CHICAGO — Real estate developers have rekindled decade-old plans to build high-rise buildings above 34 acres of railroad tracks near downtown Chicago used by Metra Electric and South Shore Line trains and formerly used by the old Illinois Central. The key developer, Gerald Fogelson, is responsible for building the massive Central Station residential development on […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It’s likely that the California High Speed Rail Authority would have already lost access to the $929 million grant that the Federal Railroad Administration is now seeking to terminate had not President Barack Obama acted in the final hours of his administration to extend the deadline for completion of the Central Valley […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The front-page brawl between California and the White House over the state’s troubled high speed rail project represents a long-simmering feud that some observers believe could continue into the 2020 election cycle. California has sued the Trump administration 46 times, most recently in opposition to the president’s declaration of a national emergency […]
LOS ANGELES — Nine years from now, Los Angeles will take the world stage as it hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics, with hundreds of thousands of visitors attending competitions spread out across the county from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach. LA Metro wants to be ready. Nadine Lee is the transportation agency’s chief […]
WASHINGTON – Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Ron Batory has sent a letter to the California High Speed Rail Authority announcing that the federal agency intends to terminate its existing grant agreement and “de-obligate” the entire $928.62 million grant that hasn’t been spent. The letter also states that the FRA is “is exploring all available legal […]
An artist’s rendition of new-to-Metra SD70MACH locomotives. Metra, via Facebook CHICAGO — Metra on Wednesday approved a $71 million contract to purchase 15 remanufactured locomotives from Progress Rail Locomotives with options to buy up to 27 additional locomotives if more funding becomes available. According to a Metra announcement, Progress Rail will take existing EMD SD70MAC freight […]
The eastbound ‘California Zephyr,’ left, meets a state-funded Capital Corridor train at Sacramento in March 2013. Brian Schmidt WASHINGTON – Amtrak is considering a plan to replace its long-distance train network with new corridors along parts of the same routes, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We are undertaking a major rethinking of the national network […]
Kent, Wash. Google Maps KENT, Wash. — Is there a hamburger powerful enough to stop a train? The Puget Sound region’s rail-transit agency and fans of a local hamburger chain may find out. Sound Transit, the regional authority building and operating a light-rail system in Seattle and its suburbs, recently issued a list of six […]
Police investigate the grade crossing accident in Brookfield, Wis., that left the automobile driver dead Monday. Cate Kratville-Wrinn BROOKFIELD, Wis. — A 70-year-old man died Monday when he drove his SUV into the path of Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder passenger train, according to police reports. The accident happened at 4:15 p.m. at Brookfield Road adjacent […]
An individual Solari board module. The numeric modules contain the numerals 1 through zero, while the letter modules contain all 26 letters of the alphabet. Jack Trowill, Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum LENOX, Mass. — The retirement of Amtrak’s last Solari train announcement board at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia has inspired the restoration of another […]
The westbound Canadian is 22 hours late as seen from its eastbound counterpart at Jasper, Alberta, on Feb 16, 2019. Two photos, Neil Lang CHICAGO – Keeping trains running through the so-called “polar vortex” in the center of North America and massive weather systems impacting the West Coast with heavy rains and snow have taken […]
MONTREAL – As part of VIA Rail Canada fleet replacement program, Siemens Canada, the company that was selected by VIA Rail to manufacture the new trains to operate on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, is looking for interested suppliers. For this process, two Siemens’ procurement offices have been set up in Montreal and Oakville, Ontario. Siemens […]
