JOPLIN, Mont. — The vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board says Amtrak’s Empire Builder was traveling below its posted speed limit when it derailed and partially overturned over the weekend in rural Montana, killing three people. NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg told members of the media Monday afternoon that the eastbound Empire Builder […]
NEW ORLEANS — After first being turned back to Chicago at Memphis, Tenn., and later at Jackson, Miss., Amtrak’s City of New Orleans will finally make its grand entrance to the Crescent City one month after Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana with torrential rains and strong winds. The southbound train departing Chicago today and its […]
GALESBURG, Ill. — As the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners sets off on its annual trip and convention this week, the organization has released a statement on the weekend derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder in northern Montana. “It is horrifying to see the derailed and overturned rail cars. For many of us, rail […]
JOPLIN, Mont. — The passengers killed in Saturday’s deadly Empire Builder derailment have been identified as a tech engineer from Illinois and a husband and wife from Georgia. According to media reports, the three people killed when Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder derailed Saturday afternoon in northern Montana have been identified as 28-year-old Zach Schneider, of […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration is launching its own investigation into the Saturday derailment of Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder in northern Montana. Specifically, FRA has sent a team of 18 dispatched to the scene consisting of technical experts in track, motive power & equipment, signal and train control, and operating practices. The agency has […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn has issued a statement on Saturday’s fatal derailment of the Empire Builder in Montana. “We are in mourning today for the people who lost their lives due to the derailment of the Empire Builder train Saturday, near Joplin, Montana, on the BNSF Railway, as well as the many others […]
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the site of Saturday’s derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder passenger train near Joplin, about 50 miles west of Havre. The NTSB is the lead agency in the investigation of the derailment, which occurred at about 3:55 p.m. Saturday in a remote […]
HAVRE, Mont. – Amtrak confirms three deaths in the Saturday derailment of the westbound Empire Builder near Joplin, about 50 miles west of Havre. The train, which originated in Chicago on Friday, had 141 passengers and 16 crew members onboard. The train consisted of two locomotives and 10 cars, with eight of those cars derailing, […]
The westbound Southwest Chief is 6 minutes late out of Albuquerque, N.M., as you roll toward the junction with BNSF Railway’s Southern Transcon at Dalies. From Roomette 14 you wonder: What will happen to the Chief’s timekeeping when we hit the Gallup Subdivision that carries 80 freights per day? The question is bigger than it […]
WASHINGTON — Aligning its health policies with newly established federal mandates, Amtrak is eliminating the ability for employees to opt for weekly COVID-19 testing in lieu of vaccinations, effective Nov. 22. In an Employee Advisory issued this week, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn outlined how the company will help facilitate its vaccination requirements and ways in […]
WASHINGTON — During a presentation to the Rail Passengers Association this week, Amtrak’s Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer, Roger Harris, revealed that beginning some time in October, business class passengers on the Seattle-Los Angeles Coast Starlight will be permitted to purchase food in the train’s dining car. But he also said restoring coach and sleeping […]
Amtrak plans to add three short-haul routes in Pennsylvania and double both Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian train frequencies, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner told Gov. Tom Wolf and other public officials in a recent online roundtable talk about the company’s ConnectsUS 15-year regional corridor vision. The three routes are: New York City-Scranton, Pa., 136 miles via […]
