Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have authorized strikes against Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the union has announced today (May 1). Some 93.3% of train and engine crews at CN returned ballots, with 97.6% voting in favor of a strike. At CPKC, 91.7% of train and engine crews returned ballots, with […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
Amtrak to launch Chicago-St. Paul train May 21
CHICAGO — Amtrak will launch a second daily train between Chicago and St. Paul, Minn., the state-sponsored Borealis, on May 21, the passenger operator announced today. The train, using Horizon coaches and a café car, will offer Business Class service. It will substitute for one of the current Hiawatha round trips on the Chicago-Milwaukee portion […]
Kalmbach rail magazines, Trains.com sold to Firecrown Media
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Trains Magazine, the company’s other rail magazines, and Trains.com are among assets that have been sold by Kalmbach Media to Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Firecrown Media, the two companies have announced today (May 1). Other Kalmbach titles involved in the transaction are Classic Trains, Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, FineScale Modeler, and Astronomy, as […]
MTA approves new commuter rail discounts to coincide with start of congestion pricing
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Tuesday approved new discounts on monthly commuter rail passes within New York City, as well as increased frequencies on six express bus routes. The fare discounts and changes to bus service will coincide with the planned June launch of Manhattan’s congestion pricing toll program [see “New […]
Friends of East Broad Top debuts ‘Young Easties’ program
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad today is kicking off registration for a new teenage-volunteer program in an outreach to recruit and engage “the next generation” of preservationists for the historic Central Pennsylvania narrow gauge short line. Closed in 1956 and revived twice since then, the former coal-hauling railroad […]
Missouri River Runner cancellations to continue Wednesday
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Amtrak’s Missouri River Runners will be cancelled for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, May 1, Amtrak announced tonight (Tuesday, April 30). Service on the route between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., will continue to be covered by chartered buses. Trains 318 and 319, which normally provide through service to […]
FRA halts safety culture assessment of Union Pacific, citing coaching of workers
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has discontinued efforts to gather information for an assessment of Union Pacific’s safety culture, telling the railroad it found indications of activities by the railroad that “adversely impact the integrity” of the process. The railroad, in a statement to Trains News Wire, says the issue arose from a mistake […]
55 injured in collision of LA Metro light rail train, USC bus
LOS ANGELES — At least 55 people were injured when an LA Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided today (Tuesday, April 30) outside Exposition Park near the USC campus, the Los Angeles Times reports. L.A. City firefighters received a report of the accident at a grade crossing at […]
CPKC’s Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour enters the US
CPKC’s Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour On April 29, 2024, Canadian Pacific steam locomotive No. 2816 crossed into the United States at Portal, N.D., for the first time in over a decade. The engine is powering a tour covering three countries to celebrate the anniversary of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern becoming the […]
STB adopts final reciprocal switching rule for inadequate rail service
WASHINGTON — Shippers who are served by just one Class I railroad and receive substandard service will be able to seek access to a second railroad under a final reciprocal switching rule that federal regulators released today. The Surface Transportation Board’s final rule — the first to set minimum standards for rail service — tightened […]
Proxy advisory firm backs Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw and five of activist investor’s board candidates
Norfolk Southern shareholders should elect five of an activist investor’s seven board candidates but retain embattled CEO Alan Shaw, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended today. If institutional shareholders follow the ISS guidance at the NS annual meeting on May 9, it would leave Ancora Holdings two seats short of a majority on the […]
Illinois bill proposes merger of Chicago transit agencies into single organization
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State legislators have proposed a plan to merge Chicago’s three transit agencies and their parent organization into a single entity, and provide $1.5 billion in additional funding for the new organization, WTTW-TV reports. The 621-page HB 5829, introduced by state Rep. Evan-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago) would create the Metropolitan Mobility Authority, replacing commuter […]