Mass Coastal to acquire Bay Colony Railroad

TAUNTON, Mass. — Short line Mass Coastal Railroad is acquiring the assets of Bay Colony Railroad, which serves three customers on 35 miles of state-owned in southeastern Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports. Mass Coastal currently operates 135 route-miles in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including trackage rights on CSX Transportation, and interchanges with CSX in Taunton […]

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Norfolk Southern tallies $1 billion-worth of infrastructure projects in 2023

ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern’s engineering team completed $1 billion in improvement projects last year, including installation of new wayside detectors as well as repairs and replacement of tracks, bridges, and grade crossings. “Our extensive infrastructure work is an important component of being a customer-centric, operations-driven railroad and represents an investment in the safety of our […]

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Plowing snirt in Nebraska

Snowbound diesel locomotive plowing snirt in Nebraska

  The year was 1978, and I was an assistant roadmaster for the Burlington Northern out of Lincoln, Neb. Through February, the winter weather had been mild and dry, and I’d mostly been overseeing repairs to several sets of outfit cars used to house production gang workers. On the first Tuesday of March, however, a […]

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California storms disrupt Amtrak, Sacramento light rail service

Amtrak logo.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winter storms in Southern and Central California have impacted rail service in a number of areas today (Monday, Feb. 5). Today’s Coast Starlight trains will run abbreviated routes. The train scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning will instead originate in Emeryville, Calif., while the train departing Seattle will terminate in Emeryville. […]

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Brightline growth continues as company navigates varying seasonal demand: Analysis

Two people boarding passenger train

MIAMI — After four months of operation between Orlando and Miami, Brightline has dramatically increased patronage and revenue every month, especially for the component it designates as “long distance.” These are passengers who take the train to or from South Florida. A closer look at monthly data shows the company is actively managing the demand-influenced […]

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Officials announce plans to build wall to deal with San Clemente slide

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority will build a wall to protect Surf Line tracks at the site of the landslide that has halted passenger rail operations since Jan. 24, OCTA and Metrolink announced on Friday. The decision comes a day after a state emergency declaration made $10 million in funding available […]

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The day the GG1 fleet called in sick

Blizzard around passenger train with electric locomotive

  I became a railfan at age three, near the end of World War II. Awaiting the return of my naval officer father, I sat in our West Philadelphia kitchen window facing one of the busiest divisions of the Pennsylvania Railroad — the four-track electrified main line to Harrisburg. The parade of wartime tonnage, plus express […]

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Filibuster kills Nebraska bill to require two-person train crews

Diesel-powered coal train in rolling hills. FRA railroad brakes safety.

LINCOLN, Neb. — A filibuster has halted the Nebraska Legislature’s consideration of a proposal requiring two-person train crews within the state, the news site Nebraska Examiner reports. The filibuster, carried out over parts of three days, stalled the bill when a Friday vote was unable to obtain the 33 votes needed to invoke cloture, the […]

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Nebraska man sentenced to year in prison for attempted rail sabotage

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

OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska man has been sentenced to a year in prison for trying to sabotage a Union Pacific grade crossing, KETV-TV reports. Allen Love Jr., 50, of Arlington Nebraska will also receive two years of supervised release. In September 2019, a Union Pacific employee found a 6-foot metal pipe lodged between the […]

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Pacific Surfliner extends slide-related schedule changes to at least Feb. 9 (updated)

Cab car leads passenger train along track next to ocean

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — With heavy rains forecast over the next several days and no long-term solution for the latest landslide in the San Clemente area, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner has extended its revised schedule of cancellations and bus-bridge service through at least Friday, Feb. 9. Meanwhile, the state of California issued an emergency declaration Thursday […]

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New York open-gangway subway cars make debut

View along length of open-gangway subway train

NEW YORK — New York City Transit’s first R211T open-gangway subway cars entered service on Thursday, operating on the C line between Washington Heights and East New York, following an inaugural ride featuring Gov. Kathy Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority and elected officials. Hochul also announced that 1,000 of the city’s subway cars are now […]

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CSX reaches sick time agreements with four more unions

CSX logo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation today (Thursday, Feb. 1) announced it had reached agreement with four additional unions to provide paid sick leave to employees, extending that coverage to an additional 600 workers. Unions involved are SMART-TD conductors/trainmen (C&O); SMART-TD yardmasters; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and Carrolton Road-Transportation Communications Union-represented engineers, yardmen, and maintenance […]

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