Amtrak defends management bonuses, omits customer-facing deficiencies in website presentation: Analysis

Passenger train at station with pedestrian walkway above tracks

WASHINGTON — Responding to criticisms from members of Congress in a House hearing last week, Amtrak has posted a 14-page PowerPoint presentation aiming to justify a controversial incentive system that pays millions of dollars in bonuses to company executives. Board Chairman Anthony Coscia said the compensation of senior executives would be posted on the Amtrak […]

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Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern freight

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Incorporated in 1899, when the name of western Pennsylvania’s biggest city was spelled without an “h,” the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern ran from Brockway, Pa., to Wayland and Hornell, N.Y. Heavy construction debt forced it into receivership in 1905, and it was abandoned in 1947. Just before the end, 2-8-0 No. 71 leads a freight south […]

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BNSF officially announces plans for intermodal and carload hub near Phoenix

orange BNSF train surrounded by desert

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has officially announced its plans to develop a massive logistics hub on the outskirts of Phoenix. The project, quietly in the works for several years, will be built on a 4,321-acre property in northwest Maricopa County, the railroad said yesterday. The hub, adjacent to the Phoenix Subdivision in Wittmann, […]

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Study backs long-sought rail link between Boston’s North and South stations

BOSTON –— The economic benefits of linking Boston’s North and South stations would far outweigh the costs of the project and would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than simply expanding South Station as a stopgap to relieve congestion, according to a study released on Monday. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., requested the study […]

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Lake State Railway leadership changes see Stickel named CEO

Blue and gray locomotive leads freight train in snow

SAGINAW, Mich. — Mike Stickel will become president and CEO of Lake State Railway, and current president and CEO John Rickoff will become chairman of the board of directors, as part of leadership changes announced today (June 18) by the Michigan-based regional railroad. The changes are effective July 15. Stickel is currently executive vice president […]

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Amtrak suggests Adirondack passengers take the bus: Analysis

Dark blue Amtrak locomotive on passenger train with city skyline in background

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — After more than a month with no mention in the “Passenger Advisories” section of Amtrak’s website that the New York-Montreal Adirondack wasn’t running north of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the passenger operator has acknowledged that the summertime hiatus will extend until Sept. 9. The “Modified Adirondack Service” notice appeared a week after […]

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Start of MBTA South Coast Rail service pushed back to spring 2025

Commuter train at station platform

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Completion of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s $1.1 billion South Coast Rail project — to extend commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford — has been pushed back to May 2025, more than a year and a half after the original target date for the launch of service. The […]

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California concludes zero-emissions locomotives are ready to roll

The California Air Resources Board pitted a standard diesel-electric locomotive consist against zero-emissions alternatives – including battery-electric models from Wabtec and ProgressRail as well as Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s hydrogen fuel cell locomotive – in a hypothetical test run from the Port of Los Angeles to Barstow, Calif. The analysis concludes that the current zero-emissions […]

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Third party to take over dispatching of Alameda Corridor

WASHINGTON – Union Pacific and BNSF Railway are contracting out dispatching of the Alameda Corridor to a neutral third party. The 16.1 mile grade-separated corridor, which leads to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., handled an average of 31 trains per day in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Alameda […]

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