CHICAGO — Commuter rail operator Metra announced it will hold Operation Lifesaver “Safety Blitzes” at 51 of its stations during 2022 as part of ongoing efforts to raise awareness about safe behavior around trains and tracks. Each blitz will see Metra employees visit a station during the morning rush hour to distribute educational materials about […]
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — Michigan City, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, and a developer have reached agreement on an $80 million mixed-use project that will include a rebuilt South Shore Line station at the site of the recently torn-down 11th Street Station. The Times of Northwest Indiana reports the project, to be built by […]
ITASCA, Ill. — Some two months after announcing plans to do so, eight western Chicago suburbs have formalized their formation of a coalition to address concerns over the impact of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. And while many communities along the routes of the CPKC, the company that would be formed by the merger, […]
GUADALUPE, Calif. — Equipment from the former Fillmore & Western continues to find its way to new locations. A GP35 from the defunct tourist and movie-filming operation in Southern California is now in operation at the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, the 14-mile operation on the Central California coast interchanging with the Union Pacific at Guadalupe. […]
DENVER — The Regional Transportation District has hired a consultant to study the feasibility of a “peak service” plan to bring rail operations to its long-delayed Northwest, or B, commuter rail line. The agency announced Wednesday that it had selected HDR Engineering Inc. to look into the possibility of offering three inbound morning trips and […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two Nashville lawmakers have introduced a bill in the state legislature asking for a study of possible Amtrak service connecting Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis. The Nashville Tennessean reports state Rep. Jason Powell and state Sen. Heidi Campbell, both Democrats, are sponsoring the legislation which would direct the Tennessee Advisory Commission on […]
WASHINGTON — The latest weekly U.S. rail traffic figures show a massive increase over the same week last year — a reflection of a week in 2021 when rail traffic experienced massive weather disruptions. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show U.S. railroads handled 497,822 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Feb. […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation has asked for a delay in the evidentiary phase of the Surface Transportation Board hearing over Amtrak Gulf Coast service — but the public will not be informed why. A filing posted to the STB website today (Wednesday, Feb. 23) says the railroad “does not likely make this request, given the […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National says its proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern’s Springfield Line would enable it to divert 80,000 long-haul truck shipments to rail annually by creating a new route linking Kansas City and St. Louis with Michigan and Eastern Canada. The traffic projection — 33% more truck diversions than Canadian Pacific and KCS […]
PHILADELPHIA — The opening of the trial of the former Amtrak engineer at the controls for the fatal 2015 derailment of Northeast Regional train No. 188 has been delayed. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the trial of Brandon Bostian, which had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, is now expected to start no sooner than Thursday […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature is moving to pass a law that would require Union Pacific to use yard locomotives powered “wholly by a hydrogen fuel cell or electric power” in Salt Lake City no later than Jan. 1, 2028 — despite the railroad’s contention that the bill mandates an action not yet technologically […]
WASHINGTON — Chicago commuter operator Metra has asked the Surface Transportation Board for more time to file comments on the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, saying CP had originally “filed a false response” to Metra’s request for information, and only recently provided an incomplete set of documents Metra says it needs to assess the […]
