Digest: OmniTRAX names Piacente as new CEO

OmniTrax CEO Dean Piacente

More Tuesday morning rail news: OmniTRAX names Piacente as new CEO Short line and transportation company OmniTRAX has named Dean Piacente as its new CEO, effective Feb. 1. Piacente has more than 20 years’ experience as a commercial executive at CSX Transportation, and brings more than 30 years of financial planning, analysis, and expertise in […]

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Digest: South Shore to lease gallery cars from Metra

Bilevel, electric passenger rail cars on curve

Tuesday morning rail news:   South Shore to lease cars from Metra to handle planned service increase The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District will lease 26 bilevel gallery cars from Metra to handle the increased South Shore Line commuter service planned under the Double Track and West Lake Corridor expansion projects. The Times of Northwest Indiana […]

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Oberman named as STB chairman (corrected)

Man with jacket and bowtie

President Joe Biden has designated Martin Oberman as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board. Oberman, who joined the board in January 2019, is current serving his first five-year term on the board, which is slated to expire Dec. 31, 2023. A former Chicago city council alderman, he was chairman of Metra’s board from 2014 to […]

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New Siemens ‘Venture’ cars test in Michigan

Passenger train in snow

NILES, Mich. – The new Siemens Venture cars for Amtrak Midwest service made their first test run on Monday, operating from Chicago to Pontiac, Mich., on the schedule of Wolverine Service train No. 350, suspended since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trainset, with four of the new coaches separated by former heritage sleeper […]

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NJ Transit CEO discusses agency’s turnaround (corrected)

NJ Transit commuter train

NEWARK, N.J. — “It’s NJ Transit’s 3rd summer of hell,” read an August 2019 headline on NJ.com, a New Jersey local news website. For years, commuters endured overcrowded trains, late trains, canceled trains, and creaky 40-year-old Arrow III electric multiple-unit cars. Frustration reached a boiling point, with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy feeling the heat. […]

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Digest: BNSF train derails in Arizona, prompting lengthy ‘Southwest Chief’ delay

BNSF logo

More Monday morning rail news: BNSF intermodal train derails in Arizona, stopping Southwest Chief No injuries were reported when a BNSF intermodal train derailed Sunday afternoon near Joseph City, Ariz., KPHO-TV reports. Photos show several double-stack well cars off the tracks, with containers overturned. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office says the accident was reported about 1 […]

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Digest: Conservation groups ask STB for full environmental review of Tennessee Pass revival

American Whitewater logo

Monday midday rail news: Conservation groups ask for full environmental review before Tennessee Pass operations can resume Conservation group American Whitewater, joined by seven other organizations and almost 700 individuals, have asked the Surface Transportation Board to require a full Environmental Impact Statement for the resumption of rail service on Tennessee Pass. The Friday filing asks the […]

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