New details released on MBTA track worker incidents

Workmen repair track

BOSTON — The incidents that led federal officials to reject a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority safety plan included one in which a track worker was hospitalized after being struck by a 2,000-pound counterweight, the Boston Herald reports. The Herald reviewed documents with details on six incidents that caused the Federal Transit Administration to order the […]

Read More…

Amtrak CEO Gardner to testify at House committee hearing

Amtrak Acela trainset at station

WASHINGTON — “Amtrak Operations: Examining the Challenges and Opportunities for improving Efficiency and Service” is the topic of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing set for Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. EDT. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is one of two witnesses scheduled to testify; the other is Mitch Warren, Northeast Corridor Commission executive […]

Read More…

Amtrak E44 electric locomotives

Silver-and-black Amtrak E44 electric locomotives stored in a line

Amtrak E44 electric locomotives are eight roster oddities that likely never turned a wheel in revenue service for the passenger carrier.     The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired 66 of the 5,000-hp, six-axle E44 electric locomotives from General Electric, Nos. 4400-4465. Built at Erie, Pa., between 1960 and 1963 the motors were 69-feet, 6-inches long and […]

Read More…

MBTA officials say improvement is at least a year away

Rapid-transit train at station. Governor reacts following more close calls on MBTA.

BOSTON — Major improvement in Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rail operations will take a year or more, MBTA board chair Thomas Glynn said in an online forum Thursday. “I think people will see a different T a year from now,” Glynn said, according to a Boston Herald report, “but I don’t know if they’ll see […]

Read More…

Report warns of danger of long hours for LIRR track workers

Track workers wait to work as commuter train passes

NEW YORK — Excessive work hours pose a high safety risk for many Long Island Rail Road workers, the Office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Inspector General says in a report issued Thursday. The audit, addressing hours for workers not covered by Federal Railroad Administration hours-of-service regulations, found that engineering department employees, particularly track workers, […]

Read More…

One injured by ceiling collapse at Stamford, Conn., station

Logo of Connecticut Department of Transportation

STAMFORD, Conn. — One person was injured when a portion of a ceiling collapsed at the Stamford station served by Amtrak and Metro-North trains on Wednesday afternoon, the Stamford Advocate reports. Kafi Rouse, director of communications for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, told the newspaper a portion of the ceiling liner collapsed in a tunnel […]

Read More…

New York MTA reaches tentative agreement with subway, bus workers

Two subway trains at open-air station

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached a tentative labor agreement with its largest union after a month of negotiations, the two sides have announced. The three-year contract includes a compounded raise of 9.8%. The New York Daily News reports that the approximately 40,000 members of Transit Workers Union Local 100 would receive […]

Read More…

The Lionel Legacy 2-6-0 makes a comeback

Lionel Legacy 2-6-0 in Strasburg paint

The Lionel Legacy 2-6-0 “Mogul” type locomotive graced the company’s 2022 Vol. 2 catalog. It’s a welcome re-release as the previous 2016 models were struck with gearing issues. These caused many of them to run poorly at slow speeds. Many were returned to Lionel and never made it to the the second-hand market. This new […]

Read More…

New Acelas face further delays

New_Acela_1_Johnston

WASHINGTON — Launch of service for Amtrak’s next-generation Acela trainsets has been pushed back into 2024, the Washington Post reports, as testing and computer simulations continue to find problems, most recently with the train’s wheelsets. That means the new trains will enter service at least three years late, placing increasing pressure on the existing Acela […]

Read More…

N&W 611 concludes two-year residency at Strasburg Rail Road

Streamlined steam locomotive with train passes through field

STRASBURG, Pa. — Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 streamlined steam engine No. 611 (Roanoke Shops, 1950) wrapped up a two-year stay at the Strasburg Rail Road tourist and short line over the weekend, and will soon be headed back to its home state of Virginia. Owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the engine had […]

Read More…

New York Senate passes package of rail regulations

ALBANY, N.Y. — Following a nationwide legislative trend in the wake of February’s derailment and toxic-chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio, the New York state Senate has passed a series of bills seeking to regulate the way railroads operate in the state. The wide-ranging bills address everything from crew size for a mandate for positive […]

Read More…