CHICAGO—Non-powered control unit 90200 isn’t just any former locomotive that lost its prime mover and traction motors when converted to a glorified baggage car with cab controls. Seen here outside Amtrak’s Chicago locomotive shop on June 2, 2022, coupled to an Illinois-owned Siemens SC-44 Charger, the carbody once was number 200. It is the first […]
WASHINGTON—Effective immediately, each departure of the Chicago-Washington, D.C. Capitol Limited is accepting reservations for up to 12 full-size bicycles along the route of a train that parallels popular trails through Maryland, West Virginia, and southern Pennsylvania. Last Friday, Amtrak announced increased capacity through mid-September, “due to high demand.” For $20, passengers can check a bike […]
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service has relaunched its informative Trails and Rails program on Amtrak trains for summer 2022 after a two-year hiatus, but some previously featured segments will no longer be covered. Volunteers apply through the National Park and National Historic sites that sponsor the lecturers, who board trains and talk to travelers […]
ABOARD THE TEXAS EAGLE — “There is no Sightseer Lounge on this train. Once again, there is no Sightseer Lounge on this train,” emphasized the public-address announcement. “You must buy food to sit in the café car; if you don’t buy food and we see you sitting in the café, we will ask you to […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s continuing effort to gain access to data relating to freight traffic on the route of its proposed Gulf Coast passenger service has drawn strong protest from CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. In a Tuesday filing with the Surface Transportation Board, the two freight railroads urged the board to reject the passenger operator’s […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is proposing that, in extreme examples of routes with poor on-time performance, it would be allowed to take over dispatching from host railroad Canadian National as part of a new operating agreement with CN. In asking the Surface Transportation Board to set terms of a new agreement with CN, the passenger railroad […]
CHICAGO — Depending on the route, Amtrak trains can either offer a welcome alternative to record high gas prices or no relief at all. That’s because where sufficient capacity exists, fares remain flexible, but where Amtrak management has failed to marshal the resources to return sidelined equipment to duty, the traveling public suffers. Corridors offer […]
WASHINGTON — The freight railroads involved in the Surface Transportation Board’s proceeding over Gulf Coast passenger service have again asked that the matter be sent to mediation — and Amtrak is again opposing that request. In a May 19 filing, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority and its its short line […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s effort to use eminent domain to take control of Washington Union Station is being challenged by the current operator of the landmark structure, saying projects planned by the passenger railroad do not meet the legal requirements for the takeover or require the move. The Washington Post reports that Union Station Investco LLC […]
PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak opened a second-generation Acela high-speed trainset for press inspection Monday at 30th Street Station, giving a look at the interiors of the first-class, business-class, and café cars that will make up 28 160-mph trainsets projected to enter service between Boston, New York, and Washington late next year. Parked at an underground boarding […]
MADISON, Wis. — A 32-year-old Portland, Ore., man has been sentenced to five years in prison for intentionally interfering with an Amtrak conductor in a November 2020 incident aboard the Empire Builder. A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin says Timothy Thomas pleaded guilty to the charge on […]
SEATTLE — In its determination to cut costs in 2020 and 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic sucker-punched its prized Northeast Corridor moneymakers, Amtrak management turned off the hiring pipeline while furloughing employees nationwide. But state-based decisions deferring resumption of regional round trips have exacerbated the situation, especially in efforts to hire operating personnel, as prospective […]
