More Monday morning rail news: Amtrak seeks to close troublesome Newark lift bridge Amtrak is seeking to permanently close an 85-year-old New Jersey lift bridge adjacent to Newark Penn Station that sometimes fails to close properly, delaying its trains as well as those of NJ Transit and PATH. NJ.com reports the railroad has applied to […]
Saturday morning rail news: Durango & Silverton won’t reach Silverton in 2020 The Durango & Silverton has given up hopes of operating to Silverton this summer, and will continue operating excursions between Rockwood and Cascade for the remainder of the 2020 season. The Durango Herald reports the railroad will offer a minimum of five daily […]
Friday morning rail news: PTC implementation complete on Amtrak-owned or controlled mileage Amtrak says it has completed implementation of positive train control on all track owned or controlled by the passenger railroad. The final portion to be completed was 1 mile of slow-speed Chicago terminal trackage. The railroad operates or controls 898 miles covered by […]
Thursday morning rail news: NJ Transit cancels trains, expands PTC testing as deadline looms NJ Transit has expanded positive train control testing this week, cancelling dozens of trains in an effort to complete PTC installation by the end of the year — a deadline the Federal Railroad Administration says it is in danger of missing. […]
Wednesday morning rail news: Amtrak updates website, app to show how full a train will be Amtrak has updated its website and smartphone app to provide real-time information on a train’s capacity. Searches for train information when booking will now display an icon indicating how full the train will be (for example, 50% full). Ticket […]
Tuesday morning rail news: Study says extension of Twin Cities’ commuter rail service to St. Cloud could cost $36 million to $257 million A new feasibility study says it could cost anywhere from $36 million to $257 million to extend the Twin Cities’ Northstar commuter rail service from its current northern terminus in Big Lake […]
Tuesday afternoon rail news: CP operates first international intermodal train from Saint John In a preview of the railroad’s future plans, Canadian Pacific operated its first international intermodal train from the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, today. The train carried containers from the Hapag-Lloyd ship Detroit Express, bound for terminals in Canada and the […]
More Tuesday morning rail news: Winds derail BNSF train in Oklahoma High winds derailed a BNSF Railway train near Gage, Okla., on Monday night. The community’s fire chief estimated as many as 25 cars were derailed by winds up to 70 mph, according to KWTV News in Oklahoma City. The train included three cars of […]
Monday morning rail news: Maryland set to take over Purple Line construction The state of Maryland will take over management of the troubled Purple Line light rail construction project if the current public-private partnership is dissolved, state transit officials said last week in a letter to subcontractors. The consortium that has been managing the project […]
Monday afternoon rail news: Work on bridge for high speed rail project stopped by errors Construction errors, along with possible design problems, have halted work on a major bridge for California’s high speed rail project in Central California, the Los Angeles Times reports. The bridge in Madera County, north of the town of Madera, will […]
Saturday morning rail news: Brightline severs ties with Virgin, will retain current name, image Florida passenger operator Brightline says it has ended its agreement with Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises and will retain its Brightline name and image, although Virgin may challenge termination of the two companies’ licensing agreement. Forbes reports that Brightline reported the move […]
Second in a series NEW ORLEANS – Centralized decision-making dominated Amtrak’s management philosophy both before and after Tom Downs’ stint as president between 1993 and 1998, but his belief that service, revenue, and expense managing choices had to be made close to the customer fueled the return to daily frequencies. To rectify the situation Downs […]
