ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The parent agencies of Virginia Railway Express have approved a $155 million agreement to help purchase the commuter operator’s Manassas Line from Norfolk Southern. The nonprofit news site Virginia Mercury reports the boards of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock River Transportation Commission approved the agreement in separate […]
CHICAGO — In the latest twist in Union Pacific’s long-running effort to exit Chicago commuter rail operations, commuter agency Metra has asked the Surface Transportation Board to require UP to allow Metra to continue operating on the three UP lines it serves. Metra’s filing today (March 7, 2025) asks the board to provide terminal trackage […]
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is investigating Norfolk Southern and Virginia terminal railroad Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line for alleged anticompetitive conduct against CSX at a major Norfolk container terminal. CSX, which says NPBL operates like an alter ego of NS, disclosed the investigation in a filing with the Surface Transportation Board last […]
JUNEAU, Alaska — Gov. Mike Dunleavy has signed legislation approving a bond package for the Alaska Railroad to build a new cruise ship dock in Seward, Alaska. It is the second straight year the state legislature approved the funding, which Dunleavy vetoed last year because the House of Representatives vote took place after a constitutional […]
CHICAGO — The registration deadline is approaching for the 117th annual dinner of the Traffic Club of Chicago, one of the nation’s oldest associations for the transportation and logistics industry. The event will be held May 15 at the Aon Grand Ballroom at Chicago’s Navy Pier. It will be preceded on May 14 by the […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has granted Land Rush Rail Corp., part of Farmrail, permission to lease and operate 37.26 miles of track in Oklahoma and Kansas previously operated by the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad. The route, from Wellington, Kan., to Blackwell, Okla, is owned by the Blackwell Industrial Authority and the Oklahoma Department […]
BEAR, Delaware — Amtrak is adding color coding at the entries to its railcars to guide passengers to the correct location to board its trains. The first cars introducing this system — which uses green near the doors to denote coach, blue for business class, and red for first class — were to be released […]
The union that represents conductors says it will ask the Federal Railroad Administration to deny CSX’s request to become the first railroad to use Trip Optimizer’s Zero-to-Zero feature, which allows the advanced cruise-control system to automatically start and stop trains. After a round of tests in 2020 and 2021, CSX initially sought FRA permission to […]
BOSTON — Massachusetts’ inspector general has called for the MBTA to improve fare collection on its commuter trains, saying it does not happen “dependably or consistently,” while the state’s auditor has issued a report critical of the transit agency’s administration of its contract with commuter operator Keolis. The scrutiny comes as the MBTA approaches the […]
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Short line holding company Watco is adding another railroad to its stable: Great Lakes Central, the operator of 420 miles of state-owned trackage in Michigan. Watco already knows the railroad well. It has been an equity investor in the GLC since 2013. “The Great Lakes Central Railroad has been a vital part […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. has gained approval to become a certified telematics vendor for RailPulse, the manufacturer has announced. The RailPulse coalition of railroads, railcar builders and leasing firms, and related parties is developing industry-wide standards for real-time railcar location tracking and data regarding car condition — such as whether doors or hatches are open […]
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who heads the advisory “Department of Government Efficiency” as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to upend business as usual in Washington, told a tech conference this week that Amtrak should be privatized. Musk offered no specifics on how Amtrak could be privatized or what company would be interested in […]
