Thursday’s signal outage at Chicago Union Station was reportedly caused by a worker falling on a circuit board during an equipment upgrade, according to a U.S. Senator. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — That “human error” that snarled Metra’s Thursday evening commute? It wasn’t just someone flicking the wrong switch or a programming mistake. U.S. Sen […]
WASHINGTON — Ninety-one members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson demanding answers to a long list of concerns “regarding changes that Amtrak has recently implemented and is reportedly considering making to its operations” posed by their constituents. The 11-page letter — slightly more than […]
Metra and Amtrak trains move into Chicago Union Station in March 2017. Traffic in and out of Union Station was snarled for much of Thursday by Amtrak signal issues. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson has offered an explanation and an apology for signal problems at Chicago Union Station that snarled Metra […]
RENO, Nev. — Amtrak has announced plans to resume full service on its California Zephyr and Coast Starlight routes, both currently disrupted after snow-related closures. According to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, the first Zephyrs to cross Donner Pass after that route was closed by a Feb. 26 avalanche near Truckee, Calif., are scheduled to do […]
JACKSON, Miss. – Beginning Thursday, and just days before the big Mardi Gras weekend, Amtrak’s City of New Orleans from Chicago will start making a same day turn at Jackson with chartered Amtrak Thruway buses making all scheduled intermediate stops to and from the Crescent City. The northbound bus will leave New Orleans Passenger terminal […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has informed federal, state and local officials along the route of the daily Southwest Chief that, with the enactment of the recent full-year funding bill by Congress, it will provide matching funds to enable a federal grant to be awarded for safety and reliability upgrades on the train’s route in Kansas, Colorado, […]
The 2017 ‘New River Train’ rolls west through Thurmond, W.Va., on Oct. 28, 2017. Chase Gunnoe HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Amtrak has been in discussions with the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society during the past year and viewed the New River Train’s potential charter as a positive business relationship. “Amtrak was in discussions with Collis […]
CHICAGO – The Coast Starlight isn’t the only Amtrak train making news this week. On Sunday afternoon, a Canadian Pacific freight train derailed east of Tomah, Wis., The eastbound Empire Builder had been running more than seven hours late, but would have passed the scene of the derailment had it been on time. Consequently, it […]
EUGENE, Ore. – Passengers on the southbound Coast Starlight that was stranded near Oakridge in southern Oregon are continuing on their journeys Tuesday following the arrival of a rescue locomotive to pull the train back to Eugene. Video shows Union Pacific ES44AC No. 5478 pulling the train into Eugene on Tuesday. Fallen trees across Union […]
The eastbound ‘California Zephyr,’ left, meets a state-funded Capital Corridor train at Sacramento in March 2013. Brian Schmidt WASHINGTON – Amtrak is considering a plan to replace its long-distance train network with new corridors along parts of the same routes, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We are undertaking a major rethinking of the national network […]
Police investigate the grade crossing accident in Brookfield, Wis., that left the automobile driver dead Monday. Cate Kratville-Wrinn BROOKFIELD, Wis. — A 70-year-old man died Monday when he drove his SUV into the path of Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder passenger train, according to police reports. The accident happened at 4:15 p.m. at Brookfield Road adjacent […]
The westbound Canadian is 22 hours late as seen from its eastbound counterpart at Jasper, Alberta, on Feb 16, 2019. Two photos, Neil Lang CHICAGO – Keeping trains running through the so-called “polar vortex” in the center of North America and massive weather systems impacting the West Coast with heavy rains and snow have taken […]
