Still more Monday morning rail news:
UP hit by derailments in Wyoming, Nebraska
A pair of derailments disrupted Union Pacific Overland Route operations on Saturday, with 67 cars of grain derailing in an incident near Bosler, Wyo., and 38 cars derailing near Maxwell, Neb. KTWO Radio reports the grain derailment, involving a train bound from North Platte, Neb., to Rawlins, Wyo., occurred about 6 a.m. UP spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza told the station there were no injuries and there was no estimation when the line would be reopened. KNOP-TV reports the second derailment occurred about 6 p.m. and involved a train bound from North Platte to Little Rock, Ark. No injuries were reported in that incident.
Reborn Rock Island will revive rail line to Port of Rosedale, Miss.
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, which operates the Mississippi Delta Railroad [see “Rock Island rocks on,” October Trains], has announced it will restore a rail link to the Port of Rosedale, Miss. The Mississippi Business Journal reports the project will restore the Great River Railroad, a 32-mile line from Rosedale to Greenville, Miss., where it connects with the Columbus & Greenville. The line has been embargoed since 2001. “We believe that this effort will significantly enhance the competitive advantage of the Port of Rosedale as it expands and attracts new tenants,” Rock Island CEO Robert Riley said. “We are ready to work with them to attract new tenants, to grow the capabilities of existing tenants, and to boost and expand intermodal capabilities.” Rosedale is 90 miles southeast of Little Rock and 100 miles southwest of Memphis, Tenn.
LaGuardia AirTrain gets preliminary approval from FAA
The plan to build an AirTrain connection to New York’s LaGuardia Airport has received preliminary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. The Associated Press reports that the $2 billion proposal to build the connection from subway and Long Island Rail Road stations at Willits Point was termed the best alternative to address traffic delays to the airport in a preliminiary environmental impact statement. Construction could begin next year and be completed by 2025, depending on final approval. The AirTrain plan has a number of critics, concerned about costs, neighborhood impacts, and ridership, but the FAA report said it was the only option “considered to be reasonable to construct and operate” among dozens of alternatives. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has defended the project on similar grounds [see “Metro-North adds trains…,” News Wire Digest, May 27, 2020].
