WASHINGTON — Chicago-area commuter railroad Metra has asked a federal court to review the Surface Transportation Board’s decision to approve the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger as well as a subsequent decision that covers post-merger oversight. Metra’s suit, filed on Sept. 29 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was […]
Section: News Wire
Chehalis-Centralia Railroad agreement with short line will allow excursions to resume
CHEHALIS, Wash. — The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum has reached an agreement with an short line in Oregon and Washington that will allow the Washington heritage railway to resume excursion operations, beginning with “Polar Express” trains starting in November. The Centralia Chronicle reports that the museum, which has been unable to operate trains since March […]
Union Pacific launches intermodal service linking Mexico and the Southeast (updated)
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has launched intermodal service linking Mexico with points in the Southeast via Memphis. “In tandem with our diverse customer base, including our private asset and rail container channel partners, this new service introduces the largest influx of intermodal capacity for the Southeastern U.S. market out of Mexico,” UP said in […]
Kentucky Steam lands $1.9 million grant for ‘Yard’ project, 2716 restoration
RAVENNA, Ky. — The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. has received a $1.9 million grant to aid in the restoration of Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716, as well as continue development of the railroad-centered attraction “The Yard” that includes the shop where the steam locomotive is being restored. The funds are in the form of […]
MTA releases 20-year needs assessment, outlining ‘unconstrained’ list of improvement projects
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday released a 20-year assessment of the transit system’s needs over the next 20 years, calling it an “unconstrainted view of the MTA’s needs, rather than constraining it to meet an arbitrary budget target.” The resulting document, entitled “The Future Rides With Us,” is available here. (A […]
Software upgrade led to CN computer outage
MONTREAL — The Canadian National Railway computer outage that disrupted GO Transit and VIA Rail Canada trains on Tuesday was caused by a software upgrade, CN said on Wednesday. CN spokesman Jonathan Abecassis told CTV News that the railroad had determined the problem was because of “an internal systems upgrade, which affected CN’s ability to […]
British government axes part of planned high-speed route
MANCHESTER, England — In a speech today (Oct. 4) at the annual Conservative Party conference, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced cancellation of construction of the second stage of the planned high speed rail project known as HS2. That segment was to link Manchester and Birmingham. The decision — if it survives an election due […]
Santa Fe No. 2926’s mainline homecoming to Albuquerque’s New Mexico Railroad Days
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — “At 9:01 a.m. on Sept. 30, I opened the switch to the main line and No. 2926 backed out under its own power for the first time since it was in steam back in 1953,” proudly stated by Mathew Casford, chief of rail operations for New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical […]
Connecticut museum plans to restore 2-6-2
THOMASTON, Conn. — The Railroad Museum of New England is launching a fundraising campaign to restore Sumter & Choctaw Railway 2-6-2 No. 103 to service. No. 103 has been part of the RMNE collection since 1986 and was one of the first heritage steam locomotives to operate in the Northeast, from 1962 to 1975. No. 103 […]
New Golden Spike Monument en route to Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — Today, at the Kentucky studio of sculptor Douwe Blumberg, a crane gently lifted a gold spike measuring 43.3 feet long and weighing just under 7,000 pounds, onto a decorated semitrailer. The spike, commissioned by Utah’s Golden Spike Foundation, is a new memorial commemorating the workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Starting […]
Texas Congressmen oppose federal funding for Dallas-Houston high-speed rail
Dallas-Houston high speed rail AUSTIN, Texas — Two U.S. Congressmen from Texas expressed heavy opposition towards proposed federal funding for a planned high-speed rail service between Dallas and Houston. Amtrak announced its partnership with the Texas Central Railroad LLC for the project in August 2023 and jointly submitted federal grant applications for both study and […]
Intermodal traffic shows signs of life in September
WASHINGTON – U.S. rail traffic was up 1.5% in September as intermodal had its best month of the year, the Association of American Railroads reported today. U.S. railroads originated 921,716 carloads in September, up 2.3% from a year ago. U.S. railroads also originated 1,008,896 containers and trailers in September, up 0.7%. In September, 13 of […]