Brightline update: PTC plans outlined for 125-mph operation

Yellow and white passenger train at grade crossing

COCOA, Fla. — Brightline crews are set to resume 110-mph tests this Friday, Jan. 6, south of Fort Pierce, Fla., as part of continuing preparations for the passenger operator’s expansion of service to Orlando. The tests in Martin and St. Luicie counties, along an 11-mile stretch of the 129-mile segment of Florida East Coast Railway […]

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Pullman National Monument designated as National Park

Ornate multistory brick building with clock tower

CHICAGO — President Joe Biden has signed legislation that changes the Pullman National Monument to a National Historical Park, making it the first National Park Service unit in Chicago. Pullman National Monument was designated by President Barack Obama on Feb. 19, 2015. The park tells the story of one of the first planned industrial communities […]

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CEOs from BNSF, CN, NS set to appear at MARS meeting

Mars logo

LOMBARD, Ill. — CEOs of three Class I railroads are among the impressive list of speakers for this year’s winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, set for Jan. 17-19 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, Ill. Katie Farmer of BNSF Railway, Tracy Robinson of Canadian National, and Alan Shaw of […]

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Brightline to resume 110-mph testing in two Florida counties

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Brightline will resume 110-mph testing on the coastal portion of its extension to Orlando this Friday, Jan. 6, a process scheduled to continue in Martin and St. Lucie counties through Monday, Jan. 23. Testing on the 11-mile stretch of track will occur between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Flaggers and law enforcement […]

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R&LHS announces new award for passenger rail writing

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The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society will recognize magazine writing about passenger rail service with the latest addition to its Railroad History Awards. The William F. Howes Jr. Passenger Rail Article Award becomes the seventh category of the awards program, which began in 1982. Howes, a career railroad official with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad […]

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Recapping five years of News Wire’s top stories

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Trains News Wire wrapped up its countdown of 2022’s top stories on Saturday. In case you missed any of our coverage, we open the new year with a recap — not only of this year, but of five years of News Wire top stories. 2018: Richard Anderson The highly controversial three-year tenure of the former […]

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Top 10 stories of 2022: No. 1, Rail labor and the near strike

People holding signs while standing on sidewalk

The conclusion of our countdown of the Trains News Wire Top 10 stories of 2022, as determined by a vote of Trains editors, columnists, and masthead correspondents. Railroads were catapulted into national headlines in the fall as labor negotiations came down to the wire, raising the prospect of the first strike or lockout in three […]

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Two NYC electrics are safe, await relocation to museum

Two graffiti-covered electric locomotives on platform

GLENMONT, N.Y. — Two historic New York Central electric locomotives are finally safe after a 4½-hour ballet to lift and shift them 200 feet on a Hudson River island on which they were stranded, dodging a torrent of heavy truck traffic. The Danbury (Conn.) Railway Museum announced Thursday night (Dec. 29) that Phase 1 of […]

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