Opening of Montreal light rail system delayed

Rail transit vehicle in snow

MONTREAL — Opening of Montreal’s Réseau express métropolitain light rail network has been pushed back because of issues with the Mount Royal Tunnel, the system’s developer has announced. The CBC reports initial plans had called for 18 of the 26 stations on the 41.6-mile REM system to open in phases between fall 2023 and fall […]

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Coal and lumber garden railroad

Model lumber company scene in garden railway

The Kettle Valley Railway – Bruce Division is a coal and lumber garden railroad modeled after the Kettle Valley Railway that at one time carried freight and passengers through the Thomson/Okanagan Region of British Columbia. The garden railway was started in 2004 and covers a triangular-shaped hillside on Brian Swanton’s property. The railroad features two […]

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Signal, communications workers begin strike against CN in Canada

Logo of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which includes lighting bolts held by a fist

MONTREAL — Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have gone on strike against Canadian National Railway in Canada. The 750 signal and communications workers walked out as of 11 a.m. local time on Saturday, a union official confirmed to the CBC. The union had previously given the railroad a 72-hour notification of its […]

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Transportation Safety Board of Canada releases rail accident statistics

Pie chart showing rail accidents by type, with non-main-track derailments, at 39%, representing the largest wedge

GATINEAU, Quebec — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released its final annual statistics on transportation accidents for 2021, with rail figures showing an increase from 2020 while remaining below the 10-year average for reported accidents. Air, marine, and pipeline accidents were also below 10-year averages, according to a TSB press release. In all, […]

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Coal train derails on CN line in British Columbia

Canadian National logo

LYTTON, British Columbia — An estimated 15 cars of a coal train derailed Saturday afternoon on Canadian National tracks near Lytton, the website Castanet reports. No injuries were reported; a minor fire was extinguished. The accident occurred about 10 miles east of Lytton along the Thompson River. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific lines in this […]

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Alco RS27 failure — a diesel that didn’t

Diesel locomotives lined up in sun

Alco RS27 failure: It’s tough when professional engineers create a decent locomotive that builds on successes, and pitfalls, of the past and still nobody really wants it. That was the Alco RS27, also referred to as the DL640. Its 16-cylinder, 251B prime mover pushed out 2,400 hp. Coincidentally, only 27 were built between December 1959 […]

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Canada ends vaccine requirement for travel, transportation workers

Via Rail Canada locomotive no. 6433

OTTAWA — Canada is lifting its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for travel and federally regulated forms of transportation as of June 20, meaning railroads will no longer be required to mandate vaccinations for workers and rail passengers are no longer required to have been vaccinated. Visitors to Canada will still have to be fully vaccinated or […]

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