OTTAWA, Ontario — Transport Canada has approved new rules to address uncontrolled movement of railway equipment during switching. The approved rules, announced July 30, determine when air brakes must be used during switching, to ensure a consistent approach across the rail system; measure to secure stationary equipment during switching operations; and speed restrictions when switching […]
Union Pacific reopens Dry Canyon Bridge (updated)
WEED, Calif. — Union Pacific has reopened the Dry Canyon Bridge a month ahead of its original estimate, allowing the railroad to resume operations on its I-5 Corridor line between California and the Pacific Northwest. The railroad initially estimated the bridge would not be completed until Sept. 1, but last week said it could be […]
Woman injured in ‘ghost-hunting’ search at Buffalo station
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ghost hunting can apparently be a dangerous activity. The Buffalo News reports a 35-year-old Kenmore, N.Y., woman was injured Saturday night during a ghost-hunting expedition at Buffalo’s landmark Central Terminal railroad station. The woman fell 15 to 20 feet through a substation roof near the back of the station property while exploring […]
Kansas City Southern responds to CP appeal to shareholders
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern has fired back at Canadian Pacific’s appeal to its stockholders to turn down the proposed merger with Canadian National, saying those stockholders should focus on the fact CN’s offer is worth $50 more per share than the last CP proposal. CP filed a proxy statement asking KCS shareholders […]
‘California Zephyr’ route closed by Colorado mudslides
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Massive mudslides have washed out Union Pacific’s former Denver & Rio Grande Western route through Glenwood Canyon, east of Glenwood Springs, while also blocking part of adjacent Interstate 70. The slides not only have disrupted Amtrak’s California Zephyrs, which normally pass in the area between crew change points in Denver and […]
Feinberg steps down as interim head of New York City Transit
NEW YORK — Sarah Feinberg has stepped down after 17 months as interim president of New York City Transit, but she may not be finished with the parent Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Feinberg’s last day came Friday, a day after the former head of the Federal Railroad Administration first told the New York Post of her […]
Don Colangelo, Genesee Valley’s ‘Alco doc,’ retires
SCRANTON, Pa. — Don Colangelo, the Genesee Valley Transportation vice president, mechanical, who gained renown as the “Alco doc” for keeping the company’s fleet of American Locomotive Co. diesels healthy, is retiring this month. Colangelo spent some four decades in railroad, more than 25 of those with Genesee Valley, which saw its fleet of Alco […]
MBTA light rail collision injures 25
BOSTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate after one Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority light rail train rear-ended another Friday, July 30, injuring 25, including operators on both vehicles. The Boston Globe reports the accident occurred on the Green Line B Branch, on Commonwealth Avenue in front of the Boston University campus. The injured […]
Santa Clara VTA to resume bus service on light rail route
SAN JOSE, Calif. — With a date still to be determined for the restoration of light rail service, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is resuming alternative bus service along the light rail line as of today (Monday, Aug. 2). In a press release, the VTA said buses will operate at 30-minute intervals weekdays from […]
STB accepts CSX Transportation’s Pan Am merger application
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board has accepted CSX Transportation’s beefed up Pan Am Railways merger application and established a schedule for reviewing the deal that would expand CSX’s presence in New England. If the board approves the deal, Pan Am would become a fallen flag on May 1, 2022. Comments on the merger are due […]
Veteran journalist Dan Machalaba, Trains author, dies at 72
For veteran business writer and Trains author Dan Machalaba, there was virtually nothing about transportation that wasn’t fascinating. Big-rig trucks, coal-hauling unit trains, bush planes, container ships — all of them drew his scrutiny at one time or another in a journalism career that spanned more than four decades, including 33 years at the Wall […]
Canadian Pacific asks KCS stockholders to vote against merger with CN
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific is asking Kansas City Southern stockholders to vote against the railroad’s proposed merger with Canadian National. The railroad filed a proxy statement to that effect on Thursday, with Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel saying his railroad would have preferred not to appeal to the KCS shareholders, but that with a meeting […]