OTTAWA, Ontario — The reopening of Ottawa’s light rail Trillium Line, the diesel-powered, north-south route which has been closed since May 2020 for expansion, has been further delayed and will not come until “the end of the year,” the Ottawa Citizen reports. The 16-kilometer (9.9-mile), eight-station southward extension of the Trillium line was supposed to […]
WASHINGTON — For the second time in a month, Brightline West has filed “Expedited Action Requested” documents with the Surface Transportation Board, seeking approval of the company’s plans for building a 186-mph electrified rail line between Las Vegas, Nev., and Southern California. On Tuesday, Aug. 15, Brightline West urged the STB to rule favorably on […]
ERIE, Pa. — An official in Erie County says that Wabtec may be preparing to close its locomotive plant in Erie if it does not reach a new labor agreement with 1,400 striking workers. County Executive Brenton Davis said in a statement Wednesday that he had confirmed that “Wabtec was visited by representatives of a […]
BALTIMORE — Amtrak is going to court to acquire four small pieces of land in West Baltimore it says it needs for the project to replace the aging Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel, one of the most significant bottlenecks on the Northeast Corridor. The Washington Post reports the company has filed suit to acquire the properties […]
WASHINGTON — Carload traffic showed more of a downward tick for the week ending Aug. 12, leading to a larger overall drop than has been the case recently for weekly U.S. rail traffic. The weekly figure of 472,498 carloads and intermodal units represented a 4.2% decrease from the same week in 2022, after several weeks […]
The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO today urged all six Class I railroads to join the Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System. The Association of American Railroads on March 2 said the Class I freight railroads would join the program, which allows railroaders to report “close call” safety incidents without fear of […]
The Gotthard Base Tunnel sustained far more damage than had previous been believed in last week’s derailment, and it will likely be early 2024 before both bores of the world’s longest rail tunnel are back in service, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) announced today (Aug. 16). The tunnel has been closed since Aug. 10, when […]
WASHINGTON — A Michigan electric utility company has praised the improvement in BNSF Railway’s coal train service this year, as well as the railroad’s “accurate and timely communication” during service problems last year. Consumers Energy Co., based in Jackson, Mich., told the Surface Transportation Board this week that coal train cycle times have improved by […]
Tips for Body-mounted couplers on auto racks: When N scale got its start in Europe in the 1960s, its originators conceived it in the tradition of toy trains, with truck-mounted couplers that could negotiate sharp-radius curves. Some N-scalers began switching to body-mounts after Kadee introduced its N scale knuckle coupler in the early 1960s. (Kadee […]
NEW YORK — The Long Island Rail Road has announced its first discount ticket developed for passengers using a specific station, announcing the launch of the Far Rockaway Ticket on Aug. 20. The ticket expands the discounts of the CityTicket, which covers commuter rail travel within the city of New York, to cover the Far […]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The transportation agency for Santa Cruz County has now fully funded a preliminary study of a much-debated rail transit plan for a former Southern Pacific branch line. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has ordered the study, known as a project concept report, for its […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway has become the title sponsor of the Montreal Canadiens’ training facility in suburban Brossard, which will now be known as the CN Sports Complex, the National Hockey League team has announced. “We are proud to welcome CN as a partner of the Montreal Canadiens,” France Margaret Bélanger, president, sports and […]
