More Monday morning rail news:
— Service on Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., could be cut from two round trips per day to one under a budget plan introduced last week. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the plan recommended by state House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Neosho, Mo.) would provide $12 million for Amtrak funding in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020. That would pay off more than $6 million in outstanding debt to Amtrak [see “Funding shortfall leaves Missouri owing Amtrak $6.5 million,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 27, 2020] but leave funding for just one train.
— Completion of Sound Transit’s Connect 2020 construction project, joining its new Eastside light rail line into the existing system, will be delayed after electrical issues were discovered this weekend. Light rail trains will continue to operate every 13 to 15 minutes and on one track in the downtown tunnel until repairs can be completed.
— The South Carolina State Ports Authority will build an industrial park for e-commerce businesses shipping to the port of Charleston. Norfolk Southern will serve two of the 12 warehouses to be built at the Ridgeville Commerce Park, while the trucks will serve the other 10 buildings at the site, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. Plans call for 5.5 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Ridgeville is about 35 miles northwest of the port.
