News and Analysis: Colorado commission advances Front Range plans

Electrified commuter train at station platform

DENVER – The last vestige of north-south passenger trains serving the Mile-High City disappeared 50 years ago when Santa Fe’s ragamuffin round trip to the east-west main line at La Junta, Colo., didn’t transition to Amtrak. But work is well under way to change that. The Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission is […]

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Digest: Amtrak adds carbon-savings information to NEC tickets

Amtrak logo.

Amtrak tickets on Northeast Corridor will now show carbon-emission savings Amtrak will add information on carbon-emission savings to Northeast Corridor tickets, showing how much they saved by not driving and by not flying. On the electrified route between Boston and Washington, D.C., Amtrak says use of its trains produces 83% less emissions than driving and […]

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Digest: Aberdeen Carolina & Western, Savage combine on locomotive rebuilds

Two locomotives nose-to-nose

Aberdeen Carolina & Western rebuilds six locomotives for Savage North Carolina’s Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway and rail operations and logistics company Savage Services have combined to rebuild six locomotives for a Houston industrial facility. The four SD40-2 and two MP15 were rebuilt at the AC&W’s shops under the direction of Steven Weathers, the railroad’s […]

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CN touts its bid for Kansas City Southern, rebuts CP criticism

Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trains pass

WASHINGTON – The railroad duel of the 21st century continues. In a letter to federal regulators, Canadian National today touted its “superior” bid for Kansas City Southern and sought to correct “misleading statements” that Canadian Pacific made this week about a potential CN-KCS merger. Last month CP and KCS reached a friendly, $29 billion deal […]

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Metra seeks to convert three diesels to battery power

Illustration of Metra locomotive in green versioin of paint scheme

CHICAGO — The Metra board of directors has approved a Request for Proposals to convert three of Metra’s F40PH-3 diesels into battery-powered, zero-emission diesels, with the aim of awarding a contract this fall and having the first locomotive delivered 30 months later. “This proposal could be game-changing,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski said in a […]

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Digest: Senate Republicans release $568 billion infrastructure proposal

A Metro-North train heads north through Westport, Conn

Republican infrastructure proposal includes $61 billion for transit, $20 billion for rail Senate Republicans have released a $568 billion infrastructure plan to counter the $2.3 trillion plan proposed by President Joe Biden. The website The Hill reports the Republican plan defines infrastructure more narrowly, emphasizing roads, railroads, public transit, airports, wastewater system and broadband infrastructure. […]

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Digest: BNSF train derails in Southern California desert

Damaged intermodal cars and containers

No injuries as BNSF intermodal train derails near Barstow About 15 cars of a BNSF Railway intermodal train derailed Thursday at Jimgray, Calif., about 24 miles northwest of Barstow on the railroad’s Mojave Subdivision. The San Bernardino County Fire Department reports on Twitter that it responded to the accident about 6 a.m., but there were […]

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