SEATTLE — Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm will receive her full salary for 2024 after departing on Jan. 12 and has agreed to provide “on-call services” as a consultant next year, the Seattle Times reports, but the transit agency has not released the full agreement covering her departure. The Sound Transit board’s motion setting the […]
Section: News Wire
U.S. rail traffic continues strong finish to 2023
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic continued its year-end surge, with traffic for the week ending Dec. 23 up 24.2% over the same week in 2022. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 486,787 carloads and intermodal units. That included 230,946 carloads, up 23.7%, and 255,841 containers and trailers, […]
Top 10 stories of 2023, No. 5: East Broad Top returns to steam
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — It was a breakout year for the East Broad Top narrow-gauge line in central Pennsylvania, already the Cinderella story of American steam railroads. Since its opening in 1873 as a 33-mile-long, common-carrier coal and ore line based in Rockhill Furnace, Pa., EBT has been shut down twice and rescued twice. In […]
One killed in Christmas morning police shooting on Coast Starlight (updated)
MT. SHASTA, Calif. — One person was killed in a shooting by a police officer on Amtrak’s southbound Coast Starlight early on Christmas morning, the Mt. Shasta Police Department confirmed Tuesday evening. The officer involved and another person were injured the police department said in a press release on Facebook. The department had previously reported […]
CN, CPKC, UP named to Dow Jones world and North America sustainability lists
Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, and Union Pacific have been named to the World and North America Dow Jones Sustainability indices released earlier this month, while CSX is on the North America list. For CN, it was the 12th consecutive year on the world list and 15th on the North America list. CPKC’s inclusion […]
Top 10 stories of 2023, No. 6 (tie): Federal infrastructure spending
Infrastructure is the shared theme of our stories in the tie at No. 6 — be it a single huge project in the form of New York’s Grand Central Madison, or general infrastructure spending across the country. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in November 2021, promised almost $400 billion for projects around the country, and […]
Top 10 stories of 2023, No. 6 (tie): Grand Central Madison opens
NEW YORK — The process of creating a new Long Island Rail Road terminal beneath Grand Central Terminal was long, arduous, and far more expensive than intended. For all of that, the opening of Grand Central Madison remains transformational — both for the day-to-day commuters that were the intended beneficiaries of the project from the […]
Wabtec to close Wilmerding, Pa., plant
WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec Corp. will close its plant in Wilmerding in 2024, with layoffs beginning in February or March, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The plant is expected to close by July 1. The website Tube City Almanac reports the 13.1-acre facility was sold earlier this month to Wilmerding Warehouse LLC of Zelienople, Pa., for […]
MBTA to continue Green Line work in January
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will suspend service on a portion of the light rail Green Line for two extended periods in January, while also scheduling service outages for the ongoing repairs on the Green Line extension. From Jan. 3-12 and again from Jan. 16-28, Green Line service will be suspended on the Green […]
Four injured in fire at Brooklyn subway station
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Four people were hurt after a track fire broke out in a New York City Transit subway station this evening (Sunday, Dec. 24), WPIX-TV reports. The Fire Department of New York said firefighters responded to the High Street-Brooklyn Bridge station on the A and C lines after a fire broke out on […]
Top News Wire 10 stories of 2023, No. 8: New Acela delays
By now, Amtrak’s second-generation Acela trainsets were supposed to be in their second year of operation. Instead, they have no definite date to enter service, and are taking a growing toll on the passenger operator’s bottom line. A company web page simply says the trains are scheduled to debut “in 2024.” A Wall Street Journal […]
Top 10 stories of 2023, No. 9: Amtrak leadership and governance issues
WASHINGTON — Second-guessing Amtrak management’s compensation and lack of investment outside the Northeast Corridor became a spectator sport for Congress in 2023. But lawmakers’ inaction in advancing new Amtrak board of directors nominees has contributed to the status quo over which they and their constituents express concern. Lack of capacity to accommodate surging post-COVID-19 ridership […]