TRENTON, N.J. — NJ Transit is progressing with some of the largest infrastructure programs in its history, including a series of projects aimed at helping avoid a disruption related to extreme weather on par with the one following 2012’s Superstorm Sandy. The five core projects of NJ Transit’s “Resilience Program” — the Raritan River Bridge […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — After a pause of more than a year, Bay Area Rapid Transit has resumed accepting delivery of its “Fleet of the Future” railcars, saying the manufacturer has sufficiently resolved reliability issues. BART stopped receiving new railcars on Jan. 8, 2021 [see “Digest: BART, citing reliability issues, says it will stop accepting delivery […]
WASHINGTON — A contract employee working with a Norfolk Southern track gang was standing between the rails when he was struck and killed by a piece of maintenance-of-way equipment in a December 2021 accident in Pennsylvania, according to a preliminary report released this week by the National Transportation Safety Board. The accident occurred Dec. 8, […]
Amherst 2022 Product Walk: The Amherst Railway Society’s 2022 Railroad Hobby Show at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., was held January 29-30. Although a blizzard cut attendance to Saturday’s show, the Sunday show saw large crowds that came close to pre-pandemic levels. Saturday gave us a chance to get around to many […]
FRAZEE, Minn. — Clean-up is under way after a BNSF train derailed and hit a second train on an adjacent track Thursday morning near Frazee. BNSF said in a statement the accident occurred about 9 a.m. No injuries were reported. Becker County Sheriff Todd Glander told KVRR-TV that the second train appeared to have been […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dry weather in South America is negatively affecting global soybean supply, driving up prices and putting more pressure on U.S. farmers. This could be an opportunity for soybean-hauling railroads to seem carload gains months from now as farmers plant more soybeans this spring. These circumstances are building on momentum from an already […]
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington state Senate has passed a proposal that would provide $150 million in funding for the creation of a high speed rail line connecting Vancouver, British, Columbia, to Portland, Ore. KING-TV reports the funding is part of a $16 billion transportation bill, Senate Bill 5974. That legislation passed by a 29-20 vote […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has named Paul Duncan as vice president, network planning and operations. Duncan will succeed John Friedmann, who previously announced his retirement after 27 years at NS. Duncan is currently vice president of service design and performance at BNSF Railway. He joined BNSF in 2002. In an email announcing the hire, Chief […]
FOLSOM, Calif. — For the first time since a 1957 farewell excursion, a steam-powered locomotive will operate in the community of Folsom. The Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad, a non-profit organization based in Folsom, about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento, Calif., plans to fire up Santa Cruz Portland Cement No. 2, an oil-burning 0-4-0T locomotive […]
WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads is asking for public support for its position opposing the reciprocal switching proposal to be considered by the Surface Transportation Board. The AAR, on its website, is asking people to sign a letter to the STB in which it says the reciprocal switching rule — which it has […]
PUEBLO, Colo. — Transportation Technology Center, Inc., the research and testing affiliate of the Association of American Railroads, is for the first time offering access to three decades of research conducted under the AAR’s Strategic Research Initiatives program. Technology Digest, a weekly publication which highlights research findings and reports industry-related projects, is available through TTCI’s […]
WASHINGTON — For the first time this year, weekly U.S. rail traffic has exceeded 2021 levels. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, carload and intermodal traffic for the week ending Feb. 12 was 504,483 units, a 5% increase over the corresponding week in 2021. That includes 236,457 carloads, an 11.9% increase, and […]
