Digest: Report sets goal of extended Amtrak, commuter service, more freight trains through San Diego

a train on a bridge

Friday midday rail news: Transit district’s report sets goals for expanded commuter, passenger, freight service in San Diego
 Coaster commuter train and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service would be extended southward from their current endpoint at San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot, and more slots would be created for freight trains, under the San Diego Pathing Study […]

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Onboard analysis: ‘Coast Starlight’ is busy overnight

Amtrak train at Jack London Square Station

Third in a series OAKLAND, Calif. — The Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight was a 1971 Amtrak concoction cobbling together three trains: Southern Pacific’s Coast Daylight and overnight Cascade, even though the SP trains hadn’t connected at the time, and the unnamed Portland, Ore.-Seattle Burlington Northern or Union Pacific “pool trains.” Originally, and ambitiously, the south […]

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Acela offers $20 fare to boost lagging bookings

Amtrak Acela passenger train

WASHINGTON — A precipitous decline in business travel during the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted an Amtrak “flash” sale celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Acela’s introduction with a $20 fare between any two Northeast Corridor stations served by the high speed train. Billed as the “The Deal of the Decade(s),” the tickets must be booked by […]

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Digest: New Amtrak station opens in Buffalo

Amtrak logo

Still more Monday morning rail news: New Buffalo Amtrak station opens
 Amtrak’s new downtown Buffalo, N.Y., station opened Sunday, with the $28 million structure replacing a building from 1952 that had occupied the same spot. The Buffalo News reports the new building, at 4,800 square feet, is about three times as large as its predecessor, […]

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Amtrak introduces ‘next travel day’ booking feature

Passenger train in city

WASHINGTON — With all long-distance trains except Auto Train now running on less-than-daily schedules, Amtrak has finally introduced a booking feature on its website that automatically directs customers to the next available day when they request tickets on a day a train is not running. Downloadable and printable schedules that reflect days of service for each station on a long-distance […]

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Amtrak releases video with look at New Acela features

Amtrak has released a new video providing a preview of the interior on its New Acela trainsets, with an emphasis on the touchless nature of many features — an important COVID-19 consideration — as well as environmental features like the use of recycled leather for seating. Caroline Decker, Amtrak’s vice president, Northeast Corridor service line, hosts the […]

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Amtrak CEO tells hearing company projects 72% decline in ridership

WASHINGTON — Amtrak is projecting fiscal 2021 ridership of just 9 million, a 72% decline from 2019’s record 32.5 million passengers, CEO William Flynn told members of the Senate Commerce Committee, who expressed skepticism and concern over the move to three-day-a-week service for most long-distance trains. In testimony submitted Wednesday morning, Flynn qualifies his estimate […]

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BNSF and Union Pacific in Rochelle IL

rochelle_webcam

Union Pacific to Clinton, Iowa 64.5 miles BNSF to Savanna, Illinois 60.0 miles BNSF to Aurora 45.3 miles UP to Proviso 59.6 miles Join Trains.com at Rochelle Rail Park! Editors, producers and friends from Trains, Model Railroader, Trains.com and other Kalmbach Media brands invite you to visit with us between Noon and 3 p.m. September […]

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Rochelle, Ill., Railroad Webcam

rochelle_webcam

Union Pacific to Clinton, Iowa 64.5 miles BNSF to Savanna, Illinois 60.0 miles BNSF to Aurora 45.3 miles UP to Proviso 59.6 miles   Watch live railroading action 24 hours per day on TrainsMag.com! Our Rochelle Web Cam captures live action as the BNSF and Union Pacific main lines cross. Learn about Rochelle’s Railroad Park […]

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