CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has been fined $12,000 for safety violations that led to the death of long-time staff member George Walker in January, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Walker, the museum’s general manager, had been with the museum for nearly 30 years. He died Jan. 4 in what the […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic in May was down 5.7% from the same month in 2022, continuing the year’s overall drop in volume mostly attributable to decreased intermodal activity. Traffic was also down by 5.7% for the week ending June 3, compared to the same week in 2022. May statistics from the Association of American […]
The non-profit Western Maryland Rail Heritage Foundation is seeking donations to relocate the last remaining Western Maryland Railway Alco S2 locomotive, currently located in Capreol, Ontario. The foundation is partnering with a museum in Capreol to move the locomotive from its current location, a siding slated to be torn up, to the museum. The long-term […]
PORTOLA, Calif. — The Western Pacific Railroad Museum has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Fund for phase one construction of its Frederick Whitman Multi-Purpose Building. The grant, received with the assistance of U.S. Rep Doug LaMlfa (R-Richvale, Calif), will help fund construction of a 100-foot by 200-foot, […]
ATLANTA — At a companywide town hall meeting that focused on safety and the importance of labor-management collaboration, Norfolk Southern last week debuted a locomotive that includes the logos of all 12 railroad labor unions. AC44C6M No. 4693 served as a backdrop for the event, which was held on Thursday at Bellevue Yard in Ohio […]
HARTFORD, Conn. — Shore Line East commuter rail service will see significant service cuts and Metro-North’s New Haven Line will see a lesser reduction under the Connecticut state budget passed Tuesday by legislators. The two-year, $51 billion budget passed the state House by a 139-12 margin and the Senate by a 35-1 vote on Tuesday. […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration will conduct safety assessments of all Class I railroads, Reuters reports, citing a June 1 letter from FRA Administrator Amit Bose to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) The letter by Bose says the FRA will conduct the assessments of each railroad over the next year and release “an […]
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Caltrain has reached a major milestone in the electrification of its San Francisco-San Jose main line, with the commuter rail operator announcing Tuesday that electrified trains have begun operating under power from the overhead contact system. The agency posted video Tuesday of trains making low-speed initial tests. These initial runs will […]
BOSTON — Revised communications procedures are at the heart of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s rail worker safety plan resubmitted to the Federal Transit Administration on Monday, WGBH Radio reports. The new plan replaces one that the FTA rejected in mid-May as “insufficient” because it included some items that would not be addressed until late […]
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin’s City Council and the board of directors for its transit agency and the Austin Transit Partnership have formally adopted a plan for Phase I of the city’s revised Project Connect light rail project, a 9.8-mile route to run from 38th Street in the city’s Northwest to Yellow Jacket Lane in the […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner was repeatedly asked to defend his near-$500,000 annual salary, and the company’s practice of giving out six-figure performance bonuses in light of the company’s reliance on more than $1 million in annual taxpayer support during today’s hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. But there were numerous other […]
A former Bangor & Aroostook F3A, which became Canadian Pacific property with the purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec, is on its way to CPKC headquarters in Calgary. A CPKC spokesman confirmed the locomotive, shown in Galt, Ontario, on June 2, is en route to Calgary, but said he had no information on future […]
