Maryland Senate to vote on veto overide of bill seeking to extend MAR service to Virginia, Delaware A bill that would open the door for MARC commuter rail service to expand into northern Virginia has new life after Maryland’s House of Delegates voted to override a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan, leaving its future in […]
Additional Tuesday morning rail news: Fundraising effort begins to save Union City, Ind., tower A fundraising effort has launched to save a former CSX interlocking tower in Union City, Ind., which is scheduled for demolition. The Winchester News Gazette reports the “Save the Rail Tower” effort seeks to raise $50,000 by March 25 for funds to […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has received a patent for a virtual track block system that has the potential to significantly boost existing mainline capacity, raise average train speeds, and improve the detection of broken rails. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the patent application last month, and credits the invention to BNSF employees Mitchell […]
More Monday afternoon rail news: News report says transit to receive $30 billion under House COVID relief plan Transit agencies will receive $30 billion and Amtrak $1.5 billion under the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal expected to be released Monday by House Democrats, Reuters reports. The news service, citing sources briefed on the matter and documents […]
Monday morning rail news: Start pushed back, cost estimate increased for Valley segment of California high speed route The California High-Speed Rail Authority has again reset the completion date and increased the estimated cost of the project. The Associated Press reports authority CEO Brian Kelly now says the 119-mile segment between Bakersfield and Madera in the Central […]
Monday afternoon rail news: CP sets January record for Canadian grain movement Canadian Pacific set a record for Canadian grain movement in January, transporting 2.22 million metric tons to better the record set a year earlier by 6%. The railroad has now shipped 16 million metric tons so far in the 2020-21 grain season, an […]
Saturday morning rail news: South Shore to replace trains with buses on part of route through at least Monday The South Shore Line will substitute bus service for trains between South Bend, Ind., and the Michigan City Carroll Avenue station beginning this evening, and continuing through at least Sunday and Monday because of forecasts of […]
GODERICH, Ontario — Cleanup continues after the Feb. 1 incident in which a Goderich-Exeter Railway train ran away on a 3% grade on a line leading to Goderich Harbour, derailing, hitting two vehicles, and demolishing a shed before coming to a halt [see “Digest: Canadian short line train derails …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 2, 2021] Remarkably, […]
Friday afternoon rail news: Work at East Broad Top uncovers, removes decayed dynamite Stabilization work on a building at the East Broad Top Railroad took an unexpected turn this week with the discovery of five cases of material labeled as explosives. After work halted, analysis determined the material was probably decayed dynamite, estimated to be […]
The lone railroad traffic bright spot last year was intermodal volume, which went on a tear in the second half of 2020 due to rising e-commerce parcel shipments, a surge in imports, and retailers rushing to restock depleted inventories. But as intermodal traffic surged and remained at fall peak levels into this year, the volume […]
While intermodal’s role in boosting North America rail volume has been in the spotlight, grain traffic has also been impressive. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific have set a series of records for Canadian grain tonnage [see “CP, CN continue string of records for grain movement,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 4, 2021], but global trade in U.S. grain, particularly […]
Wednesday morning rail news: Vancouver rail line averts strike with labor agreement The Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Line of the SkyTrain rail transit system has averted a strike after workers reached a tentative contract agreement with operator Protrans BC. Global News reports the BC Government & Service Employees Union said the agreement came after more than 40 […]
