LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec — The Canadian government has begun the process of expropriating land for the planned Lac-Mégantic rail bypass after being unable to negotiate land purchases, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Monday. “I understand that some of the landowners are angry, saddened or anxious about this decision,” Alghabra said in a statement. “Believe me, it […]
Zone & Region: Canada
Woman injured in case cited by TSB has suit pending
KITCHENER, Ontario — The woman injured in a 2019 grade crossing accident, cited last week by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada as a sign of issues with Ontario oversight of rail safety, filed a lawsuit last year seeking more than C$3 million as a result of the incident, the CBC reports. Jenna Armstrong and […]
Toronto’s UP Express resumes operation
TORONTO — Union Pearson Express rail service resumed this morning (Sunday, Feb. 12) with 30-minute frequencies after all operation were cancelled Saturday, according to the UP Express website. The trains between Union Station in downtown Toronto and the city’s Pearson Airport, which normally operate on 15-minute headways, have been operating on reduced frequencies since cracks […]
Toronto airport rail service halted after brake issues found throughout equipment fleet (updated)
TORONTO — Toronto’s Union Pearson Express rail service, which operates between downtown and the city’s airport, has been replaced by bus service as of Saturday, a day after CTV News reported 14 of 18 cars in the service’s equipment fleet had been sidelined by cracks in their brake discs. As of Saturday evening, a notice […]
TSB says 2019 GO Transit accident involving pedestrians raises questions about Ontario’s rail oversight
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has raised questions about Ontario’s safety oversight of railways following release of its investigation report on a 2019 accident in which a GO Transit commuter train struck an adult and a child at a grade crossing in Kitchener, Ont. “This accident illustrates the critical and […]
CP, Steelworkers in Canada reach tentative agreement
CALGARY — Canadian Pacific announced Thursday it has reached a tentative contract agreement with United Steelworkers Local 1976, which represents approximately 550 administrative support and intermodal workers in Canada. Details will not be released until the contract is ratified, the railroad said. The Steelworkers said negotiations had been in progress since November. “This agreement makes […]
Model train packaging: So it arrives in one piece
On October 10, 2022, at approximately 12:36 p.m. local time, a pallet carrying 846 LNER Dynamometer Cars fell off of a delivery truck at Rapido’s UK headquarters. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, as you’ll find out), none of the models were destroyed. In a time where more and more of what we purchase arrives in a cardboard […]
TSB investigating CP derailment in Mount MacDonald Tunnel
REVELSTOKE, British Columbia — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating a Canadian Pacific derailment inside the Mount MacDonald Tunnel on Rogers Pass that occurred Feb. 5, the Revelstoke Review newspaper reports. The newspaper reports that the TSB said that the train was westbound through the tunnel when 11 cars “began to lean,” leading […]
N scale General Motors Diesel Division GP40-2W from Atlas
An N scale General Motors Diesel Division GP40-2W from Atlas recently toured our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route layout. Model Railroader editor Eric White and senior editor Cody Grivno talk about the features on the locomotive and take it for a tour of the “Mini Myrt.” Paint schemes on the four-axle road unit […]
Ottawa will pay light rail consortium some funds withheld over service issues
OTTAWA — The City of Ottawa will pay millions of dollars withheld over service problems to the consortium that built and operates the city’s light rail Confederation Line under a recently negotiated agreement, the CBC reports. The city and Rideau Transit Group announced in late January they had reached a settlement in a long-running dispute […]
CP sets grain record in January
CALGARY — Canadian Pacific moved 2.29 million metric tons of Canadian grain in January, setting a record for the month, the company said last week. The railroad has now moved more than 15 million metric tons in the 2022-23 crop year, an increase of more than 45% over the same point in the 2021-22 crop […]
Alstom’s hydrogen passenger train to debut in Quebec
QUEBEC CITY — A hydrogen-powered passenger train will make its North American debut this summer in Quebec. Alstom’s Coradia iLint, which first entered commercial service in Germany in 2018, will operate in a demonstration project on the Réseau Charlevoix rail network, following the St. Lawrence River between Parc de la Chute Montmorency and Baie-Saint-Paul, approximately […]