BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has asked Amtrak about the possibility of leasing electric locomotives for testing on its commuter rail service, the Boston Globe reports. Joseph Aiello, chairman of the Fiscal and Management Control Board that oversees the MBTA, mentioned the request at recent event, but an MBTA spokesman said the discussion […]
Passengers board the southbound City of New Orleans at Greenwood, Miss., on Sept. 10, 2015. Rural and mid-sized communites could lose intercity passenger service under the corridor-focused plans put forward by the Trump administration and Amtrak. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — More details have emerged from President Donald Trump’s proposed Amtrak cuts in the 2020 federal […]
PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council voted this week to formally delay planning for the proposed West Phoenix Transit Corridor light rail line and divert $153 million to street repair instead. The West Phoenix line would extend from the existing Valley Metro line at Camelback Road and North 19th Avenue, but was already in doubt […]
HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut officials are encouraging visitors to NCAA basketball tournament games to ride the rails. On March 20, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced that additional late night return rail and bus services will be provided for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments, which will be held in the […]
CHICAGO – Metra’s longstanding displeasure with Amtrak over problems at Chicago Union Station blew up into heated criticism – complete with some coarse language – as a result of a “human error” which shut down train operations last month. One by one, most of Metra’s board of directors took aim Wednesday at Amtrak, accusing the […]
CHICAGO — Only one month after approving a $71 million contract to purchase 15 remanufactured locomotives, Metra’s board has allocated $56 million to buy eight new locomotives that meet the latest Tier 4 federal emissions standards. Part of the money, $14 million, is coming from funds that Illinois is receiving as part of the $2 […]
Interested buyers examine a ‘Pacific Parlour Car’ at during a public inspection at Amtrak’s Beech Grove Heavy Maintenance Facility in December 2018. Bob Johnston OWOSSO, Mich. – Two Amtrak Pacific Parlour Cars will soon join Steam Railroading Institute’s passenger car fleet. The cars were built as Santa Fe Hi-level lounges by the Budd Co. in […]
NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey commuters can expect cancellations and delays this summer for a lack of qualified locomotive engineers. After taking a tour of NJ Transit’s Emergency Operation Center in Maplewood, N.J., on Tuesday afternoon, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told media members present that having just eight graduates in May from engineer training […]
ATLANTA — Voters in the northern Atlanta suburb of Gwinnett County rejected a proposal to expand MARTA into their county, the third time in nearly 50 years they have denied such a plan. The referendum asked voters to authorize a contract with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, which would have added a 1 percent […]
On August 2, 1911, the small town of Sheffield, Ill., 22 miles west of Bureau on the Rock Island’s main line, comes to life for the midday arrival of a passenger train bound for Chicago. Roy Campbell collection […]
An early-1940s view from atop St. Louis Union Station’s trainshed imparts a sense of how busy the big terminal was during World War II. In the foreground a Terminal Railroad Association diesel switcher shares station tracks with New York Central, B&O, and Chicago & Eastern Illinois trains, while in the distance men stand alongside a […]
Passengers line up along the marble ticket counter just inside the front entrance of New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal shortly after its opening in 1954. James G. La Vake photo […]
