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Magazine: Trains Magazine
AAR: Total rail traffic is down more than 7% NEWSWIRE

Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads this week reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 5. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 515,061 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Oct. 5 were […]
Jammed doors lead to service woes on new Ottawa light rail line

OTTAWA, Ontario — Ottawa’s recently opened light rail Confederation Line experienced major operating issues because of jammed doors on Wednesday, with some passengers reportedly walking more than two miles to reach work as they abandoned the backed-up rail system. It was the second straight day the rail line was plagued by jammed doors on the […]
No one injured when NS train derails, strikes gas line in Georgia NEWSWIRE

No injuries were reported when 34 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Perry, Ga., rupturing a gas line to a nearby factory. Houston County Emergency Management Agency, via Facebook PERRY, Ga. — A section of a state highway will remain closed at least until Friday following the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train […]
Report: LA’s Metrolink seeks high speed funds to electrify Burbank-Anaheim route NEWSWIRE

A Metrolink train departs the Burbank, Calif., station in February 2019. The Los Angeles Times reports Metrolink is proposing the use of California high speed rail funds to electrify its route between Burbank and Anaheim. TRAINS: David Lassen LOS ANGELES — Commuter railroad Metrolink is proposing electrification of its route between Burbank and Anaheim for […]
Ask Trains: What are the rules on when locomotive bells should ring?

An eastbound BNSF Railway train passes a stopped BNSF freight at “Summit” in California’s Cajon Pass in 2013 — this meet is one of several conditions which might require a locomotive bell to be sounded. Trains staff Q: What are the rules concerning when a train should ring its bell at a crossing or elsewhere? […]
Ask Trains: What is the Chicago-area yard that rhymes with ‘Marks’?

A Canadian National train with Illinois Central-painted locomotives departs Chicago’s Markham Yard in 2017. TEH-17089-16 Jacob Metzger Q: When I was in the second grade, we took a field trip to what was then the largest freight yard in the country. That was over 50 years ago, when I lived in a Chicago suburb. I […]
FRA to hold regional workshops on right-of-way trespassing NEWSWIRE

Trespassers stop to pose for photos on Florida East Coast Railway tracks in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in May 2018. Bob Johnston CHICAGO — The Federal Railroad Administration will hold six regional workshops in response to an alarming increase of the number of fatalities along railroad rights-of-way, in or near locations where such incidents are most […]
MBTA may extend contract with commuter operator Keolis NEWSWIRE

MBTA MPI HSP-46 No. 2028 pushes a Worcester, Mass.-Boston train as it departs Yawkey station (since renamed Lansdowne) in the Kenmore Square section of Boston. The MBTA may consider extending its current contract with commuter operator Keolis. Scott A. Hartley BOSTON — Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack said this week that […]
Proposed Metra budget boosts spending for locomotives, cars, infrastructure NEWSWIRE

Metra’s capital budget funds continued in-house rebuilding of the railroad’s MP-36PH locomotives (at right), as well as a new program for the former Amtrak F59PHI locomotives (at left). TRAINS: David Lassen Stations to receive major upgrades as part of Metra’s proposed 2020 budget include the Davis Street station in Evanston, on the UP North line. […]
Washington state accepting rail grant applications NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The Washington State Department of Transportation is now accepting applications for grants and loans for freight-rail projects. For the 2019-2021 biennium, $7.6 million is available through the Freight Rail Assistance Program Grant, and another $7 million will be available through Freight Rail Investment Bank loans. The application deadline is Oct. 18, 2019. Funds […]
At least one injured after NS trains collide near Cincinnati (updated) NEWSWIRE

HAMILTON, Ohio — Two Norfolk Southern trains collided early Tuesday morning, injuring at least one crew member and disrupting traffic in an adjacent Cincinnati suburb. The accident occurred about 1:30 a.m. In an email statement to Fox 19 TV, Norfolk Southern spokesman Tom Werner said southbound intermodal train 25A rear-ended train 143, derailing three cars […]