Routes for Del Mar rail tunnel multiply

Map of potential rall tunnel routes in Del Mar, Calif.

DEL MAR, Calif. — Proposed routes for a tunnel to replace the rail line along the Del Mar bluffs, which at one time had been narrowed to two options, are now back to a total of 11 options in the wake of objections by Del Mar residents, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The multi-billion dollar project […]

Read More…

New Jersey Senate committee holds hearing on bill setting limits for ‘high-hazard trains’

New Jersey state seal

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey legislators on Monday held a hearing on a bill that would require two-person crews, limit train lengths, and mandate wayside defect detectors for “high-hazard trains,” those transporting flammable or hazardous materials. The hearing on S4049, introduced in June and sponsored by state Sens. Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex) and Gordon Johnson […]

Read More…

MBTA begins maintenance shutdowns on Green Line

Maintenance workers on rail bridge

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority on Monday began the first work in its massive program to eliminate slow orders on its rail transit network, initiating maintenance shutdowns on the Green Line that will run through Dec. 10. Full closures are set through Dec. 5 downtown between North Station and Kenmore; on the Green […]

Read More…

CSX unveils Atlantic Coast Line heritage locomotive

A tribute to Atlantic Coast Line is the latest heritage locomotive to emerge from CSX’s paint shop in Waycross, Ga. CEO Joe Hinrichs posted photos of the locomotive on his LinkedIn account this afternoon. “Here’s the new CSX Atlantic Coast Line Heritage Locomotive fresh out of the paint shop in Waycross, Georgia,” Hinrichs wrote. “We […]

Read More…

Competition heats up under the English Channel

Two high speed trains under station trainshed

LONDON — Since the Channel Tunnel connecting Britain and France opened in 1994, a high speed passenger service operated by Eurostar has connected London, Paris and Brussels (extended to Amsterdam in 2018). Although competition on the route has been theoretically possible for decades, none has started — but this may be about to change as no […]

Read More…

Weekly U.S. rail traffic up again

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus intermodal totals

WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic was up for the second week in a row, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Overall traffic for the week ending Nov. 18 included 501,416 carloads and intermodal units, a 4% increase from the same week a year ago. That includes 237,416 carloads, up […]

Read More…

CSX Santa Train photo gallery

close up view of blue santa train car

CSX Santa Train The CSX Santa Train, enjoying new life after a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, again delighted children and adults along its 110-mile former Clinchfield Railroad route between Shelby, Ky., and Kingsport, Tenn. This year’s train featured a new “Santa Car” rebuilt from a former Pan Am Railways office car, as well […]

Read More…

STB extends reply comment period on reciprocal switching proposal

Crew member on ground next to locomotive

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation board announced today it will extend the reply comment period for its proposed rule on reciprocal switching by 14 days to Dec. 20. The board’s decision is in response to a request by a coalition of shipper groups — the American Chemistry Council, the Fertilizer Institute, and the National Industrial […]

Read More…