Mobile, Ala., board approves zoning exception for Amtrak stop

Architectural drawings of train station platform

MOBILE, Ala. — The City of Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment today unanimously approved the special zoning exception requested by Amtrak for a temporary station platform and adjacent parking in Mobile, a necessary step forward in the slow-moving effort to launch Gulf Coast passenger service between Mobile and New Orleans. CSX and the Port of […]

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News photos: ‘Empress’ in Illinois

CP 4-6-4 No. 2816 and the "Final Spike Steam Tour" train arrives at Bensenville Yard on May 6, 2024. Mark Llanuza

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — Canadian Pacific No. 2816 and the ‘Final Spike Steam Tour’ have reached Chicago. Well, technically, Bensenville, Ill., the home of CPKC’s yard west of the city and adjacent to O’Hare Airport. That’s where the locomotive is laying over after its two-day trip from St. Paul, Minn., prior to Wednesday’s display in Franklin […]

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Norfolk Southern activist investor predicts a carload growth miracle: Analysis

If activist investor Ancora Holdings wins its Norfolk Southern proxy battle this week, its new management team aims to generate unprecedented growth in carload traffic over the next four years. Ancora plans to run the same playbook that CSX has used since it shifted to a Precision Scheduled Railroading operating plan in 2017. Improve your […]

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Latest Gulf Coast report to STB ‘hopeful’ of progress

Illustration of planned Amtrak station platform and parking lot in Mobile, Ala.

MOBILE, Ala.  —“Hopeful” is the key word in the status report on Gulf Coast passenger service submitted by Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile to the Surface Transportation Board last week. The May 1 report was required by the STB after a February hearing and subsequent explanation of delays was short on […]

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Sand takes increasing role to protect rail line in San Clemente, Calif.

Cab car leads passenger train along track next to ocean

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Use of some 500,000 cubic yards of sand as a buffer has been added to the Orange County Transportation Authority’s plans to protect the Surf Line through San Clemente, the Orange County Register reports. The route used by Metrolink commuter trains, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners, and BNSF freight traffic has been plagued […]

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Metro-North adds trains, capacity while I-95 is closed in Connecticut

A Metro-North train heads north through Westport, Conn

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad on Friday announced plans for additional weekend trains and other capacity moves on its New Haven line in light of a collision and fire involving a gasoline tank truck that has closed Interstate 95 in Norwalk, Conn., at least through Monday. Today (May 4) and Sunday, […]

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Union Pacific speeds up domestic intermodal service linking Southern California and Chicago

Yellow locomotive with train of trailers and containers

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has tightened its domestic intermodal schedules between the Los Angeles Basin and Chicago by two days, and now offers three-day transit time that is competitive with team driver truck service. “In an effort to better serve our customers and simultaneously penetrate volume moving over the road, Union Pacific is pleased […]

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Grain cars derail on UP train south of Dallas

Union Pacific logo without slogan. UP Bailey Yard explosion appear to be accidental.

MEXIA, Texas — About a dozen cars of grain derailed on a Union Pacific train Wednesday evening near Mexia, KCEN-TV reports. KXXV-TV places the incident in Shiloh, Texas, about 5 miles southeast of Mexia, and says it occurred about 6:45 p.m., after heavy rains and flooding in the area led to a washout, according to […]

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NTSB issues preliminary report on UP track worker fatality

Aerial view of site of fatal track-worker accident

WASHINGTON — A Union Pacific track maintenance manager was killed when he was struck by an excavator operated by a contract worker, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on a fatal April 11 incident near McNeil, Ark. The incident occurred about 6:22 p.m. as a work crew was replacing a culvert on […]

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Amtrak issues Requests for Information on high-speed wi-fi for Northeast Corridor

Acela trainset passing under street bridge

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has issued two Requests for Information seeking to provide high-speed wi-fi connectivity along the 450-mile Northeast Corridor, the company announced Thursday, May 2. One of the requests seeks to identify organizations interested in deploying a fiber network along the NEC; the other seeks metrics to understand the market demand along six subsections […]

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Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad resumes operations

Train passing small station

PENINSULA, Ohio — The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will resume operations this Friday, May 3, after a two-month shutdown to address safety and operational procedures. During the hiatus, the heritage railway says it enacted improvements in radio communications and operations management software; installed cameras in locomotives; and implemented new operating rules and procedures scaled to […]

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STB chairman takes a parting shot at activist investor’s plans for Norfolk Southern

Man holding papers gestures while seated next to American flag

CHICAGO — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman on Wednesday blasted activist investor Ancora Holdings, saying that its plans for Norfolk Southern are a threat to rail service and the U.S. economy. Ancora and NS are trying to woo the railroad’s shareholders in a bitter proxy battle that will end May 9 at the […]

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