California agency awards more than $850 million for 11 rail projects

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SACRAMENTO — Eleven rail projects, including a new LA Metro light rail line and extension of service in Sonoma County by SMART commuter trail, have received more than $850 million in funding from the Calfiornia State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) in awards announced last week. “From new zero-emissions buses in the Central Valley to vital rail […]

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Projects in Illinois, Virginia receive CRISI grants

Logo for Federal Railroad Administration

WASHINGTON — Two more awards have been announced under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program. The first of what Washington state’s two senators said will be 122 grants totaling $2.477 billion were announced late last week [see “Announcements of 2024 CRISI grants begin,” Trains News Wire, Friday, […]

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Public Amtrak board meeting set for Seattle in December

Man at podium with Amtrak logo

WASHINGTON — Amtrak announced late Friday that its federally mandated annual public Board of Directors meeting will be held in Seattle on Dec. 4, 2024. As in past sessions staged at St. Louis Union Station in 2022 and at Richmond, Va. Main Street Station in 2023, company officials will review operating results from the just-completed […]

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Amtrak asks STB to dismiss Gulf Coast case

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has asked the Surface Transportation Board to dismiss its petition asking the board to compel freight railroads to allow operation of Gulf Coast service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., saying the terms of an agreement between the passenger operator, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority have been fulfilled […]

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Denver Union Station: Gem of the West

The façade of Denver Union Station on a sunny day

Denver Union Station’s predecessor established the city as the transportation hub of the West and the primary gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Opened on June 1, 1881, where 17th Street dead-ends into Wynkoop Street, Denver Union Depot was 504 feet long and 65 feet wide, the largest structure in the West. Within a decade, 100 […]

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Mobile groundbreaking yields no news on start for Amtrak Gulf Coast service

Architectural drawings of train station platform

MOBILE, Ala. — Two ongoing questions about Amtrak’s Gulf Coast service — when it will begin and what the New Orleans-Mobile trains will be called — remained unanswered during a Tuesday, Oct. 22, groundbreaking ceremony for a station platform and layover track in Mobile. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose […]

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Groundbreaking set for Amtrak facility in Mobile

aerial view of land along railroad tracks near water

MOBILE, Ala. — Another step in the long-running effort to launch Amtrak service between Mobile and New Orleans is set for Tuesday, Oct. 22, when officials including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for an Amtrak layover track and platform in Mobile. The ceremony is set for 2 p.m. at […]

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Portland, Ore., puts Union Station up for sale

Exterior of railroad station with prominent clock tower

PORTLAND, Ore. — Following years of failed efforts to come up with money for a local match to apply for federal grants to help fund needed upgrades, the city of Portland has renewed efforts to sell Union Station. Built in 1896 and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975, the station’s signature clock […]

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