the start of its 2020 season. Bob Johnston More Tuesday morning rail news: — Rocky Mountaineer, the luxury rail operation from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the Canadian Rockies, will delay the start of its season until July 1. […]
Tuesday morning rail news: — Eight workers for New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority are now reported to have died of complications from the COVID-19 virus, Spectrum News reports. As of Monday, the agency has 333 confirmed cases of the virus and 2,700 workers in quarantine. While the MTA has acquired 75,000 disposable surgical masks for […]
More Monday morning rail news: — While Strasburg Rail Road passenger operations have been suspended because of the COVID-19 virus, the short line’s freight traffic is up 169% in March, Lancaster Online reports. The 4.5-mile railroad has handled 43 incoming freight cars this month, 27 more than the same month a year ago, with another […]
A Monday morning update on the latest COVID-19-related cuts in rail service: — VIA Rail Canada will dramatically reduce operations as of Tuesday, operating only one train per day on each of its routes in the Quebec City-Windsor, Ontario, corridor, with those trains stopping at every station. Elsewhere, its Montreal-Jonquiere, Quebec; Montreal-Senneterre, Que; and Sudbury-White […]
A shortage of workers is leading Amtrak to limit California Zephyr service to the Chicago-Denver portion of its route, effective today. The Zephyr becomes the first of Amtrak’s long distance trains to see a change in service because of the coronavirus outbreak. An email to Amtrak employees says a worker on the route has tested […]
Sunday morning rail news: — Canada is restricting domestic travel by passengers showing signs of the COVID-19 virus, such as fever, coughing, or difficulty breathing. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the rules Saturday; they go into effect Monday at noon. The Canadian Press reports that under the order issued by Transport Canada, VIA Rail Canada, […]
Some significant rail news for Saturday morning: — The $2 trillion coronavirus relief package passed by the House of Representatives and signed by President Trump on Friday includes expansion of railroad unemployment benefits, in addition to the previously reported financial aid for Amtrak and transit agencies [see “Trains News Wire Digest for Thursday, March 26”]. […]
A Saturday morning update of rail operation changes because of the COVID-19 outbreak: — San Francisco’s Muni is shutting down all light rail service as of Monday, March 30, replacing the service with buses. Subway stations will be closed, except for those also used by Bay Area Rapid Transit trains. Closure of the Muni Metro […]
— One crewman suffered a foot injury when nine auto racks of Amtrak’s northbound Auto Train derailed Thursday afternoon near DeLand, Fla. None of the train’s passenger cars derailed and no passengers were injured, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which attributed the derailment to “a problem with the track.” The passenger portion of the […]
Friday afternoon rail news: — The National Transportation Safety Board will make the performance of DOT-111A, DOT-117, and DOT-117R tank cars one of the focal points in its investigation of a Feb. 13 derailment of a CSX train in Draffin, Ky. The preliminary report on the accident, released Thursday, also indicates the agency will look […]
NEW YORK — A subway operator has died and 17 were injured in an early morning subway fire, the New York Times reports. The fire was reported as a No. 2 train (Wakefield-241st St., Bronx, to Flatbush Ave.-Brooklyn College, Brooklyn) pulled into the 110th Street-Central Park North station at about 3:18 a.m. An off-duty transit […]
