LOS ANGELES — The Port of Los Angeles has announced completion of the Pier 400 rail expansion, a $73 million program to expand the on-dock yard at the container terminal operated by APM Terminals. The project added five new storage tracks totaling 31,000 linear feet, new crossovers and turnouts, a concrete rail bridge with […]
Throughout their history, railroads have been under the spell of the Not Invented Here Syndrome. If a rival railroad — or, worse still, an industry outsider — found a better way to do something, railroads would heap scorn on the idea. “Why, fill-in-the-blank would never work on our railroad!” Actually, it probably would. And examples […]
MEXICO CITY — Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday announced plans for developing three new passenger rail lines under her administration, building on a commitment earlier this week to extend one of the signature policies of her predecessor and mentor, current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “We have made the decision to continue building trains,” […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic began the second half of 2024 the same way it ended the first half — with increased volume compared to 2023. For the week ending July 6, U.S. railroads handed 421,817 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.3% increase over the same week a year earlier, according to statistics from […]
ATLANTA — National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy had harsh words for Norfolk Southern at the conclusion of last month’s hearing on the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials derailment. But today, after a visit to the railroad’s headquarters, Homendy praised CEO Alan Shaw for pledging to exceed the safety recommendations that the NTSB […]
CHICAGO — Metra, which has a long-range goal of adding dedicated train service between O’Hare International Airport and downtown Chicago, will provide a sampling of what that service could be like during the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The commuter rail operator will offer shuttle service between its O’Hare Transfer station and Chicago Union Station on […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada has introduced a special one-off paint scheme, which it is calling “Lumi,” for one of its new Siemens-built trainsets for use in the Québec City-Windsor corridor. Lumi, short for luminoscity, features the monochrome yellow that has long been a signature color for VIA. The company says the Lumi trainset “acts […]
WASHINGTON — More than $1.1 billion in funding is now available under a federal program to eliminate railroad grade crossings. The Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity for those funds under the Rail Crossing Elimination Grant Program, which provides money for grade-crossing separations, upgraded safety devises, or crossing closures. Applications […]
CHICAGO — The heads of Chicago’s four transit agencies argued Tuesday at a legislative hearing that financial support, not structure, is the key issue they face in trying to serve the region’s passengers. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the top officials at Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, bus operator Pace, and the overarching Regional Transportation […]
WASHINGTON — Circumstantial evidence gleaned from Amtrak’s booking site portends mid-November changes to the operation of the Chicago-Washington, D.C. Capitol Limited and the New York-Miami Silver Star. A Trains News Wire review of ticketing availabilities on the two trains indicates tentative plans to combine their operation as a single-level Chicago-Miami train. Doing so would allow […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX will report its second-quarter financial results about two weeks later than normal as it reviews prior period capitalization of engineering materials and labor costs, the railroad announced on Monday evening. The railroad will release its earnings on Aug. 5. In each of the past two years its second quarter financial results […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — A lot of companies could take lessons on promotions from the people at Brightline. Last month, the company built a promotion around a poll showing that 59% of Floridians would prefer to find an alligator in their pool than get stuck in traffic on a family trip. In response, it offered 40% […]
