News Photo: Dome-observation returns to VIA’s Churchill train

Stainless steel passenger train with dome-lounge-observation at rear

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Dome-lounge-observation Tweedsmuir Park brings up the rear of VIA Rail Canada’s Churchill-Winnipeg train No. 692 at Roblin, Man., on Oct. 18, marking the return of the Park class cars to the remote-service train for the first time since spring 2020. The train’s nine-car consist — including three coaches, three Chateau-series sleepers, a […]

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DC Metrorail service to be limited after newest cars are sidelined

WMATA (DC Metro) logo

WASHINGTON  — DC Metrorail service will face a significant service reduction as of Monday — and potentially for weeks to come — as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority moves its newest rail cars, the Kawasaki-built 7000-series equipment, from service. The website DCist reports the independent Washington Metrorail Safety Commission ordered the cars removed from […]

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DC Metrorail service restored through site of derailment

WMATA (DC Metro) logo

ARLINGTON, Va. — Full operation was restored Friday morning on the DC Metrorail Blue Line, more than two days after service was halted between the Arlington Cemetery and Foggy Bottom stations as the result of a derailment. An investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board is continuing after one car of a train derailed […]

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CSX honored for climate initiatives

CSX logo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation has been honored by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The railroad has received a 2021 Climate Leadership Award for greenhouse gas reduction goal setting, recognizing ““exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in reducing carbon pollution and […]

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FRA unveils ambitious Midwest Rail Plan

Schematic map of proposed passenger rail service with Chicago as hub

CHICAGO — Deputy Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose released the agency’s Midwest Regional Rail Plan at a Chicago Union Station media event Wednesday, characterizing it as “a 40-year multi-state framework and vision for restoring, modernizing, and expanding the existing intercity passenger rail network in the Midwest.” The blueprint, a culmination of two years collaborative work […]

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NTSB to take lead role in Metrorail derailment investigation

WMATA (DC Metro) logo

ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Transportation Safety Board will take a lead role in the investigation of Tuesday’s derailment of a DC Metrorail Blue Line train, with a spokeswoman telling the Washington Post the NTSB chose to investigate because it could “advance a known safety issue,” based on previous Metrorail incidents. The accident occurred shortly […]

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Intermodal traffic drop continues for U.S. railroads

Weekly table of U.S. rail traffic by category for the week and year to date

WASHINGTON — Intermodal issues reflecting broad supply-chain problems continue to drag down U.S. freight rail volume, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Figures for the week ending Oct. 9 found overall traffic down 2.6% against the same week in 2020. The total volume of 506,642 carloads and intermodal units included […]

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CP train operating without functioning PTC at center of three-train collision in Minnesota

Derailed locomotive and freight car on adjacent tracks

WASHINGTON — A Canadian Pacific train operating without functioning positive train control triggered August’s three-railroad, three-train collision in St. Paul, Minn., according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The preliminary report, released Wednesday, lays out basic facts of the accident but does not draw any conclusions or recommend any actions. The […]

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Top KCS Precision Scheduled Railroading official to leave company

Kansas City Southern logo

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sameh Fahmy, Kansas City Southern’s executive vice president, precision scheduled railroading, will leave KCS by year’s end, the railroad has announced. Fahmy joined KCS in January 2019. Since then, the railroad says it has increased train velocity by 37%, decreasing freight car dwell by 18%, enacted double-digit reductions in equipment, and […]

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Fire near Santa Barbara disrupts Surfliner, Starlight service

Amtrak logo.

LOS ANGELES — Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight service has been altered because of wildfires in the Santa Barbara, Calif., area. The Alisal fire, burning northwest of Santa Barbara and south of the town of Solvang, has closed the Union Pacific rail line and a portion of U.S. Route 101. KCBS-TV reports the fire, […]

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