SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday marked completion of the latest section of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project, a long-running effort to realign rail routes through the city to reduce traffic impacts. The State Journal-Register reports the ceremony was for completion of bridges and underpasses on Fifth and Sixth streets, known as Usable Segment […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — SunRail will resume train service today (Thursday, Oct. 6) to the Tupperware station, one of three closed since the area was hit by Hurricane Ian, the commuter operator announced. The two southernmost stations on the SunRail route, Kissimmee/Amtrak and Poinciana, will continue to be served by a bus bridge while track repairs […]
MITCHELL, Ill. — A $10.1 million project to reconfigure and modernize rail operations at Lenox Tower, a key rail junction northeast of St. Louis, has been completed, the Illinois Department of Transportation has announced. The joint federal and state project, also funded by Amtrak and freight railroads, was announced more than a year ago […]
CHICAGO — Engineering and design firm Benesch has been selected by Norfolk Southern to handle final track design for Segment B of CREATE’s EW3 project, the Pullman Junction project on the city’s South Side. The project will involve track infrastructure in a 2-mile segment from the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Commerical Yard, in the vicinity […]
WASHINGTON — After a brief climb into positive territory in August, U.S. rail traffic once again declined in September, the sixth time in seven months volume has been below 2021 levels. The September figures saw overall traffic drop 3.1%, or 61,678 carloads and intermodal units, compared to September 2021. Carload traffic was down 1.1% while […]
DORMONT, Pa. — No injuries were reported Wednesday when a Pittsburgh Regional Transit light rail train derailed in Dormont, KDKA-TV reports. Service was disrupted on the PRT’s Red Line for about 3½ hours after the derailment at about 10 a.m. near Kelton Avenue in the community southwest of downtown Pittsburgh. The cause of the accident […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Transportation and Siemens Mobility said last week that Caltrans has accepted the first seven of 49 Venture cars destined for Bakersfield-Oakland/Sacramento San Joaquin trains. No date is set for the cars’ entry into revenue service, however — in part because Amtrak must also make final inspections and formally […]
Montana Rail Link employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a contract agreement with BNSF Railway, a key step in BNSF taking over operations of the regional railroad. The union announced Tuesday that “an overwhelming majority of participating BLET members ratified an implementing agreement and Oregon Short Line Protective Agreement […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Illinois politicians and members of the suburban group opposed to the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger are calling on the Surface Transportation Board to delay its decision on the merger until it can conduct a separate study on the impact in the Chicago area. In a Tuesday press conference, U.S. Sen. Dick […]
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Florida’s Seminole Gulf Railway could be shut down for up to six months because of damage suffered from Hurricane Ian, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports. Executive Vice President Robert Fay told the Business Journal the railroad had lost six bridges as a result of the storm, including three totaling 1,300 linear […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — For the first time, Brightline will begin test runs of passenger trains at 110 mph in preparation for its expansion of service to Orlando in 2023, the company has announced. Testing will occur on an 11-mile stretch of Martin and St. Lucie counties the week of Oct. 17 and is slated to […]
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Registration has opened for WRI 2023, the 28th annual Wheel Rail Interaction Conference, to be held June 6-9, 2023, at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot. Trains Magazine is a presenting sponsor for the event. The conference consists of three events: a one-day Rail Transit seminar on June 6, a one-day Principles […]
