FRA launches passenger long-distance study site

Passenger train stopped at station, as viewed from high angle

WASHINGTON —The Federal Railroad Administration has launched a website for comments leading to an evaluation of long-distance service Amtrak had previously discontinued, as well as its two current triweekly routes, the New Orleans-Los Angeles Sunset Limited and the New York-Washington-Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Chicago Cardinal. The “Amtrak Daily Long-distance Service Study” site, which began operation Oct. 28, now only […]

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DC Metrorail to begin service on Silver Line extension Nov. 15

Detail of DC Metrorail map showing not-yet-complete Silver Line

WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport will open Nov. 15, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has announced. The 11.5-mile, six-station extension will open about four years behind schedule, the Washington Post reports, completing a 23-mile line on which construction began in 2009. The Post notes Metro still needs a […]

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Responding to inquiries, Transport Canada adjusts, clarifies High Frequency Rail process

Transport Canada logo

OTTAWA — More than 50 parties have made initial inquiries regarding the High Frequency Rail project, the plan to build a passenger-only right-of-way for VIA Rail Canada’s Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City corridor, Transport Canada said Monday in announcing the next step in the government’s procurement process to develop that corridor. The initial step, the Request for Expressions […]

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Regulators scold Amtrak, CN over ongoing contract dispute

Passenger train passes grain elevator and closed interlocking tower

WASHINGTON — Clearly displaying frustration that it is still dealing with the matter, the Surface Transportation Board has asked Amtrak and Canadian National to address errors and omissions in filings on their long-running dispute over a new operating agreement. The disagreement dates to 2013, but its most recent history includes a 2019 interim decision sending […]

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News photo: First remanufactured CN units now in operation

Shiny new read and black locomotives on freight train

LONDON, Ontario — The first two Canadian National locomotives in an order for 50 remanufactured AC44C6M units are now in service. Nos. 3300 and 3301 were photographed Sunday, Oct. 30, in London, Ont., on CN’s Dundas Subdivision. No. 3300 was part of a ceremony involving CN and Wabtec officials at Wabtec’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant […]

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Amtrak Midwest equipment problems continue

Passenger train passing additional passenger cars in yard

CHICAGO — “A shortage of available train equipment” is being blamed for the ongoing cancellation of the Illinois-sponsored service between Chicago and St. Louis scheduled to provide a 10 a.m. arrival into Chicago and 5:15 p.m. departure out of the Windy City. Lincoln Service train Nos. 300 and 305 originally had been scheduled to resume […]

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Man killed in Texas railcar accident

Logo of ExxonMobil

BEAUMONT, Texas — A 66-year-old Beaumont man has died in what is being described as “a railcar accident” at an ExxonMobil plant in Beaumont on Friday. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said it has ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death for Richard Garza, a contractor at the plant. No other information […]

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Massachusetts, Amtrak make ‘Valley Flyer’ service permanent

Cab car leads short passenger train past station

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Valley Flyer service between New Haven, Conn., and Greenfield, Mass., will be made permanent, Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Amtrak officials announced Friday. The extension of New Haven-Springfield service to Greenfield was launched as a two-year pilot program on Aug. 30, 2019 [see “‘Valley Flyer’ shuttles … to being Aug. 30,” Trains […]

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More Gulf Coast STB hearings set as mediation efforts fail (updated)

People on station platform to welcome special Amtrak train

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled two more days of hearings next month on Amtrak’s efforts to launch Gulf Coast passenger service after the passenger carrier, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile, Ala., failed to reach an agreement through board-sponsored mediation. The evidentiary hearings will be Nov. 17-18, beginning at […]

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Regulators, concerned about service, order big four U.S. railroads to continue to provide detailed performance data

Train crossing a diamond

WASHINGTON — Citing ongoing service problems at the big four U.S. Class I railroads, federal regulators today ordered BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific to continue reporting expanded performance metrics for an additional six months. The Surface Transportation Board in May ordered all Class I systems to provide weekly reports that cover […]

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