Virginia, Norfolk Southern complete agreement allowing passenger service to New River Valley

Train at station platform at night

RICHMOND, Va., and ATLANTA — The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and Norfolk Southern have completed financing on the agreement which will expand passenger service to Roanoke, Va., and extend service southwest into the New River Valley. The Western Rail Initiative Agreement sets the stage for the launch of a second daily Amtrak round trip between […]

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Brightline station serving Disney World won’t be on theme park’s property

Double-tracked railroad mainline next to roadway

ORLANDO, Fla. — When Brightline begins constructing its extension beyond Orlando International Airport to Tampa during the next decade, the route won’t include a station on Disney World land or other direct Disney participation. But the Miami-based passenger rail operator and Orlando business interests continue to plan a South International Drive station in close proximity […]

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Georgia community seeks funds for park with railfan, model railroading facilities

COHUTTA, Ga. — The small town of Cohutta, just southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn., is seeking $2 million in funding to develop railroad-themed park to attract tourism. The Daily Citizen of Dalton, Ga., reports the town has applied for grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to turn a 5-acre lot adjacent to a Norfolk […]

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Norfolk Southern to serve new Georgia industrial ‘megasite’

Map with notations on transportation, utilities, other features

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern will serve a new 1,100-acre economic “megasite” for manufacturing announced Thursday by the state of Georgia and the Development Authority of Peach County. The Middle Georgia Megasite, located near the city of Fort Valley and close to the geographic center of the state, is less than 5 hours by train from […]

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Southern Railway locomotives remembered

Steam locomotive hauling a freight train.

Southern Railway locomotives: It’s time to celebrate the sleek lines and power of Southern Railway locomotives. Please enjoy this photo gallery selected from files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. Each month since October 2019, Classic Trains editors have selected one Fallen Flag to honor. A Fallen Flag is a railroad whose name and […]

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Engineer in fatal Alabama short-line accident was in video conversation at time of collision

Locomotive and maintenance equipment following collilsion

WASHINGTON — An engineer’s failure to operate his train in accordance with restricted speed rules, and his prohibited use of a personal electronic device, were the probable cause of a fatal collision with track maintenance equipment on the Alabama Export Railroad in November 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an accident report issued […]

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CSX, UP trains derail in yard incidents

CSX logo

CSX Transportation and Union Pacific both had trains derail Friday morning, with no injuries in either incident. An estimated 12 to 15 cars of a CSX train derailed at the CSX yard in Augusta, Ga., the Augusta Chronicle reports. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office reported no hazardous materials were involved. A CSX release said the […]

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STB grants Amtrak access to NS, CSX data, orders mediation

Passenger station with wooden platform

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will allow a limited number of Amtrak personnel access to raw train data used by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern so the passenger operator can run its own Rail Traffic Controller capacity modeling study. In a decision issued Friday, the STB also ordered board-sponsored mediation to address the differences […]

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Norfolk Southern warns that CP-KCS merger would hurt service on Meridian Speedway

NS9656

WASHINGTON — The Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger threatens to degrade intermodal service on the Meridian Speedway that serves as a shortcut between the Southeast and Southwest, Norfolk Southern told federal regulators this week. NS and KCS currently operate interline intermodal trains over the Meridian, Miss.-Shreveport, La., joint venture. KCS handles the NS trains over […]

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Brightline aims to start Orlando service by Christmas, Edens says (updated)

Brightline_WestPalm_Lassen

WASHINGTON — Brightline trains to Orlando aim to be in operation “hopefully by Christmastime,” Fortress Investment Group co-CEO and Brightline chairman Wes Edens said Tuesday. Edens made the comment during a “Washington Post Live” event on the future of transportation. He also said he hoped construction would be under way on the Brightline West project […]

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