A Metra UP Northwest train arrives in Harvard, Ill., on Nov. 23, 2018. Metra and Union Pacific are in talks that could substantially change the nature of UP’s operating agreement with the commuter railroad. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Union Pacific Railroad and Metra are in discussions that could give Metra some control of operations […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached agreement with transit workers on a new contract after six months of sometimes contentious negotiations, averting a possible strike. Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said in a statement that the union’s executive board would meet to discuss the contract today and would report […]
SEATTLE — Sound Transit has removed its safety director from that job in the wake of an internally commissioned report on the December 2017 derailment of an Amtrak train on its line that killed three passengers. Peter Rogoff, the regional transit agency’s chief executive, also said in a memo issued Wednesday that Amtrak service on […]
An Alaska Airlines flight departs from Burbank (Calif.) Airport as a Metrolink train pauses at the Burbank Airport-South station in February 2019. California’s high speed rail project could require a tunnel under the airport. TRAINS: David Lassen BURBANK — Construction of California’s high speed rail line into Los Angeles may require a tunnel under the […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has removed its new Orange Line transit railcars from service while engineers investigate an “uncommon noise” coming from beneath the cars. MBTA spokeswoman Lisa Battison told Streetsblog Massachusetts in an email that the cars were removed from service “with safety as a top priority and out of an […]
On Tuesday, the two-engine, three-car Metro-North Holiday Train awaits the start of employee thank-you trips at Grand Central Terminal in New York City. P32AC-DM No. 229 is at the front. Each of the three passenger car is at least 70 years old. Ralph Spielman Metro-North car No. 2 was built by Budd in 1949 as […]
The westbound California Zephyr blasts through Plano, Ill., on Dec. 2, 2019. Plano’s Amtrak station could become a station for an extension of Metra’s BNSF line into Kendall County, Ill. TRAINS: David Lassen PLANO, Ill. — The opportunity has begun for the public to inspect and consider aspects of the proposed extension of Metra commuter […]
TRENTON — NJ Transit will not restore express service on its Pascack Valley line until the commuter railroad has more engineers available, NorthJersey.com reports. The express trains are part of a dispute between NJ Transit and Metro-North, which pays the New Jersey agency to operate some services extending into New York state. [See “Metro-North to […]
WASHINGTON — A group of 13 U.S. Senators, all Democrats, have written Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson requesting that the passenger railroad do away with its recent move requiring passengers to accept arbitration rather than being able to sue — a request Anderson quickly turned down. In January, Amtrak changed the contract language accompanying its tickets […]
Amtrak Store website screen image WASHINGTON — You might be too late to grab a “Surprise and Delight” railfan gift box Amtrak offered for sale on Monday. A National Railroad Passenger Corp. representative confirmed to Trains on Monday afternoon that the railroad’s online store offered a limited set of 50 surprise boxes to customers — announcing […]
Passengers fill the Holland, Mich., station on Nov. 29, 2019, waiting for the sold-out Pere Marquette to Chicago. Bob Johnston NEW YORK — Once again, the nation’s TV viewers were treated to a steady diet of reporters doing obligatory stand-ups during the Thanksgiving holiday that bemoaned cancelled flights and snow-clogged highways from Denver through the […]
Mainline steam in November 2019: Polish 2-6-2 Ol49 59 is about to leave Wolsztyn with the 11:37 service to Leszno on Nov. 22, 2019. The 80-minute one-way steam trip cost around $3. Keith Fender WARSAW — Daily steam hauled passenger services survive on two regional commuter rail lines in western Poland but seem set to […]
