Failure of switch part led to MBTA Red Line derailment

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority logo

BOSTON — A failure in a counterpin, a small switch part, led to the derailment of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Red Line train on March 23, MBTA CEO Phillip Eng told a meeting of the agency’s board on Thursday. WCVB-TV reports the failure of that small pin allowed a larger pin connecting to a […]

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CN derailment reported in Sarnia, Ontario

Canadian National logo

SARNIA, Ontario — Fourteen cars of a Canadian National train, including three tank cars carrying liquified petroleum gas, have derailed this morning as the train entered the railroad’s Sarnia yard, CKNX Radio reports. No leaks have been reported. At least one grade crossing, at St. Andrew Street, has been blocked by the derailment. No other […]

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Denver light rail to see significant cuts in frequency during downtown construction

Denver_RTD_Cuts_Lassen

DENVER — The Regional Transportation District will temporarily cut light rail service to one train per hour on some lines as of May 26, the Denver Post reports, saying the reduced frequencies are necessary to address maintenance that has been deferred, but risking abandonment for cars by riders who have that option. Many of the […]

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Scotland’s ‘Harry Potter’ train suspends operations

Steam train on curved viaduct with large number of people taking photos in foreground

LONDON — British passenger charter train operator and car leasing company West Coast Railways has announced it is suspending operation of the world-famous “Jacobite” train between Fort William and Mallaig on Scotland’s west coast, popularly known as the “Harry Potter train” for the train’s role in the popular movies. The decision, announced just a week […]

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Caltrain retires 32 gallery cars

Commuter train with stainless steel bilevel cars

SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Caltrain has retired 32 of its bilevel gallery commuter railcars to make room for coming electrified equipment, sending them to Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit for storage until a buyer can be found, the agency has announced. The nearly 40-year-old cars were built in San Francisco by Nippon Sharyo and entered service […]

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South Shore Line to resume train service through Double Track construction area

Train on far track at commuter rail station

CHESTERTON, Ind. — South Shore Line rail service will resume between the Gary Metro Center and Dune Park stations on April 9, ending a bus substitution to accommodate construction for the Double Track Project that dates to February 2022, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District has announced. Initially, train service will operate using a schedule […]

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Mexican president suggests Maya Train derailment may have been intentional

Man at podium with video screen in background

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday suggested that Monday’s Maya Train derailment could have been intentional, while the candidate to succeed Lopez Obrador from the coalition including his party said the derailment will not affect her campaign. In his morning press conference, López Obrador said the incident was “strange,” Publimetro.com […]

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Broken rail caused 2021 CP potash derailment, TSB determines

Cleanup of derailment scene

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — An undetected rail flaw that led to a broken rail as the train passed over it caused the derailment of a Canadian Pacific potash train at Silton, Saskatchewan in October 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released today (Tuesday, March 26). The incident occurred at 5:02 […]

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BNSF continuing cleanup after Monday derailment in New Mexico

BNSF Railway logo

SOCORRO, N.M. — BNSF Railway is estimating it will reopen its main line at approximately 7 a.m. local time Wednesday after a Monday, March 25, derailment of an undetermined number of railcars near Socorro. The railroad indicated in an advisory to customers that the derailment occurred about 10 p.m. KOB-TV reports that no one was […]

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NTSB looks at NS rules, procedures, and training as investigation of three-train Pennsylvania incident continues (corrected)

Scene of three-train derailment along river

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at Norfolk Southern rules, procedures, and crew training relating to train handling as it continues its investigation into the collision and derailment involving three trains that occurred March 2 in Lower Saucon Township, Pa., according to the preliminary investigation report issued today (Tuesday, March 26). The […]

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Activist investor group would put Norfolk Southern back on PSR path, reduce operating ratio to 57%

Black diesels with high short hoods work at yard

CLEVELAND — An activist investor group says its proposed Norfolk Southern management team would improve the railroad’s operations, service, and profitability by jettisoning CEO Alan Shaw’s resilience strategy and adopting the low-cost Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model. In a letter to shareholders today, Ancora Holdings says its plan for NS would cut costs, focus on […]

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Union Railroad buys land at former steel plant for transload facility

Map of the Union Railroad

DUQUESNE, Pa. — Pittsburgh’s Union Railroad is buying 13 acres of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works to develop a transload facility, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The railroad purchased the land from the Regional Industrial Development Corp. for $400,000 to develop a facility for truck-to-rail and rail-to-truck transloading, according to the development agency’s president, Don […]

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