Top 10 stories of 2023, No. 4: Amtrak’s ongoing capacity issues

Amtrak train with locomotive and three cars, followed by another locomotive and a mix of car types

WASHINGTON — Amtrak touted across-the-board gains compared with 2022 in each of its three business units in its recap of results for fiscal 2023. But less equipment available for long-distance trains triggered near constant sellouts on portions of those routes throughout the year. As a result, ridership and revenue growth for the inter-regional segment was […]

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U.S. rail traffic continues strong finish to 2023

Weekly table showing U.S. carload traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal traffic

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic continued its year-end surge, with traffic for the week ending Dec. 23 up 24.2% over the same week in 2022. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 486,787 carloads and intermodal units. That included 230,946 carloads, up 23.7%, and 255,841 containers and trailers, […]

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Top 10 stories of 2023, No. 5: East Broad Top returns to steam

Steam locomotive with four passenger cars and caboose

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — It was a breakout year for the East Broad Top narrow-gauge line in central Pennsylvania, already the Cinderella story of American steam railroads. Since its opening in 1873 as a 33-mile-long, common-carrier coal and ore line based in Rockhill Furnace, Pa., EBT has been shut down twice and rescued twice. In […]

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Wabtec to close Wilmerding, Pa., plant

Large brick factory building with "Westinghouse Air Brake" sign built into the structure

WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec Corp. will close its plant in Wilmerding in 2024, with layoffs beginning in February or March, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The plant is expected to close by July 1. The website Tube City Almanac reports the 13.1-acre facility was sold earlier this month to Wilmerding Warehouse LLC of Zelienople, Pa., for […]

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MBTA to continue Green Line work in January

Portion of MBTA rapid transit map

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will suspend service on a portion of the light rail Green Line for two extended periods in January, while also scheduling service outages for the ongoing repairs on the Green Line extension. From Jan. 3-12 and again from Jan. 16-28, Green Line service will be suspended on the Green […]

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Four injured in fire at Brooklyn subway station

Detail of New York subway map

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Four people were hurt after a track fire broke out in a New York City Transit subway station this evening (Sunday, Dec. 24), WPIX-TV reports. The Fire Department of New York said firefighters responded to the High Street-Brooklyn Bridge station on the A and C lines after a fire broke out on […]

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Top News Wire 10 stories of 2023, No. 8: New Acela delays

NewAcela

By now, Amtrak’s second-generation Acela trainsets were supposed to be in their second year of operation. Instead, they have no definite date to enter service, and are taking a growing toll on the passenger operator’s bottom line. A company web page simply says the trains are scheduled to debut “in 2024.” A Wall Street Journal […]

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