SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The California Transportation Commission has awarded an additional $7.2 million in emergency funding to address the landslide issues that have halted Amtrak and Metrolink passenger service through San Clemente, the Orange County Transportation Authority announced. The new funds, awarded Friday, follow an earlier $2 million award from the state for cleanup […]
Railroad: Amtrak
Mobile disputes suggestion it is responsible for Gulf Coast delays
MOBILE, Ala. — The city of Mobile has taken umbrage at the idea that it is preventing the launch of Amtrak Gulf Coast service, as was suggested in last week’s Surface Transportation Board hearing on delays in launching that service. The lack of a lease between Amtrak and the city for land needed for a […]
Amtrak Toledo services through the years
Amtrak Toledo services have seen changes consistent with the rest of the national network in its 50-year history. Throughout its history, Amtrak trains have called upon the former New York Central station on Emerald Avenue at the south end of downtown. NYC opened the station, built with cream brick and copious amounts of glass block, […]
CSX train derails in South Carolina, leading to Amtrak cancellations
SELLERS, S.C. — Seventeen cars of a CSX train derailed early today (Saturday, Feb. 17) in South Carolina’s Marion County, blocking a highway and disrupting Amtrak operations. WBTW-TV reports the derailment occurred about 5 a.m., blocking a portion of U.S. Route 301, which will remain closed at least through the weekend, according to the South […]
Cascades service again disrupted by landslide
PORTLAND, Ore. — Amtrak Cascades and Coast Starlight service has been halted between Portland and Seattle for 48 hours because of a landslide earlier today, Amtrak announced shortly before noon PT today (Friday, Feb. 16). It is the fourth slide disruption on the route in less than a month. For both today and Saturday, Feb. […]
Amtrak should bail out on proposed Gulf Coast service: Analysis
Nearly three years after Amtrak said it would launch Gulf Coast service with or without host railroad cooperation, its passenger trains still are not running between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans. And as the saga drags on you have to wonder if they ever will. After years of frustration with CSX, Amtrak in 2021 took […]
Pacific Surfliner makes minor revision to schedule addressing slide disruption
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service will introduce a revised timetable on Saturday, Feb. 17, as it continues to deal with the effects of a line closure caused by a landslide in San Clemente. The revisions affect two northbound trains. Train 765, normally a 6:01 a.m. depart from San Diego to Goleta, Calif., […]
California state senator seeks legislation to address issues on LOSSAN corridor
SACRAMENTO — A California state senator is introducing a bill to address projects to prevent interruptions to passenger rail service on the LOSSAN Rail Corridor between San Luis Obispo and San Diego, such as the current slide near San Clemente, Calif., that has disrupted Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail service. The San Diego […]
STB members question Gulf Coast delays and non-disclosure at hearing: Analysis
WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman was so disappointed in the lack of information provided at Wednesday’s board hearing into the status of Amtrak Gulf Coast service that he ordered the parties to come back in 30 days with a detailed report to address the board’s unanswered questions. “I’ve negotiated a lot of […]
Amtrak, BNSF sue over grade-crossing collision that derailed California Zephyr
DENVER — Amtrak and BNSF Railway have sued the driver of a semi-truck of milk, as well as the truck’s owner, over the Jan. 29 grade-crossing collision that derailed the eastbound California Zephyr near Keenesburg, Colo. The suit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, says Dairy Farmers of […]
STB seeks operating details as part of ongoing Sunset Limited investigation
WASHINGTON — In the latest step in its ongoing investigation into on-time performance for Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, the Surface Transportation Board has asked the passenger operator and the train’s host railroads to answer a series of detailed questions on delays encountered during specific runs by the train and other operational details along the train’s route. […]
CSX derailment in West Virginia leads to Capitol Limited cancellations
MAGNOLIA, W.Va. — A Monday afternoon CSX derailment in a remote area of West Virginia has disrupted operations of Amtrak’s Capitol Limited. The Monday derailment in Morgan County, W.Va., near the community of Magnolia, involved nine cars, four of which were carrying sodium hydroxide, a corrosive material that can cause severe skin burns and eye […]