Digest: Tri-Rail to add trains

Commuter train with blue locomotive and bilevel cars

Monday morning rail news: Tri-Rail to add trains as of Sept. 16 South Florida’s Tri-Rail will increase commuter rail operations as of Sept. 16, and plans to reinstate fare collection as of Oct. 1. The agency announced the train will begin operating 35 trains on weekdays and 15 on weekends and holidays, increasing peak-period weekday […]

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Boca Raton museum, former FEC station, is sold

Monday preservation and tourist railroad news: Boca Raton rail museum, former FEC station, is sold The Boca Raton Historical Society has sold the former Florida East Coast Railway train station that houses its Boca Express Train Museum for $2.1 million, Law.com reports. Mizner Arts LLC is listed as the buyer. The station was built in […]

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BNSF names Kathryn Farmer as its next CEO

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway today named Kathryn Farmer as its next chief executive, effective Jan. 1. Farmer, who has been BNSF’s executive vice president operations since 2018, will become the first woman to lead a Class I railroad. She will replace Carl R. Ice, who will retire at the end of 2020 after […]

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NC Transportation Museum to host 611 events Sept. 18-20

Friday morning tourist railroad and preservation news: North Carolina Transportation Museum to host weekend of 611 events The North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C., will host two special tours and a nighttime photo session featuring Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 Sept. 18-20. The Fired Up Behind The Scenes Tour, on Sept. 18, […]

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Federal grants announced for several rail projects

Local officials have begun announcing the award of U.S. Department of Transportation Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD grants). Rail-related projects announced so far include: — $24.9 million to Lexington, N.C., to build a new train and bus station. The Lexington Dispatch reports the Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development grant also provides money […]

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CN volume approaching 2019 levels thanks to intermodal, grain

MONTREAL — Canadian National’s traffic is accelerating back to normal levels, driven by strong growth in intermodal, grain, lumber, and frac sand traffic. “We are clearly seeing a recovery happening,” Chief Financial Officer Ghislain Houle told an investor conference on Thursday. Last week the railway’s domestic intermodal volume was up 30%, international intermodal gained 19%, […]

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East Broad Top schedules September, October events

ORBISONIA, Pa. — The revitalized East Broad Top Railroad has announced several fall events, offering visitors several opportunities to visit the railroad, ride trains and enjoy a barbecue dinner. On Friday, Sept. 18, and Saturday, Sept. 19, 90-minute guided tours of the East Broad Top shops complex will be offered at 11 a.m. and 2 […]

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Class I railroad executives tout rebound of intermodal traffic

CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific executives touted strong domestic intermodal growth during an investor conference today, noting that volumes are now running above pre-pandemic levels. UP’s intermodal traffic is up nearly 8% so far in the third quarter, boosted by double-digit percentage growth in parcel and truckload shipments due to e-commerce and the […]

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Amtrak CEO: $4.9 billion needed to avoid cuts to long-distance trains, workforce

Man with white hair and dark colored business suit.

WASHINGTON — Amtrak President William Flynn has told members of Congress that the company needs a $4.9 billion appropriation for fiscal 2021 to avoid employee furloughs and reduced long-distance train frequencies planned for October. Flynn, Rail Passengers Association President and CEO Jim Mathews, and labor officials representing the Transport Workers Union and Transportation Communications Union […]

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