More Monday morning rail news: — A draft environment statement says that building California’s high speed rail system from Bakersfield to Palmdale, Calif., across the Tehachapi Mountains would cost $18.1 billion and force the removal or relocation of more than 300 businesses and 250 residential units in the Lancaster-Palmdale area. The Los Angeles Times reports […]
Stan Gentry presents the V&T Lyon to Dan Thielen, director of Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. NSRM CARSON CITY, Nevada – The old saying that legends never die might also be said about old locomotives. Many of those iron horses, long lost to time or the scrap heap, live on through historic photographs, […]
Rail news to begin your week: — Amtrak is working on plans to increase maintenance work on its century-old tunnels under the Hudson River, work which is likely to lead to disruptions in service for Amtrak and commuter-rail passengers. Amtrak executive Stephen Gardner told the Associated Press that the railroad is “trying to balance what […]
William Flynn, chairman and former CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide and a former CSX executive, will succeed Richard Anderson as Amtrak CEO. Following a New York Times report earlier today, Amtrak confirmed the hiring with a press release late Monday morning. The passenger railroad says Flynn will take over as CEO on April 15, with […]
A CSX train passes through Blue Island, Ill., in September 2019. CSX led Class I railroads in operating ratio in 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen The operating ratio at every Class I railroad fell below 65% for the first time in 2019 as the industry average improved to an all-time low of 61.9%. The increased profitability […]
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – CSX Transportation will lease its 39-mile Marietta Subdivision and related trackage in West Virginia and Ohio to a short line operator. Employees on the line, which runs from Parkersburg, W.Va., to Marietta and Relief, Ohio, were informed of the pending transaction in a letter dated Wednesday. Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad, which will […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Trains Magazine led fund-raising effort to contribute $100,000 toward the restoration of the last Baldwin steam locomotive made for domestic use — Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 — is off to a good start. With the appeal to readers still in its first month, more than $41,000 — including one […]
WASHINGTON — The National Park Foundation announced this week that since 2011, it has engaged more than one million students in educational programs connecting them with national parks across the country. As the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation raises support from generous individuals and dedicated partners for diverse […]
As one rail blockade remains in place in Canada, the political and financial toll of the three-week disruption to rail transportation continues. A poll taken in the wake of Canada’s series of rail blockades finds that only 27% of those responding feel Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has handled the situation well, while 45% approve of […]
Friday morning rail news: — Norfolk Southern has informed customers that Pan Am Railways’ Hoosac Tunnel in Western Massachusetts is now expected to remain out of service until mid-March, following the partial collapse of a wall in the 145-year-old tunnel on Feb. 12. The closure affects the line between Mechanicville, N.Y., and Ayer, Mass.; NS […]
A Gulf Coast inspection train pauses at Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Feb. 18, 2016. Four years after the trip hosted by the Southern Rail Commission and Amtrak, there is still no firm cost estimate for what CSX Transportation will require to allow service to be reinstated. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Each year following the […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today released a quarterly status update on railroads’ self-reported progress, as of December 31, 2019, toward fully implementing positive train control (PTC) systems as required by Congress. Based on Fourth Quarter 2019 PTC Progress Reports from the 42 railroads statutorily required to implement the […]
