SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is far from a center of cutting-edge computer technology — when it comes to its light rail system. KGO-TV reports that a portion of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, or Muni, rail system still uses an Automatic Train Control system installed in 1998 that requires its software to be […]
WILMINGTON, Del. — Wohlsen Construction Co. has been awarded the contract for Amtrak’s Unified Operations Center project in Wilmington, Del., the company announced on Friday. The project, expected to cost more than $53 million, will built a 24-hour operations center for national operations, including fleet and onboard crew assignments and coordination of the response to […]
CARBONDALE, Ill. — For a few hours Thursday, travelers along Illinois’ Chicago-Carbondale Amtrak corridor could book a daytime round trip to next Monday’s solar eclipse “path of totality,” thereby avoiding monumental traffic jams along parallel highways that occurred during a similar event in August 2017. But that window of opportunity closed when seats that briefly […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National will purchase a plug-in, hybrid diesel-battery mainline locomotive from Progress Rail, the companies announced today. The first-of-its kind unit for North America will be evaluated on CN’s main line in British Columbia, starting in Prince George and the northern part of the province, to increase the railroad and rail industry’s knowledge […]
Class I railroads can continue business as usual and watch their earnings stagnate and profitability fall as their freight volume declines through 2030. Or they can make meaningful service improvements, become easier for customers to deal with, and launch new intermodal services that capture freight from trucks. Adopting a successful growth strategy will boost revenue, […]
CHICAGO — Metra will make major increases to weekend service on its BNSF Line, adding six trains on Saturdays and 16 on Sundays to create equal schedules for both weekend days. The commuter operator will also make some weekday changes as part of a new schedule effective on Monday, April 29. The new weekend schedule […]
LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Sound Transit’s next addition to its light rail system — the Lynnwood Link extension of Line 1 — will debut on Aug. 30, the agency announced Thursday. The 8.5-mile addition into Snohomish County will add four stations to the north of the current endpoint of Line 1 at Seattle’s Northgate station. In […]
Rumors of the death of railroad fiction are greatly exaggerated. The veteran railroad journalist Fred Frailey made that clear a year ago with his “Seldom Willing,” an absorbing tale of an ambitious 1980s Midwestern regional railroad that outmaneuvered a far larger rival. When Fred told me his novel was coming out soon, I wasn’t sure […]
CHICAGO — With spring having arrived, at least according to the calendar, commuter operator Metra on Wednesday outlined plans for capital projects planned for the 2024 construction season. The Metra budget calls for $332.4 million in projects this fiscal year, including $140.7 million for bridge projects; $81.6 million for station and parking improvements; $66.2 million […]
ST. LOUIS – Intramotev, which is converting standard freight cars into autonomous rail vehicles, says it has successfully deployed the world’s first self-propelled battery-electric railcar in a traditional freight train. In what Intramotev called a major step forward for sustainable freight transportation, the company’s ReVolt hopper has run more than 1,000 miles making trips between […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern today delivered the first coal train diverted from the closed Port of Baltimore to the railroad’s Lambert’s Point coal terminal in Norfolk, Va. The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge following a March 26 strike by a container ship blocked access to the NS-served Consol coal terminal. “At Norfolk Southern, […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern’s primary passenger execursion routes may lead to Jim Thorpe, Pa., but the company is also offering trips this year to destinations including Pottsville, Tamaqua, and Minersville from its Reading Outer Station. Pottsville excursions are set for April 13, May 11, June 8, Aug. 17, and Sept. 14. Those trips […]
