KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern’s first-quarter earnings dipped as volume fell because of harsh winter weather and the ongoing computer chip shortage that has curbed auto production in Mexico. KCS reported today that its operating income declined 12%, to $253 million, as revenue decreased 4%, to $706 million. Earnings per share, adjusted for […]
STB prepares for passenger rail oversight, will consider office, advisory group for passenger issues The Surface Transportation Board has created a staff working group to prepare the board for its oversight of passenger rail issues, board chairman Martin J. Oberman has announced. Under a recently enacted Federal Railroad Adminstration rule, the STB oversees standards for […]
Chicago RTA survey finds 20% of transit users may not return A survey by the Regional Transportation Authority, parent organization for Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, and Pace bus service, indicates 20% of passengers who stopped using the Chicago area’s transit system during the COVID-19 pandemic may not return. Evanston Now reports the RTA surved […]
WAUKESHA, Wis. — For only the second time in the 81-year history of Trains Magazine, the publication, website, and special events brand will sponsor a year-long fund-raising partnership with a non-profit to advance a landmark project in American railway preservation. The 2021-2022 Trains Magazine Preservation Partner is the Nashville Steam Preservation Society, home of the […]
Union Pacific to close Palestine, Texas, car shop, subject of lawsuit Union Pacific will close its car shop in Palestine, Texas, as of June 14, eliminating as many as 57 positions. The Palestine Herald-Press reports employees were notified Thursday; a Union Pacific spokeswoman confirmed the closure and attributed it to operational changes across the system. […]
Steam down south Gainesville Midland 2-8-0 No. 301 switches at its namesake Georgia town. The two-story building in the distance is the road’s headquarters. Photo by Philip R. Hastings […]
East Broad Top Chief Mechanical Officer Dave Domitrovich found himself in limbo when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. Just three weeks from completing a three-month Amtrak locomotive engineers’ training school in Wilmington, Del., the pandemic suddenly shut down the program in March 2020. He’d been notching 98-to-100 scores on tests. He’d just left […]
The Nevada Northern Railway Museum is one of the best-preserved standard gauge railroads in North America. The former copper hauling railroad exists much like it did until regular operations ended in the early 1980s. Since that time preservationists have made a bold stand in the high desert hundreds of miles away from heavily populated areas. […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak’s announcement that it will lift capacity restrictions on coach seating can’t come soon enough for long-distance train passengers. They continue to face limited availability at the highest “flexible” fares, or outright sellouts on many routes, because otherwise-idle equipment has not been added to service with consistently strong patronage since triweekly operation began […]
New stations, replacement of 122-year-old bridge on Metra’s 2021 capital to-do list Metra has launched its 2021 capital improvement projects, which includes work on two new stations, replacement of a 122-year-old bridge in Chicago, and continued work to close the remaining gap in the triple-track main line on the UP West line near Geneva, Ill. […]
Opponents sue FRA over decisions on Texas Central high speed project Texans Against High Speed Rail, six Texas counties, and 10 individual landowners have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration over the proposed Texas Central high speed project between Dallas and Houston, seeking to void the FRA’s Rule of […]
WASHINGTON — Emphasizing the degree to which rail traffic has recovered from its pandemic-induced slump in 2020 — as well as how dramatic that decline was — the latest figures from the Association of American Railroads show volume has increased by nearly a quarter from the same week a year ago. Total traffic for the […]
