Tuesday afternoon rail news: STB says transportation aspects of Uinta Basin rail line meet requirements for exemption The transportation aspects of Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway meet the statutory requirement for an exemption allowing construction and operation of the approximately 85-mile line, the Surface Transportation Board has ruled. The ruling, decided Monday and issued today, does […]
Digest: Program in Canada to reduce wildlife killed by trains shows promising results
More Tuesday morning rail news: Effort to reduce wildlife deaths along rail line in Canadian park shows promising results A pilot project to reduce wildlife deaths along Canadian Pacific’s route through Banff National Park is showing promising results two years into a five-year project. The CBC reports the project, which cut 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) […]
Digest: Report offers final alternatives for Massachusetts East-West rail project
Tuesday morning rail news: MassDOT narrows East-West options to three, sees funding challenges The three final alternatives for the proposed East-West rail project connecting Boston and Pittsfield, Mass., would cost between $2.4 billion and $4.6 billion, but will face hurdles in qualifying for federal funding, according to a report released Monday by the Massachusetts Department […]
Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive begins revenue tests on BNSF
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has begun testing Wabtec’s battery electric FLXdrive locomotive in revenue service between Barstow and Stockton, Calif. The red and gray FLXdrive locomotive, Wabtec 3000, is spliced between a pair of conventional Wabtec Tier 4 locomotives for pilot runs that will extend through March. The first train out of Barstow […]
CP, CN continue string of records for grain movement
Canadian Pacific and Canadian National have welcomed the new year by announcing the latest in an ongoing string of records for Canadian grain movement. Canadian Pacific closed out 2020 by setting records in a calendar year, quarter, and the month of December. The railroad moved 31.32 million metric tons of grain in 2020, with 8.84 […]
Canadian Pacific leads industry volume for second straight year
In a year when all of the big Class I railroads lost volume due to the economic impact of the pandemic, Canadian Pacific came out on top. CP’s volume declined 2.2% in 2020, well above the average 6.8% decline of the big six systems, according to a Trains News Wire review of the railroads’ weekly […]
Digest: Sounder service stopped by mudslide
More Monday morning rail news: Sounder North service cancelled after mudslide Sound Transit’s Sounder North commuter service has been cancelled for today after heavy rains led to a mudslide on Saturday between the Mukilteo and Edmonds stations. Operational protocols on the line call for passenger service to be halted for at least 48 hours following […]
‘Mark Twain Zephyr’ restoration continues with focus on observation car
By: Steve Smedley TREGO, Wis. — As winter holds an icy grip on Northwestern Wisconsin, the restoration of the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad’s Mark Twain Zephyr continues. One of nine Zephyrs built by the Budd Co. for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, the Wisconsin Great Northern acquired the train last year and is restoring […]
Digest: S.S. Badger, last survivor of Great Lakes rail car ferries, is sold
Monday morning rail news: S.S. Badger, last of Great Lakes rail ferries, has new owner The last survivor of the railroad car ferries that once crossed the Great Lakes, and the last coal-fired passenger steamship in the United States, has changed hands. The Maritime Executive reports the S.S. Badger, built in 1952 for Chesapeake & […]
Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive begins revenue tests on BNSF
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has begun testing Wabtec’s battery electric FLXdrive locomotive in revenue service between Barstow and Stockton, Calif. The red and gray FLXdrive locomotive, Wabtec 3000, is spliced between a pair of conventional Wabtec Tier 4 locomotives for pilot runs that will extend through March. The first train out of Barstow […]
Analysis: Coach sellouts hinder Amtrak long-distance travelers
CHICAGO — In a period when the COVID-19 pandemic has made travel more of a last-minute decision than it has been in the past, a Trains News Wire review shows Amtrak passengers on the Northeast Corridor continued to purchase tickets throughout the New Year’s holiday weekend. Such late decisions are not an option for passengers on many […]
Trains Photo Contest 2021: Gray Area
With much appreciation to our sponsor, Sigma, we are excited to announce the 2021 contest. The challenges of this past year have taught us new things about ourselves and the world. But they’ve also raised questions, including about the future of railroading and how passenger and freight railroads, large and small, respond to difficult times, […]
