MBTA says new Orange, Red Line cars are now exceeding requirements

Rapid transit train operates on open-air track with city skyline in distance

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s issues with new rapid-transit equipment built by China’s CRRC have eased, CEO Phillip Eng said last week, with the equipment now arriving on the revised schedule developed earlier this year and performing reliably. “Just last month was the first month they were required to deliver three married pairs, […]

Read More…

MBTA orders more bilevel commuter cars

Silver bilevel coaches with purple coaches at station

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board has voted to purchase 39 more bilevel commuter railcars from Hyundai Rotem, bringing to 163 the total number in service or on order. State House News Service reports the board voted Thursday, Nov. 21, to exercise a $165 million option for the additional cars. The MBTA originally […]

Read More…

New York congestion pricing plan gets federal approval

Map of Lower Manhattan

NEW YORK — New York’s congestion tolling plan has received federal approval, meaning the toll of $9 for most drivers entering lower Manhattan will take effect Jan. 5, 2025. The program, with goals of reducing traffic below 60th Street and funding Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital programs, was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on Friday, […]

Read More…

Truck goes off overpass, hits and derails CN train in Winnipeg

Canadian National logo

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A semi truck went off an overpass and struck a Canadian National train today (Friday, Nov. 22) in Winnipeg, sending the truck’s driver to the hospital and derailing an unknown number of railcars. “It appears the semi hit the train,” Winnipeg police spokeswoman Dani McKinnon told the Winnipeg Free Press. “There is […]

Read More…

Amtrak restores most Empire Service through March 2

Train at large station with covered walkways

NEW YORK — Amtrak has agreed to restore most of the Empire Service between New York City and upstate New York through March 2 following requests from Gov. Kathy Hochul and part of the state’s congressional delegation, the passenger operator has announced. Beginning Dec. 2, the Adirondack and Maple Leaf will again operate as separate […]

Read More…

Alstom, Norfolk Southern awarded CRISI grant for battery-diesel locomotive project

Alstom logo

KANONA, N.Y. — Alstom and Norfolk Southern are collaborating on a project that converts two locomotives from traditional diesel engines into battery-powered hybrid locomotives that rely on a smaller Tier 4 diesel engine for battery charging. The project is made possible by a $15.9 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and […]

Read More…

Carload Considerations: What a new administration might mean for railroads in 2025

Union Pacific EMD SD70M No. 4271 approaches Echo Canyon near Echo, Utah, in the last of the evening light. What will a new administration mean for carload freight? Chase Gunnoe

WASHINGTON — Railroads are winding down the final weeks of 2024 with support from strong international intermodal volumes, a healthy grain harvest, and modest GDP growth at 4% year over year. Economically, inflation is still a problem, as groceries cost more than they did four years ago. Unemployment hangs around 4% and fuel prices are […]

Read More…

Incorrectly lined switch led to collision of UP trains at yard in Texas, NTSB determines

Aerial view of site of Union Pacific train collision

WASHINGTON — An incorrectly lined switch — the result of an error by a crew member of a train not involved in the incident — led to a collision between two trains at Union Pacific’s yard in Chico, Texas, on April 16, 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an investigation report released today […]

Read More…

Rail labor seeks regulations to protect workers from technological advancements

A train passes through a tall, gray, open-ended shed

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, the umbrella group that includes all railroad labor unions, today urged Congress and federal regulators to protect workers whose jobs are affected by the rollout of automated and autonomous railroad technology. In a broadside against technological advances — including automated track and train inspection systems, automated […]

Read More…

Infrastructure fund acquires MobilGrain short lines in Saskatchewan

REGINA, Saskatchewan — Grain and pulse crop processor AGT Food & Ingredients has sold its MobilGrain short lines and its rail and port terminal operations to an infrastructure fund. The sale to GCM Grosvenor, announced Wednesday (Nov. 20), includes MobilGrain’s two Saskatechewan short lines, Last Mountain Rail and Big Sky Rail, both of which connect […]

Read More…

Engineer injured, equipment sustains significant damage after Cascades train hits tree

Badly damaged cab car of Amtrak Talgo train

SILVANA, Wash. — The engineer was taken to a hospital and one of the two remaining Talgo trainsets in Amtrak Cascades service sustained significant damage Tuesday night, Nov. 19, when it hit a downed tree during a heavy storm in the Pacific Northwest. KGW-TV reports the accident occurred about 7:50 p.m. in Silvana, about 45 […]

Read More…