WASHINGTON — Failure to comply with a railroad rule requiring a person on the ground for a back-up vehicle move, and inadequate understanding of that rule, contributed to a fatal accident in which a BNSF welding truck was struck by a train near New Rockford, N.D., the National Transportation Safety Board said in a final […]
CSX and BNSF Railway today outlined plans to deal with the operational challenges from a major winter storm that could affect large portions of both companies’ rail networks. Norfolk Southern also issued a customer advisory in which it said it was preparing for the storm, which is beginning to hit some areas today (Thursday, Jan. […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak has added the Floridian and Heartland Flyer to its list of trains canceled because of forecasts of extreme winter weather. Subsequent additions to the list include the Lake Shore Limited, Cardinal, and one round trip of the Wolverine. The Chicago-Miami Floridian is canceled in both directions both today and Friday (Jan. 22-23); […]
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota’s State Railroad Board has approved the sale of two segments of state-owned trackage to Genesee & Wyoming’s Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad for $3.125 million. The purchase was approved by a 4-0 vote at the board’s meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21. It include 19.5 miles of track — the […]
An interior view at Tower 19 near Dallas (Texas) Union Terminal shows the track diagram (“model board”) of the territory controlled by the tower and some of the levers that controlled the switches and signals. This is an electro-pneumatic interlocking, in which switches are operated by compressed air. Historic American Engineering Record photo […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Ten rail infrastructure projects will receive a total of $11.2 million in funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Rail Service Improvement Program, the state announced last week. The projects awarded were selected from 20 applications seeking a total of more than $33.5 million in funding. The projects also will receive more […]
CALGARY, Alberta — A total of 16 tentative bargaining agreements covering Canadian Pacific Kansas City workers with various U.S. unions in recent weeks have all been ratified, the railroad announced on Thursday (Jan. 15). The five-year agreements cover approximately 700 railroaders in 11 states. “We are very pleased to see all these agreements ratified and […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak is dealing with several days of operating issues for a number of long-distance services, with the Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and Sunset Limited all experiencing disruptions, most of them weather-related. Some of California’s Pacific Surfliner service also continues to be canceled because of weather-related issues. In California, the northbound Coast Starlight scheduled […]
CHICAGO — Despite challenging weather conditions on both coasts and in the upper Great Lakes region, Amtrak trains generally reached their destinations unscathed during the holiday travel period. “Mechanical assessments,” however, did continue to impact service throughout the network during the period ending today (Sunday, Jan. 4). Starlight and Builder disruptions Amtrak’s long-distance operations generally […]
WICHITA, Kan. — The Great Plains Transportation Museum is nearing its goal of raising $50,000 for additional restoration work on Santa Fe FP45 No. 93, thanks to a series of large direct donations to the museum that followed the announcement of a GoFundMe program. The direct donations from the museum included large donations ranging from […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has clarified and stepped up enforcement of requirements that cross-border train crews demonstrate English proficiency, the Department of Transportation announced today (Dec. 19). The actions come after inspectors encountered Mexican crews at Texas gateways who appeared to have difficulty interpreting track bulletins and communicating safety requirements in English. In […]
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota’s governor is proposing legislation that would fold the state’s Railroad Board and two other commissions into a single organization addressing all transportation matters. KELO-TV reports state Transportation Secretary Joel Jundt outlined the proposal from Gov. Larry Rhoden’s administration at the Dec. 17 meeting of the Railroad Board. It would fold […]
