Six hospitalized when Phoenix light rail train derails after collision with vehicle
Six people were hospitalized Sunday evening after a Phoenix light rail train derailed following a collision with a vehicle. KNXV-TV reports the accident occurred about 4:45 p.m., and a photo appears to show the light rail vehicle hit one of the supports for the catenary system. The power system was quickly de-energized, allowing firefighters to remove those in the light rail trainset. Injuries were reported to be minor, and were treated at nearby hospitals. Transit agency Valley Metro was running a bus bridge around the site of the accident as of Sunday evening.
Online meeting set on California’s Dumbarton Rail Corridor
The San Mateo County Transit District will hold an online public meeting today to discuss the proposed Dumbarton Rail Corridor, which would restore a former Southern Pacific line across the southern San Francisco Bay to connect Caltrain’s Redwood City, Calif., station to BART in Union City. The Palo Alto Weekly reports the 18-mile line would serve an estimated 24,000 riders daily, according to projections by the district. Facebook, which has headquarters near the proposed line, is part of the partnership helping fund preliminary planning [see “Facebook could help revive former San Francisco Bay rail bridge,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2018] although the company may not remain as part of the project. More information and a link to today’s 6 p.m. PDT meeting is available here.
With possible pipeline shutdown approaching, Michigan propane dealers consider shift to rail
Propane suppliers in Michigan reliant for supplies on a pipeline facing a shutdown are beginning to transition to receiving gas by rail. MLive.com reports that some suppliers are moving to rail because the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline is facing shut down in May, after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ended an easement that allows the 67-year-old pipeline to run being the straights of Mackinac. Enbridge has filed suit and says it won’t comply absent a court order, but some suppliers have already moved to receiving propane by rail. One propane distributor said he has made the move at a cost of 5 to 7 cents per gallon, but the process is an expensive one that could require some companies to build new rail spurs and could face a shortage of railcars. Others say they will wait to see how the legal fight between Enbridge and the state plays out before determining their next move.
Ruppert, it’s should have been spelt “ beneath “, allows the pipeline to run beneath the Straights of Mackinac.
Can anyone tell me what “pipeline to run being the straights of Mackinac” is SUPPOSED to mean?
John Rice: Announcing you are shutting down a pipeline (and a major one at that) before you come up with the alternative or replacement option is a sure backwards way of doing things.
kind of like shutting down a construction project before alternative work projects even have a plan, never mind environmental clearance.
Latest on the Phx. light rail accident is that NO other vehicle hit the train per Valley Metro. The train was going through a curve when it derailed. The line has been reopened by Monday night.
In regards to the pipeline issue in Michigan, there is a federal treaty that will most likely be exercised if Enbridge and Michigan cannot reach agreement. I have to wonder how Michigan will respond to all the oil trains if closure of the pipeline actually happens.
And I have to agree Charles, this website is so bad I most likely will not renew my subscription.
Am I the only one who does not like this website at all? I have no interest in model railroads, classic trains, etc. I don’t read those publications. I’m a dedicated TRAINS-MAGAZINE reader – cover to cover every month since 1971, plus as many back issues as I could purchase, plus once traveled 40 miles Detroit to Ann Arbor to look up the April 1959 issue. That’s what I want, a website for TRAINS-MAGAZINE.
People don’t like change, people don’t like to learn to navigate a revised website. Hey, maybe there’s a reason for that. The old website had its technical glitches. This new website is just a plain disaster.
BTW, I gave up looking for the BLOGS when I clicked on one blog and got another, no matter how many times I tried.
Ha Ha; the know-nothings have come out of hibernation. Hafta love the apolitical, off-topic submissions…anyone for heavier rail in Phoenix?
Curt, you have to admit that at least their comments are predictable. It gets soooo old.
I don’t think anyone would mind if we never saw another idiotic post by Charles ‘the fool’ Landey
Correct, Mr. Ray. If I worked in the Canadian oil industry I would be livid.
If I bought gasoline in Ontario I would be furious; imagine the lines. How could Trudeau retaliate? Maybe cutting off hydroelectricity exports from Quebec and Ontario to New York and New England for environmental reasons (all purpose excuse).
That’s the good news on the pipeline. It reportedly carries something like 40 % of Ontario’s oil supplies. Whitmer certainly knows how to make friends.
Because the governor of Michigan is as bad as the governors of California and New York, and the president of the United States.
Announcing you are shutting down a pipeline (and a major one at that) before you come up with the alternative or replacement option is a sure backwards way of doing things.
Here was the feedback from the propane distributor:
But Harrington said it requires a substantial amount of money to transition to rail. A supplier must first find an area to transport the product. Harrington leased a property with an old rail spur which he updated, but building a new spur from scratch would be more costly. Harrington said each railroad car can hold up to 30,000 gallons of propane.
“It’s not just something you can do overnight,” Harrington said. “If you ordered one today, it would take you a year at least to get a railroad car built. There’s just not the infrastructure available, terminals and railroad cars, to transport that much propane.”
Harrington said cold weather also impacts railroad cars’ availability. During a recent cold snap, Harrington said there was a shortage of railroad cars. Like Harrington, industry experts and suppliers currently using the railroad cars to deliver propane are concerned the transition will place too much demand on the rail system.
Todd Fuller, the owner of Webster Garner, supplies propane to customers in both of Michigan’s peninsulas. Fuller uses the same rail system as Harrington and is concerned about “putting all the demand on the rail system.”