Metra SD70MACHs begin revenue service

blue and black diesel at night

Metra’s new six-axle power CHICAGO — Metra has used one of its SD70MACH locomotives to lead a revenue service train for the first time, with locomotive No. 507 powering train No. 2135 on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 29, from Chicago Union Station to Fox Lake on the Milwaukee District North line. Metra F59PHI No. […]

Read More…

Amtrak cites major ridership increase in fiscal year-end report

High speed trains meet on S curve

WASHINGTON — More than 28 million passengers rode Amtrak in its 2023 fiscal year, the company today in announcing results for the year that ended Sept. 30. “Amtrak ridership continues to set post-pandemic records thanks to our customers who were anxious to travel again and attracted to the many benefits of train travel,” CEO Stephen […]

Read More…

OmniTRAX to begin operation of South Branch Valley Railroad on Friday

Blue locomotive pulling freight cars

MOOREFIELD, W.Va. — OmniTRAX will take over management of West Virginia’s South Branch Valley Railroad this Friday, Dec. 1, the company has announced. The transportation affiliate of The Broe Group said Wednesday that it had entered into “a definitive agreement with the West Virginia Deparment of Transportation to operate and grow” the 52.4-mile railroad, a […]

Read More…

Texas mayor vocal about need for passenger rail at House hearing: Analysis

Passenger train in background with station in foreground

WASHINGTON — Austin, Texas, Mayor Kirk Watson expressed strong support for expanded rail service in the San Antonio-Dallas-Houston “Texas Triangle” at a hearing of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s rail subcommittee in Washington today (Wednesday, Nov. 29). The session, however, primarily provided a platform for critics of the California High-Speed Rail Authority to […]

Read More…

Miami’s Tri-Rail says it will begin downtown service by end of 2023

Light blue locomotive with images of clouds and palm trees on its side at grade crossing

MIAMI — South Florida commuter rail service Tri-Rail still expects to begin long-delayed service to Brightline’s downtown MiamiCentral downtown station by the end of the year, Miami Today reports. A spokesman for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Tri-Rail’s parent agency, told Miami Today that a draft schedule has been submitted to partners including Brightline […]

Read More…

New Jersey Senate committee holds hearing on bill setting limits for ‘high-hazard trains’

New Jersey state seal

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey legislators on Monday held a hearing on a bill that would require two-person crews, limit train lengths, and mandate wayside defect detectors for “high-hazard trains,” those transporting flammable or hazardous materials. The hearing on S4049, introduced in June and sponsored by state Sens. Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex) and Gordon Johnson […]

Read More…

CTA’s Yellow Line remains shut down after collision

Stainless steel railcar with smashed-in front end

CHICAGO — The Chicago Transit Authority’s Yellow Line remains shut down today (Monday, Nov. 27) as the Thanksgiving holiday period ends, some 11 days after the Nov. 16 collision between a Yellow Line train and a snowplow that injured 38 people. WLS-TV reports that the CTA has not offered any estimate when the line will […]

Read More…