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CHICAGO — Amtrak’s Empire Builder departing Seattle on Aug. 30 got off to an on-time start, but was spotted over Labor Day weekend exiting Rugby, N.D., 13 hours, 29 minutes late at 1:18 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 1 instead of 11:49 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31. It would lose more time because a borrowed BNSF […]
As summer transitions to fall, travelers seeking to use Amtrak are faced with a continuation of periodic sellouts and high fares on long-distance routes and many corridors. In the face of growing year-round demand, the company has yet to expedite restoration efforts that would capture additional ridership and revenue. Transportation Security Administration officials have projected […]
Back for the first time in a while, here’s some weekend recommended reading — rail news and features from various media outlets: — The website Urban Milwaukee reports on an ambitious/unrealistic (take your pick) proposal for a privately developed commuter rail system that would serve 32 stations in a five-county area around Milwaukee, using existing […]
Rebuilding the S-Line | As detailed in the November 2024 issue of Trains magazine, the neighboring states of North Carolina and Virginia are up to something big! They are cooperating, collaborating, and even co-funding to create a 110-mph interstate passenger-train speedway dubbed, the “S-Line”. Watch this video to see some of the existing Amtrak trains […]
RICHMOND, Va. —The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority board of directors has approved a recently negotiated plan with Norfolk Southern to acquire the railroad’s former Southern Railway route out of Alexandria, Va., to Manassas, Va., and gain Amtrak train access to the NS main line beyond Roanoke, Va., to Christiansburg, Va. In a press release, the […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has received thousands of pages of documents as part of its investigation into the substandard on-time performance of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited. And yet regulators still have a mystery on their hands. The key question they want answered: Which railroads officially host the easternmost 15.5 miles of the Sunset Limited’s […]
Top 10 hot spots I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively during my almost 60 years of rail photography, and have been able to see and photograph railroads throughout the continent. In addition, I’ve lived in the Midwest, the Northeast, Texas, Georgia, and in Virginia for the past 25 years. Here are 10 of […]
Amtrak North Coast Hiawatha service joined the Chicago to Seattle market as an unnamed, triweekly train on June 5, 1971. It obtained the North Coast Hiawatha name, a combination of Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited and Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha fleet, and Nos. 9-10, with the first Amtrak timetable issued on Nov. 14, 1971. It operated […]
WASHINGTON — The union representing Amtrak conductors and assistant conductors announced it had reached a new tentative agreement with the passenger operator for a seven-year contract covering more than 2,100 employees. The agreement with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) will include a “substantial general wage increase,” the […]
PORTLAND, Maine — Following a pair of community outreach sessions that began last April, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority has settled on a site for a relocated Portland station that would eliminate the time-consuming backup move for Downeaster service that dates to its launch in December 2001. The agency is soliciting further public […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will wrap up the discovery portion of its investigation into the on-time performance of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited on Friday and has set a schedule for the remainder of the proceeding. In a decision issued yesterday, the STB also ordered Amtrak to provide an opening statement that addresses several key […]
LAMY, N.M. — The last segment of U.S. mainline railroad still using semaphore signals has gotten smaller. Railroad officials in New Mexico replaced five semaphores with modern day CTC signals on Saturday, Aug.17, on a stretch between Lamy and Cerrillos on a section of original Santa Fe now owned by the state of New Mexico. […]
