Amtrak donating to food banks nationwide NEWSWIRE

More Tuesday afternoon rail news:

— Amtrak is making donations to food banks across the U.S., offering help to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The food — surplus perishibles or short-dated items that otherwise would go unused because of Amtrak’s lighter passenger loads and switch to flexible dining on its western long-distance routes —  is being donated to King Majesty Ministries in Chicago; St. Jude’s Community Center in New Orleans; Brookline Food Co-Op in Boston; City Harvest in New York; Central Union Mission in Washington, D.C,; Curley’s House Food Bank in Miami; Northwest Harvest in Seattle; Food Finders in Los Angeles, and Operation Dignity Inc. in Oakland, Calif. “Since its inception, Amtrak has always been a part of the community to provide essential services to those who need it most,” said Roger Harris, Amtrak’s executive vice president of marketing and business development. “This program reduces waste and helps struggling Americans who may need extra help in these challenging times.”

— Chicago’s Metra is making another round of schedule changes effective Saturday, May 9, shifting Saturday service to Sunday schedules for both Saturday and Sunday operations on most lines. Exceptions are the Metra Electric district, which will continue to operate its regular Saturday and Sunday schedules, and the SouthWest Service, which will suspend Saturday service until further notice. The SouthWest Service normally does not operate on Sundays; the Heritage Corridor and North Central Service do not operate on weekends.

— Canadian National set a record for grain movement from Western Canada in April, transporting 2.73 million metric tons, 100,000 tons more than its previous record for the month. So far, CN has moved 21.55 million metric tons of grain in the 2019-20 season, with 20.7 million of that from wstern Canada. “Despite difficult conditions, CN handled 51% of all Canadian grain rail shipments in the first quarter, including 52% of market share in March,” James Cairns, senior vice president, rail centric supply chain, said in a news release. “We are in great shape and ready to deliver during the final months of the crop year.” CN’s announcement came a day after Canadian Pacific also announced record grain movement for the month.