More Thursday morning rail news: Honolulu council begins process of revoking financial support for rail project The Honolulu City Council has begun the process of revoking its financial commitment toward construction of the city’s new rail system, following an earlier decision to withdraw from its part in the public-private partnership that would award the project’s […]
CHICAGO — The first Chicago Transit Authority cars being built by CRRC Sifang America have begun testing. The two-car trainset of 7000-series cars, Nos. 7005-7006, was conducting tests Thursday in the area of the Bryn Mayr station on the CTA Red Line. The first cars were delivered to the CTA’s Skokie Shops in August. The […]
In a letter to Congress, Amtrak has requested up to $4.857 billion for fiscal 2021 — an increase from its previous request for pandemic-related aid to supplement its usual funding — and warns of more cuts without such aid In the letter, Amtrak President and CEO Bill Flynn writes “ridership is not returning as quickly […]
The four railroads that earned short line association business development awards this year have one thing in common: They all gained new traffic by going beyond merely moving freight from Point A to Point B. Officials from the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, Delmarva Central Railroad, The Indiana Rail Road, and the Ann Arbor […]
WASHINGTON — Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 3 was up 0.8% over the same week in 2019, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, thanks to the continued strength of intermodal volume. Final statistics for the month of September, meanwhile, showed carload traffic down significantly from September 2019, but that […]
CHICAGO — Metra has proposed a $700 million operating budget for 2021 that does not initially call for fare increases or service cuts — but that could change if it does not receive additional funding from other sources, such as additional federal coronavirus relief. The commuter railroad says the $700 million figure is based on […]
CHICAGO – Metra’s Chicago & North Western-inspired heritage unit, F59PHI No. 90, made its inaugural run on the UP-NW line on Wednesday. The train was a non-revenue move from Chicago to Crystal Lake and return. After the run, the cars were put away at the California Avenue yard, along with Illinois commemorative locomotive No. 402, […]
More Wednesday morning rail news: San Angelo, Texas, approves deal for rail port The San Angelo, Texas, city council on Tuesday approved a $600,000 deal with South Plains Lamesa Railroad to create a rail port in the community, which one city official calls a “game changer” for the community. The San Angelo Standard-Times reports that under […]
Wednesday midday rail news: Bay Area city files objection to high speed rail plan The city of Millbrae, Calif., has filed a “strenuous objection” to the environmental impact report filed by the California High Speed Rail Authority for the San Francisco-San Jose segment of the high speed project, saying in a press release that the plan “would […]
Wednesday morning rail news: Freight, Amtrak service to New Orleans disrupted as hurricane approaches The New Orleans Flood Protection Authority plans to begin closing the city’s floodgates today in preparation for Hurricane Delta, which will interrupt the flow of freight traffic through the city, Norfolk Southern is advising customers. The storm is projected to make landfall […]
Still more Tuesday morning rail news: U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Florida county’s appeal of Brightline case The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal brought by Indian River County, Fla., over use of tax-exempt private activity bonds to fund Brightline’s expansion to Orlando, Fla. As is generally the case, the justices […]
Tuesday morning rail news: Surfrider Foundation, residents file opposition to transit district’s request before STB The environmental group Surfrider Foundation has filed its opposition with the Surface Transportation Board to the North County Transit District’s request for an order protecting its right to perform track maintenance along the Pacific Coast, saying the order would “result […]
