WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration announced it has collected $15.4 million in civil penalties from Class I railroads under what it calls a new streamlined settlement negotiation process. The process involves discussions on the most significant cases while continuing to collect data to improve railroad safety, the FRA says. Class I railroads and Amtrak […]
NEW YORK — New York City’s congestion pricing program has reduced vehicular traffic in lower Manhattan by 11% and increased transit ridership by 7%, officials said on Monday as they marked the first anniversary of the tolling program that helps fund Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital projects. The congestion tolling, which began on Jan. 5, 2025, […]
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s Northstar commuter rail line, launched in 2009 with service between Minneapolis and Big Lake, Minn., made its final run Sunday (Jan. 4), with a special-event round trip to the Minnesota Vikings’ season-ending home game against Green Bay. The Metro Transit service was ultimately done in by low ridership along a shorter route […]
CHICAGO — Despite challenging weather conditions on both coasts and in the upper Great Lakes region, Amtrak trains generally reached their destinations unscathed during the holiday travel period. “Mechanical assessments,” however, did continue to impact service throughout the network during the period ending today (Sunday, Jan. 4). Starlight and Builder disruptions Amtrak’s long-distance operations generally […]
VOORHEESVILLE, N.Y. — The village of Voorheesville has dropped the remainder of its lawsuit against Norfolk Southern after a court ruling in December that allowed the railroad to proceed with construction of a crew-change facility. The Altamont Enterprise reports the attorney for the village informed Judge Paul Evangelista in a Dec. 30 letter that Voorheesville […]
HAMMOND, Ind. — Sometime in early 2026, passengers will be able to ride the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District’s West Lake Extension, now designated by NICTD as the South Shore Line’s Monon Corridor. The 8-mile electrified, single-track route has been constructed mostly on former rail right-of-way that hosted trains of the Monon and later CSX. […]
KINGSTON, N.Y. — The cause is under investigation after an out-of-service locomotive of the Catskill Mountain Railroad caught fire early New Year’s Day. A fire involving Alco RS1 No. 400 was reported about 3 a.m.; the Kingston Fire Department said it took about two hours to bring the incident under control. No injuries resulted. The […]
OAXACA, Mexico — A 73-year-old woman died Thursday (Jan. 1) from injuries suffered in Sunday’s derailment of the Interoceanic Train, the Mexican Navy announced, raising the accident’s death toll to 14. The Dec. 28 derailment on the trans-isthmus service between Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos saw one locomotive and four cars of the northbound train derail, […]
NORTH BAY, Ontario — In another step toward restoration of Northlander passenger service, Ontario Northland has released a proposed timetable for the train, expected to resume this year. The timetable released in December calls for 10 hour, 40-minute service on the approximately 740-kilometer (460-mile) route between Toronto and Timmins, Ont. The trains will serve 13 […]
EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — After 30 years of operation on 14 miles of state-owned former New Haven Railroad track, Central New England Railroad operated its last train on the final day of 2025, as Genesee & Wyoming’s Connecticut Southern prepared to take over the line on Jan. 1, 2026. GP9 No. 3760 moved a single […]
LONDON — Rail service has resumed through the Channel Tunnel after a Tuesday shutdown, but delays continue today (Dec. 31) for trains packed with delayed travelers. The UK newspaper The Independent reports 30 Eurostar trains were cancelled Tuesday, and at least one that did operate arrived in Paris some 12 hours behind schedule. In all, […]
Even though it’s a tank locomotive (with the water tank around the boiler), Rayonier 2-6-6-2T No. 111 also sports a tender for additional water capacity. The fitting atop the stack is a Gerlinger spark arrestor. Whit Towers photo […]
