WASHINGTON — Two more awards have been announced under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program. The first of what Washington state’s two senators said will be 122 grants totaling $2.477 billion were announced late last week [see “Announcements of 2024 CRISI grants begin,” Trains News Wire, Friday, […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak announced late Friday that its federally mandated annual public Board of Directors meeting will be held in Seattle on Dec. 4, 2024. As in past sessions staged at St. Louis Union Station in 2022 and at Richmond, Va. Main Street Station in 2023, company officials will review operating results from the just-completed […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has asked the Surface Transportation Board to dismiss its petition asking the board to compel freight railroads to allow operation of Gulf Coast service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., saying the terms of an agreement between the passenger operator, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority have been fulfilled […]
WASHINGTON — Elected officials across the country have begun announcing recipients of federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement, or CRISI, grants ahead of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s announcement of the full list of grant recipients. Officeholders generally have the opportunity to announce the grants to their constituents ahead of the U.S. DOT announcement. […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration this week proposed its first regulations on automated track inspection — but has left untouched the regulations that cover traditional visual track inspections. The rule itself would have little impact on Class I and II railroads: They’re already meeting or exceeding the proposed inspection frequency with their various track […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Unifor, Canadian’s largest private-sector union, is calling on Canadian National Railways to prioritize passenger operations — and for more government oversight of the relationship between freight and passenger service — in the wake of restrictions CN has placed on VIA Rail Canada corridor trains in Ontario and Quebec. “This is about CN […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Amtrak’s Borealis service between St. Paul and Chicago, which debuted in May, passed the 100,000-passenger mark this week, with officials from Amtrak and the states funding the service riding the train on Thursday, Oct. 24, to mark the occasion. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the excitement and ridership that the new […]
BOSTON — A 13-day suspension of service for maintenance on a portion of the Orange Line led to the lifting of 20 speed restrictions, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced. The ongoing, year-long Track Improvement Program has now reduced the amount of the MBTA rail transit system under speed restrictions to 1.8 miles, or […]
CHICAGO — The operator of a Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line train that collided with snow-removal equipment last year had alcohol in his system, but federal investigators do not consider that a factor in the incident, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Nov. 16, 2023, collision saw 23 people taken to hospitals while another 15 refused […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway this week placed 12 additional miles of second main track into service on its Emporia Subdivision in Kansas as part of its Southern Transcon double-tracking project. The new section of double iron, which runs between Augusta and Rose Hill, Kan., includes the seventh and eighth segments of the nine-segment […]
GARIBALDI, Ore. — The world’s only surviving standard gauge Class A Climax locomotive, Cabin Creek Lumber Co. No. 1, has been donated to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, the railroad announced today (Oct. 24, 2024). The family of the late Victor C. Monahan donated the locomotive, which Oregon Coast Scenic intends to restore to operating […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific’s third-quarter financial results – with volume, revenue, and profits all on the upswing — are proof that the railroad’s strategy is working, CEO Jim Vena says. UP this morning (Oct. 24) reported that operating income increased 11%, to $2.46 billion, as revenue grew 3%, to $6 billion. Earnings per share […]
