Normally the addition of a 3.5-mile stretch of second main line isn’t a cause for celebration. But when those 3.5 miles happen to be the final section of regular double track added to BNSF Railway’s 2,200-mile Southern Transcon, well, then it’s a major milestone. BNSF cut over the new trackage between Rose Hill and Mulvane, […]
MIAMI — How much money Amtrak was willing to pay and the Florida Department of Transportation was willing to accept for use of the Miami Intermodal Center headhouse was apparently the main sticking point in a years-long impasse that ended when the passenger carrier notified FDOT in November that it would not move its South […]
WORCESTER, Mass. — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has proposed a 10-year, $8 billion transportation plan including an immediate move to stabilize the finances of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority — using funds from the state’s Fair Share tax on annual incomes over $1 million while requiring no new taxes. Legislation to enact the plan, part […]
CALGARY — Members of Canadian union Unifor have voted to authorize a strike against Canadian Pacific Kansas City if the railroad and union do not reach a new deal by Jan. 29, 2025. The union said the vote was 99% in favor of authorization by members of Local 101R, which represents more than 1,200 CPKC […]
SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board has scrapped its controversial rule that would have required the use of zero-emissions locomotives in the state beginning in 2030. The board, or CARB as it’s known, informed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week that it was withdrawing its requests to enforce zero-emissions rules covering trucks and […]
LOS ANGELES — Metrolink will adjust schedules on its San Bernardino Line as of Jan. 27 in an effort to address on-time issues that led the agency to offer discounts to monthly pass holders in January and February. The commuter agency’s CEO, Darren Kettle, said in a year-end message to riders that Metrolink’s efforts to […]
SUNBURY, Pa. — After 27 years of running holiday passenger trains, fund-raising excursions, and shipper specials, owner Jeff Pontius of Penn Valley Railroad LLC has sold his fleet of seven passenger cars to the Reading & Northern Railroad. R&N announced that it would receive the cars today (Jan. 14, 2025) and outlined the planned move […]
BARSTOW, Calif. — The federal Bureau of Land Management has approved sale of almost 30 acres of public land to BNSF Railway for its planned Barstow International Gateway intermodal and logistics facility. The Victorville Daily Press reports the land, valued at $98,000, was ruled to be suitable for private sale. The propery is isolated, surrounded […]
PENINSULA, Ohio — Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 will return to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for six days in April and May as part of the “Steam in the Valley” series of excursions, the heritage railway has announced. The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s 1944 Lima locomotive is set for excursions on April […]
MIAMI — Brightline will revive the commuter pass program it discontinued last year, thanks to a federal grant it received last week, the company has announced. The company received a $33.8 million Restoration and Enhancement grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, which the federal announcement said would support expanding Brightline train consists from five to […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak’s “new normal” for handling anticipated severe weather — cancelling trains rather than operating them into a region where a storm is predicted — has proven to be a significant change from decades past when passenger rail earned an “all-weather” reputation. Fewer railroad resources in far-flung locations and Amtrak’s stretched-thin equipment situation are […]
Canadian National has opened a new 4-mile stretch of double track on its former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Chicago bypass route. The track, between Sutton and Spaulding, Ill., has increased velocity through the area by 30%, Patrick Whitehead, the railway’s executive vice president of network operations, said in a post on LinkedIn. The 17% in […]
