Steve Carter WASHINGTON – Investigators in a two-day hearing covering two recent fatal Amtrak derailments are questioning the safety of Talgo trains involved in one of the derailments. The equipment operates under a Federal Railroad Administration waiver. The derailment in December 2017 killed three and injured more than 60. It occurred on the first Amtrak […]
A Siemens Charger locomotive leads an Amtrak Cascades train over the Chambers Bay bridge in Steilacoom, Wash., on June 26, 2018. The agency which operates the San Diego-area Coaster commuter trains is buying five new Chargers. TRAINS: David Lassen OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The North County Transit District, which operates Coaster commuter trains in the San […]
ROME, N.Y. — Amtrak service to the Rome, N.Y., station has been temporarily suspended after a portion of the station ceiling collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, the Rome Sentinel reports. Only one person was in the station when the ceiling fell in about 3:15 p.m., the newspaper reports, and was not injured. The station has been […]
“We are committed to making your dining service with us even better” says the menu perched on the seat of a westbound Lake Shore Limited roomette, departing Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y. on June 17, 2018. With that as the measuring stick, how does Amtrak’s new pre-prepared, cold-meal service measure up? FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston It was encouraging […]
Amtrak P40s that didn’t make the first cut for rebuilding wait their turn in Bear, Del., on June 7, 2010. Bob Johnston Q Whatever became of Amtrak’s P40s? They were numbered in the 800 series and looked very similar to the P42s in service today. What’s the difference between them? Does Amtrak still have any […]
FULL SCREEN Riverside Investment & Development via Amtrak An artist’s rendering of a Chicago Union Station redevelopment design as viewed from Adams and Canal streets in the city. FULL SCREEN Riverside Investment & Development via Amtrak An artist’s rendering of a Chicago Union Station redevelopment design as viewed during “blue hour” from Canal Street in […]
WASHINGTON — The White House formally announced on Tuesday the nomination of Rick Allen Dearborn to a five-year term on Amtrak’s board of directors, where he would succeed former BNSF Railway executive Jeffrey Moreland. Dearborn, 52, an Oklahoma native, was executive director of President Donald Trump’s presidential transition team and served as deputy White House […]
Roomette No. 1 on Viewliner No. 62039 on the southbound ‘Silver Meteor’ in May 2018. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON – Amtrak is offering a free ride for the second passenger traveling in a roomette for trips beginning Aug. 20, but only for trips booked by the end of Tuesday. The 2-for-1 deal is valid for travel […]
WASHINGTON — Raton Pass may lose the Southwest Chief. In a 16-slide Power Point presentation he delivered to Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico lawmakers on June 19, Amtrak President Richard Anderson talked about several ways that passenger train service would be cut for the famed mountain route. Sources familiar with the meeting say Anderson used […]
Rio Grande Southern Motor No. 4 — one of seven “Galloping Goose” cars the 172-mile narrow-gauge road fashioned from automobiles and light trucks in the 1930s — is northbound beside Trout Lake between Lizard Head Pass and Ophir, Colo. Otto Perry photo […]
Riding on the observation platform of a private car, as these passengers are doing on a train passing through Hinsdale, Ill., would no longer be allowed under proposed Amtrak rules. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — Private-car owners and guests on cars with observation platforms would no longer be able to ride those platforms on any […]
Amtrak’s Coast Starlight passes through Chatsworth, Calif., in February 2018. Amtrak is no longer busing passengers around a collapsed tunnel on the Starlight route. TRAINS: David Lassen OAKRIDGE, Ore. — Amtrak service between the Pacific Northwest and California has been severed after the passenger railroad announced this week that it would no longer be busing […]
