A Metra train leaves Big Timber Road west of Elgin in 2014. A connection will be built to Union Pacific rails to Rockford in the foreground Bob Johnston CHICAGO – Although Illinois lawmakers and newly-elected Gov. J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat, enacted the state’s first infrastructure capital spending legislation in a decade [see “Illinois passes […]
Duluth & Northeastern 28, shown temporarily re-lettered Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 332 in 2017 for a photo charter, will not operate this weekend as planned. Steve Glischinski DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has announced that operations of Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 28 planned for June 14-15 are cancelled. It’s the […]
This map shows the location of the proposed One Central development, which would include a new transit hub. Landmark Development A diagram shows the connections — those that exist, and those that would have to be built — for the proposed One Central transit center. Landmark Development CHICAGO — A major infrastructure program approved by […]
ST. LOUIS — Amtrak’s suspension of Missouri River Runner rail service between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., has been extended by another two days. It now will last through at least June 12. The suspension, which began May 22, is because of increased Union Pacific freight traffic on the route, the result of flooding […]
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Flooding and heavy rainfall have closed Union Pacific’s Jonesboro Subdivision between Pine Bluff, Ark., and Dexter, Mo. The outage joins other UP service suspensions in the Southern Region including four routes emanating from a junction at Wagoner, Okla., to Little Rock, McAlester, Okla., and to Coffeeville and Parsons, Kan., along with […]
Metra has opened its new station at Prairie Crossing on the Milwaukee North line, shown in April before the completion of landscaping. TRAINS: David Lassen The new Illinois budget includes more than $1 million for new pedestrian walkways at the Hanover Park Metra station on the Milwaukee West line. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Metra […]
BURLINGTON, Iowa — BNSF Railway’s Ottumwa Subdvision has felt the wrath of the Mississippi River, as its waters have covered tracks in downtown Burlington, Iowa. Trains have continued to operate, although at a greatly reduced speed. The river crested at 24.45 feet on Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. That same day, a […]
Amtrak’s Illinois Zephyr passes through Lisle, Ill., on the BNSF Railway on May 25, 2019. Among items in the new Illinois budget is funding for two additional state-supported Amtrak trains and extension of BNSF commuter service into Kendall County. TRAINS: David Lassen SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — In a surprise Saturday session, the Illinois General Assembly passed a […]
ST. LOUIS — Amtrak’s suspension of Missouri River Runner operation between St. Louis and Kansas City has been extended again, this time through at least Wednesday, June 5. Rerouted Union Pacific freight traffic, the result of flooding elsewhere in the Midwest, continues to lead to track congestion resulting in the suspension. Chartered buses are substituting […]
DALLAS — Trinity Rail Maintenance Services, a subsidiary of carbuilder Trinity Rail, has announced it will build a $60 million railcar repair facility in the eastern Iowa community of Shell Rock. The company, headquartered in Dallas, has purchased a 230-arce site for the facility, which will employ more than 250 people when completed in 2020. […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Efforts to advance proposed Amtrak service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth-Superior will have to wait another year after the Minnesota legislature failed to address a bill which included funding for the proposed Northern Lights Express. The proposed $550 million cost of starting the service, including adding capacity to BNSF’s main line, […]
CHICAGO — Canadian National officials seek to double-track 4.27 miles of former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern track to speed the flow of freight and bypass Chicago’s congested rail hub, but the plan is facing a regulatory hurdle and growing opposition from municipalities and residents. CN, acting under its Wisconsin Central Limited Railroad subsidiary, has applied […]
