WASHINGTON — Sixteen U.S. Senators have pushed back against Amtrak’s plan to reduce 12 daily long-distance trains to triweekly departures and cut its workforce by 20%. In three separate letters to President and CEO William Flynn sent late last week, the lawmakers strongly hinted they were unwilling to grant the company’s request for an additional […]
More Wednesday morning rail news in brief: Amtrak ‘Pere Marquette’ to resume operation Amtrak will resume operation of the Chicago-Grand Rapids, Mich., Pere Marquette next week, with the first Chicago-Grand Rapids train on Monday, June 29, and trains operating in both directions on Tuesday, June 30. Departures from Chicago for train No 370 are at […]
Passenger rail news and analysis: ‘Silver Star,’ ‘Meteor’ changes coming July 6 Amtrak will alternate service on its two New York-Miami trains running on different routes through the Carolinas as of July 6, a move it attributes to COVID-19 pandemic ridership drops and a preview of the company’s still mostly undefined plans to cut virtually […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak plans to reduce most long-distance trains to three-day-a-week service as of Oct. 1, according to an internal message obtained by Trains News Wire. In an internal “Service Update,” Amtrak Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Revenue Service Officer Roger Harris told employees today that the goal would be “to restore daily service […]
NORMAL, Ill. — “It’s definitely getting better,” Amtrak conductor Keith Inglesby says, considering ridership during a recent trip aboard the Texas Eagle. “A month ago, if we had, say, 50 people scheduled, maybe 37 would actually make it,” he says. In contrast, Inglesby counted only five no-shows in addition to the 90 ticketed passengers booked […]
NORMAL, Ill. — “It’s definitely getting better,” Amtrak conductor Keith Inglesby says, considering ridership during a recent trip aboard the Texas Eagle. “A month ago, if we had, say, 50 people scheduled, maybe 37 would actually make it,” he says. In contrast, Inglesby counted only five no-shows in addition to the 90 ticketed passengers booked […]
Friday evening rail news in brief: Amtrak suspends service to, from New Orleans because of Cristobal Amtrak will suspend service to and from New Orleans for several days because of the forecast landfall of Tropical Storm Cristobal along the Gulf Coast, cancelling the City of New Orleans while abbreviating service on the routes of the […]
Thursday morning rail news in brief: Amtrak restores one full Keystone Service round trip Amtrak will restore one New York-Harrisburg round trip on its Keystone Service route as of Monday, with train No. 640, a 5 a.m. departure from Harrisburg, operating to New York while train No. 653 to Harrisburg departs New York’s Penn Station […]
One person is reported dead and passengers and crew were injured after the westbound Amtrak Empire Builder hit a John Deere sprayer tractor east of Wolf Point, Mont., shortly before 11 a.m. today. The Billings Gazette reports the accident occurred near Bainville at an ungated grade crossing, and that the operator of the tractor was […]
The dispute between Amtrak and Metra over Chicago Union Station is back before the Surface Transportation Board. TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — Amtrak has filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board asking the agency to settle its ongoing dispute with Metra over terms and compensation for Chicago commuter railroad’s use of the Amtrak-owned Chicago […]
PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak’s next-generation Acela made its first test on Amtrak trackage on Thursday, with the second Alstom-built trainset making a round trip from Penn Coach Yard in Philadelphia to Thorndale, Pa., some 35 miles West of Philadelphia on the line to Harrisburg, Pa. The first Acela trainset continues to test at the Transportation Technology […]
With a reduced seven-car consist, the eastbound California Zephyr approaches Chicago’s Union Staion on April 2, 2020. Amtrak says it plans to reduce frequencies to “less than daily” operation on most long-distance routes beginning Oct. 1. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — In a Memorial Day letter to Congress, Amtrak management has asked for $1.475 billion in […]
