SACKETS HARBOR N.Y. — As he approached his final days in recent weeks, Ross E. Rowland could look back secure in the knowledge that U.S. steam — indeed even the entire rail preservation scene— owes him a substantial debt. From his Golden Spike exhibition train of 1969 to the American Freedom Train of 1975-76 to […]
BOSTON — The Trump administration has rescinded a $327 million grant awarded in 2023 or the Allston Multimodal Project, which calls for realignment of Interstate 90 and a new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail station and layover facility, among other features. The funding termination follows President Donald Trump’s signing of a bill that eliminated […]
BELLMONT, Ill. — Two crew members were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries in the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that also led to a hazardous-materials incident on Friday (July 18, 2025). Newsweek reports 24 railcars derailed in the incident near the town of Bellmont about 6 p.m., with liquid sulfur leaking from two of the […]
JIM THORPE, Pa. — The impact of Reading & Northern’s passenger operations, which recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, may best be illustrated by this: A bank in Jim Thorpe — the home of R&N’s Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railroad tourist operation and primary destination for its weekend excursions — is closing a branch to address tourist-traffic […]
Three traffic segments have driven Class I railroad performance in 2025, according to Association of American Railroads data: intermodal, coal, and grain. Year-to-date, intermodal volume is up 5% compared to the same stretch in 2024; coal is up 6%, and grains are also up 6%. Union Pacific is moving the most coal: In the most […]
NEW YORK — Platform edge barriers have now been installed at 56 New York City subway stations as part of an ongoing Metropolitan Transportation Authority safety initiative, with the goal of installing the barriers at more than 100 of the subway system’s 472 stations this year. The barriers, which help to keep passengers from entering […]
MONTREAL — Members of the union representing about 2,500 VIA Rail Canada employees have ratified a new three-year contract with the passenger operator. Unifor announced Thursday (July 17, 2025) that members of its Council 4000 and Local 100 ratified the tentative agreement reached in June [see “VIA Rail Canada, Unifor announce …,” Trains News Wire, […]
BROOKS, Ore. — The Oregon Electric Railway Museum has added one of the first MAX light rail vehicles to its collection, a donation from Portland-area transit agency TriMet. MAX LRV No. 101 was part of the original set of equipment used to launch TriMet’s light rail service on Sept. 5, 1986, reviving a form of […]
LOS ANGELES — A former Amtrak employee has been sentenced to 25 months in prison for conspiring to steal nearly $1 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits and fraudently obtaining more than $63,000 in sickness benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California has announced. In sentencing on Thursday, July 17, 2025, […]
NEWARK, N.J. — The NJ Transit board of directors has approved the agency’s contract with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, after learning some of the key provisions of the deal. The board’s unanimous vote on Thursday, July 17, ends a years-long dispute between NJ Transit and its engineers that included a brief strike […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California High Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump administration over its termination of $4 billion in previously awarded federal funding for the state’s high speed project. A press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom says the lawsuit alleges the Federal Railroad Administration’s termination of the funding is political retribution “motivated by […]
Union Pacific appears to be using a familiar playbook that large, publicly traded companies trot out when considering mergers and acquisitions: Send up trial balloons and see how they fly. These trial balloons let management gauge market reaction, political sentiment, and how the media might spin the story, all without committing to a deal. They […]
