Amtrak: Southwest Chief route safe NEWSWIRE

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No. 144, a Dash 9-P42B, leads Amtrak’s westbound Southwest Chief on an early April evening in 2011 at Baca, N.M., over BNSF Railway tracks. Recent talks in New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado secured funding for upkeep of the Chicago to Los Angeles passenger train’s route. Steven M. Welch ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Amtrak says its Southwest […]

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Mockup of Ottawa’s new light rail vehicles on display NEWSWIRE

OttawaLRV

City of Ottawa OTTAWA, Ontario – Officials from local and national government agencies joined in Ottawa last week to unveil the future of transit with a full-sized mockup of the Alston Citadis Spirit light rail vehicle. The vehicle will be used on the O-Train Confederation Line, the backbone of Ottawa’s new light rail transit system. […]

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New Amtrak baggage cars move on special train to Florida NEWSWIRE

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A special train made of new Amtrak Viewliner baggage cars departs Elmira, N.Y., on Wednesday. The cars are bound for Florida for acceptance inspections. Don Jilson ELMIRA, N.Y. – Eighteen new Amtrak baggage cars are moving Wednesday from the CAF USA plant near Elmira to Amtrak’s Hialeah maintenance facility near Miami for final inspections before […]

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Amtrak to shift ‘Vermonter’ route Dec. 29 NEWSWIRE

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Amtrak will move its Vermonter service to the “Knowledge Corridor” in northern Massachusetts Dec. 29, 2014. The new route will feature stops in Greenfield and Northampton. The train will also add a stop in Holyoke later in 2015 when work is complete. The added stops due to the reroute will replace service […]

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‘Capitol Limited’ slimmed as Amtrak timekeeping improves NEWSWIRE

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Running four hours late, the westbound ‘Capitol Limited’ passes Whiting, Ind., on Oct 2, 2014. Bob Johnston CHICAGO – The hours-long delays have begun to disappear not only from Norfolk Southern’s Chicago-Toledo segment of the Capitol Limited, but also on the Empire Builder route. The improvements follow an Oct. 6 letter from Surface Transportation Board […]

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Campaigning to preserve the route of the Southwest Chief

FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston A 120-car BNSF empty coal train slinks west through a 30-mph speed restriction 10 miles east of Syracuse, Kan., on July 13. Once a raceway for the Super Chief and other streamliners, the Kansas portion of the line was downgraded under the current operating contract to 60 mph maximum passenger speeds […]

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Well-worn

  New York & Atlantic Railway SW1001 No. 105 rests outside the enginehouse at Fresh Pond Yard in Queens, N.Y., on Aug. 15, 2009. Photo by Thomas Mik […]

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Amtrak crew districts

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At the beginning of February 2006, the company had 56 active “T & E” (train and engine) crew bases at 53 locations, where conductors and engineers reported to work, ready to handle from 233 to 286 daily departures. (New York, Washington, and Harrisburg, Pa., have two districts originating from one base.) That year, Amtrak closed […]

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