Rocky Mountaineer announces new, limited-run trip in Canadian Rockies (updated)

Passenger train greeted by individuals waving flags.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Rocky Mountaineer has announced a limited-run trip through Canada’s Banff and Jasper national parks to be offered for four weeks in summer 2026. The “Passage to the Peaks” service will feature two days of viewing the parks with an overnight stay in Kamloops, B.C. It will offered beginning June 10 from […]

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SEPTA begins preparing for service cuts as funding deadline passes

Four-car electric multiple-unit trainset

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will begin service cuts on Aug. 24 after the agency’s Thursday, Aug. 14, deadline passed for funding to avert the service reductions. According to a statement from the agency released early today (Aug. 15, 2025), “With no new funding secured, SEPTA must proceed with work to implement service […]

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OmniTRAX adds second switching contract for Wyoming soda ash service

Night view of mine facility

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — OmniTRAX has signed an agreement to provide switching for WE Soda’s Westvaco soda ash mine in Green River, Wyo., its second such announcement for service in Green River in little more than a week. Westvaco is the largest North America facility for WE Soda, the world’s largest soda ash producer. Under […]

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NTSB probe of Norfolk Southern derailment focusing on spring switch maintenance

WASHINGTON — A Norfolk Southern train that derailed last month in Illinois — spilling hazardous materials and injuring two crewmen — occurred as the train rolled through a spring switch that had just undergone maintenance work, the National Transportation Board said today. Eastbound NS train 167 derailed at 5:44 p.m. on July 18 near Browns, […]

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BLET ratifies contract extension with New York & Atlantic

Green and black locomotives with freight train

NEW YORK — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a two-year contract extension with the New York & Atlantic Railway, the union has announced. The agreement includes a $1 per hour pay increase to all pay grades effective June 1, 2025, as well as two raises totaling 8% through the […]

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Pennsylvania Senate passes budget including transit funding, but House is unlikely to agree

White trolley car going uphill on street

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate has passed a funding bill that would largely use capital funding to maintain transit operations, a move the state’s governor and Democratically-controlled House say is not a viable solution to the funding shortfall that could lead to major service cuts in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia-area Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation […]

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MBTA to offer free night subway service on five fall Fridays and Saturdays

Light rail train, gray with green nose, at station

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is expanding service on subways and some bus lines on five Fridays and Saturdays this fall, and will also offer free rides after 9 p.m. on those dates on all forms of transit: rail rapid transit, commuter rail, buses, ferries, and RIDE paratransit. The additional service and free […]

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UP train derails west of Fort Worth, Texas

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

GORDON, Texas — About 35 cars of a Union Pacific train, including some believed to be carrying hazardous materials, derailed today (Aug. 12, 2025), ABC News reports. Palo Pinto County officials told the network that no leaks have been reported, but that the incident “is being treated as a HazMat situation.” No injuries were reported. […]

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Pennsylvania House again passes transit funding bill

Map of SEPTA rail network showing lines to be cut

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s House on Monday passed legislation that would address the funding crisis faced by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and other state agencies, but the bill’s future in the state Senate remains uncertain. The bill passed Monday by the House would provide $292 million from state sales tax, public radio station WITF […]

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Juveniles charged for stealing, derailing locomotive in South Carolina

Logo of the Laurens, S.C., police department

LAURENS, S.C. — Two juveniles have been detained and charged with a series of crimes after allegedly stealing and derailing a locomotive, the City of Laurens Police Department has announced. The police are investigating break-ins at CSX Transportation and Carolina Piedmont Railroad facilities on Saturday, Aug. 9. Between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. the juveniles […]

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Detouring CN train derailment involved misaligned track: NTSB preliminary report

Aerial view of derailed train

WASHINGTON — A Canadian National train detouring on the Grenada Railroad encountered misaligned track as it crossed a 130-foot bridge, leading to the derailment of 21 cars near Sardis, Miss., on July 6, 2025, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report released last week. Four cars of hazardous materials were among those […]

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Zephyr, Builder routes playing catch-up; more equipment challenges

Passenger train passing commuter-train station

CHICAGO — California Zephyr passengers across the entire Chicago-Emeryville, Calif., route are suffering the lingering effects of downed power lines early Saturday (Aug. 9) on BNSF Railway tracks between Lincoln and Hastings, Nebraska. Elsewhere, the lack of available cars and locomotives continued to trigger lengthy delays and cancellations. Zephyrs chase each other west, one round […]

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