Amtrak set to start early work on B&P Tunnel project

Map detail showing MARC commuter stations around B&P Tunnel

BALTIMORE — Amtrak will begin early construction activity on the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program this Friday, March 10, with tie and rail replacement and track drainage work as part of its preparations for the $6 billion project. “This initial project will directly reduce impacts during later construction phases and maximize the benefits of the new […]

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Second Vancouver, B.C., Cascades round trip set to roll Monday

A non-powered Cascades cab unit trails Horizon coaches as the morning train for Seattle leaves Portland, Ore., on June 17, 2021. Bob Johnston

SEATTLE — Beginning Monday, March 6, Amtrak adds a morning departure from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Portland, Ore., and drops in a mid-afternoon northbound frequency from Portland that departs Seattle at 7 p.m. and arrives into the Canadian city at 11 p.m. Including the Seattle-Los Angeles Coast Starlight, this will increase the number of Seattle-Portland […]

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Lionel Legacy F40PH and ‘Cabbage’ control car

Lionel Legacy F40PH and Cabbage control car

The Lionel Legacy F40PH and ‘Cabbage’ control car represent a locomotive that’s become emblematic of intercity passenger service. In the 1970s, Amtrak was looking for some new power to replace some of its tired fleet. One of the models that came out of that process was this one. It served for two decades and still […]

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Cancellations, other operational issues plague Amtrak

Passenger train arrives as people on platform take pictures with phoone

CHICAGO — Amtrak says “forecasted inclement weather conditions” are prompting it to cancel the Southwest Chiefs departing Chicago and Los Angeles today (Feb. 28) and continue truncation of the California Zephyr as a Chicago-Salt Lake City train that began Monday. Meanwhile, more Amtrak locomotive failures, along with host railroad track problems and freight train interference, […]

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FRA look at Amtrak long-distance service yields wealth of data

People lined up to board bilevel passenger cars

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has published a surprisingly detailed summary of regional forums held during the past month in which the agency solicited opinions regarding the public’s interest in strengthening Amtrak’s national network. As part of Amtrak’s reauthorization, 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act tasked the FRA to conduct a study that would […]

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Weather leads to cancellations for Southwest Chief, Empire Builder

Passenger train leaves rooster tail of snow as it runs on three-track main line

CHICAGO — Weather is taking its toll on current operations of Amtrak’s western long-distance trains. According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, the eastbound Chief scheduled to depart Los Angeles today (Wednesday, Feb. 22) has been cancelled due to severe weather conditions, while the westbound Chief that left Chicago on Tuesday, Feb. 21, will terminate […]

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Empire Builder encountered track defect before fatal Montana derailment

Still from locomotive on-board camera, with red square higlighting track defect

WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s Empire Builder ran through a track misalignment in a curve — distinctly visible in a still from the lead locomotive’s onboard camera — just before its September 2021 derailment in Joplin, Mont., according to information contained in more than 3,100 pages of documents released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The […]

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Amtrak named to Forbes list of America’s Best Large Employers

Passenger train on middle of three tracks during snowfall

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has been named as one of America’s Best Large Employers in a Forbes survey, which identifies the top 500 companies with 5,000 or more employees. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with 15,722 employees, topped the Forbes list. The ranking is based on a survey of about 45,000 workers at such companies, who […]

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