Wednesday morning rail news: Amtrak Office of Inspector General reports issues with PTC implementation A report from Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General says the passenger railroad expects to achieve positive train control interoperability by the Dec. 31, 2020, deadline, but can take steps to better ensure its systems are reliable, and that the company faces […]
Buttigieg served for eight years as mayor of South Bend, Ind., a city of about 100,000, crisscrossed by two busy freight railroads, a stop on two Amtrak long-distance routes and the eastern terminus of a commuter train to downtown Chicago. Biden’s onetime rival for the nomination supported a project to add 16.9 miles of double […]
Wednesday morning transit and commuter rail news: Canadian firm announces ‘ultra-light rail’ system that’s part bus, part light rail A Canadian transit firm has announced development of a system it calls “Ultra-Light Rail Transit,” which uses electric buses on rails and, the company says, can offer the performance of light rail transit at the price […]
CHAMA, N.M. — The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad will convert one of its locomotives to oil firing, a move the railroad says is to “ensure it is prepared to safely function in a continually evolving operating environment.” The conversion of K-36 2-8-2 No. 489, a 1925 Baldwin product, from coal to oil is to […]
Additional Wednesday morning rail news: CN, partners to open logistics park in Mobile, Ala. Canadian National will join with the Alabama Export Railroad and Ray-Mont Logistics on a new logistics park in Mobile, Ala., projected to open in late 2021. The first phase of the project will be a facility for bagging and containerizing plastic […]
Wednesday midday rail news: Cumberland Mine, with rail operation, has new owner Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Mine, which operates a 17-mile railroad profiled in the January 2021 issue of Trains Magazine, has changed hands. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Iron Senergy Holding LLC was formed specifically to purchase the mine from prior owner Contura Energy, and kept its […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending increased use of buffer cars in trains with DOT-111 tank cars carrying hazardous materials as a result of investigations into two derailments. The recommendation issued Tuesday recommends at least five non-placarded cars be placed between locomotives or occupied equipment and those carrying hazardous materials, regardless of […]
WASHINGTON — A total of 16 issues, some major (the procedure for adding trains to Metra’s schedule), some less so (whether Metra is entitled to any station parking), remain to be settled by the Surface Transportation Board in the long-running dispute between Metra and Amtrak over the commuter railroad’s lease at Chicago Union Station. That’s […]
With a significant winter storm expected in the Northeast, Amtrak has announced cancellation of some trains and modified service for others beginning Wednesday. Cancelled Wednesday are 16 Keystone Service trains between Harrisburg, Pa., and New York; Boston-Newport News, Va., Northeast Regional train No. 67, and Empire Service trains 244 and 241 between New York and […]
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — Marvin H. Cohen, a lifelong railfan and pioneering rail book editor and publisher, died on Dec. 10. He was 93. Cohen developed the original “Steam Passenger Service Directory” in 1965 and was editor of the first 24 annual editions of that book, which became the “Tourist Trains Guidebook” currently published by Kalmbach […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has published its final rule requiring states to create action plans addressing safety at rail-highway grade crossings, a rule addressing a mandate of the federal FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transporation) Act. The rule requires 40 states and the District of Columbia to develop plans that identify any grade crossing […]
Transport Canada opens consultation on collection of Class I freight data Transport Canada has begun the consultation period on a proposal to collect new data from Class I freight railroads, including service and performance information that would be available to the public. In addition to the weekly service and performance data, the proposal would require […]
