McRAE, Ark. — A one-mile area near the town of McRae was evacuated today (Monday, June 17) after a railcar on a Union Pacific train released a hazardous material, KTHV-TV reports. No injuries resulted from the incident, which involved nitric acid. State Route 367 was closed for about four hours. Union Pacific said in a […]
SEATTLE — BNSF Railway owes Washington state’s Swinomish Indian Tribal Community $394.5 million for violating an agreement governing railroad operation across tribal land, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik reached that figure after a four-day bench trial, the Seattle Times reports. He had previously ruled the railroad had violated a 1991 […]
CASS, W.Va. — Some 3,000 spectators descended on the tiny mountain town of Cass on Saturday, June 15, to see, photograph, and record all five of Cass Scenic Railroad’s operational Shay locomotives in the fifth annual Parade of Steam. Beginning on the inner station track with Shay No. 11 (Construction No. 3221, 1923; Class 90-3, […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific has announced plans for its second tour this year with Big Boy No. 4014, which will cover 10 states in eight weeks beginning Aug. 29. The “Heartland of America Tour” will launch from Cheyenne on that date and also include Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, […]
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Completion of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s $1.1 billion South Coast Rail project — to extend commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford — has been pushed back to May 2025, more than a year and a half after the original target date for the launch of service. The […]
GATINEAU, Quebec — Rail accidents and incidents in Canada were down in 2023, although fatalities were up slightly, according to final statistics released last week by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The board received 1,235 reports of rail “occurrences” — 914 accidents (which involve a fatality or serious injury, or a derailment, collision, or […]
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad has received approval for a rezoning request allowing it to build a new freight terminal near New Carlisle, Ind., the South Bend Tribune reports. At a meeting last week, the St. Joseph County Council voted 9-0 to rezone four parcels of land from […]
The California Air Resources Board pitted a standard diesel-electric locomotive consist against zero-emissions alternatives – including battery-electric models from Wabtec and ProgressRail as well as Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s hydrogen fuel cell locomotive – in a hypothetical test run from the Port of Los Angeles to Barstow, Calif. The analysis concludes that the current zero-emissions […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has announced it expects ridership to top 2019 — pre-COVID — levels this year and reach a new all-time record high even though it currently has less capacity. Ridership is reported 20% higher in the first 8 months of Amtrak’s budget year that began Oct. 1, 2023. Ticket revenue is showing a […]
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The George H.W. Bush Presidential Center officially opened the new pavilion that houses Union Pacific SD70Ace No. 4141 on Thursday, which would have been the president’s 100th birthday. The 29,000-square-foot pavilion on the Texas A&M campus also includes a helicopter that was frequently used as Marine One to carry the president […]
DENVER – OmniTRAX, a supply-chain and logistics provider that operates 26 short line railroads, has promoted John Bradley to executive vice president of operations. The 30-year rail veteran leads an operational team that posted multiple company records in service, safety, and productivity while adding three new railroads to the OmniTRAX network. Under Bradley’s tenure, the […]
WASHINGTON – Union Pacific and BNSF Railway are contracting out dispatching of the Alameda Corridor to a neutral third party. The 16.1 mile grade-separated corridor, which leads to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., handled an average of 31 trains per day in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Alameda […]
