NEW YORK — New subway fare gates and revised policies regarding activation of e-tickets on commuter trains are among proposals to address fare evasion across the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system, a problem estimated to have cost the MTA some $690 million in 2022. Those proposals come from a report included in the Final Report of […]
WASHINGTON — The latest figures for U.S. rail traffic are extremely familiar: carload numbers are comparable to 2022, while intermodal volume is down significantly. The specifics from the Association of American Railroads, for the week ending May 13, show 466,381 carloads and intermodal units, a 5.9% decline from the corresponding week a year ago. That […]
MONTREAL — An artificial intelligence pilot project aimed at reducing fuel consumption and support of more than 450 nonprofit organizations and charities are among actions VIA Rail Canada highlights in a yearly progress report on its 2021-25 sustainability plan. The update released Wednesday on the passenger operator’s environmental, social, and governance plan is available here, […]
MONTREAL — Mario Péloquin will become the new president and CEO of VIA Rail Canada as of June 12, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Tuesday. Péloquin becomes VIA’s fourth CEO in four years, following Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, Cynthia Garneau, and Martin Landry, who had been CEO since May 2022. Péloquin spent little more than a year […]
CAMBRIDGE, Ontario — No injuries were reported after 14 cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed today (May 17) near Cambridge, CTV News reports. Robert Shantz, fire chief of the Township of North Dumfries, told CTV that his department had been released from the scene after it was determined no hazardous materials were […]
WASHINGTON — Chicago commuter operator Metra has become the third entity to sue over the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. In a single-page filing with the board, Metra notified the STB today (Wednesday, May 17) that it had initiated a suit on May 12 in the U.S. Court of […]
WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has asked the Surface Transportation Board to take several steps to improve rail service. “Unfortunately, while rail service has improved from its worst levels last year, it remains inadequate and unreliable for many agricultural shippers. There is more work to be done,” Vilsack wrote in a May 12 letter […]
N scale layout design tips and considerations: Sometime back I wrote about how prototype railroad equipment has gotten larger over the years, making it more difficult to build a visually and operationally satisfying layout using trainset curves (93⁄4″ radius in N scale). An obvious solution – if you have the room – is to use […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National envisions the day when its main line to the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, will host 50 trains per day. “Our capacity right now on that line is about 25 trains a day,” CN CEO Tracy Robinson told an investor conference on Wednesday. “We’re running a little bit below that […]
When N scale modeling doesn’t work out: I hate it when I’m working on some part of my N scale layout, and the further in I get, the more I want out. It can be most anything: a scenery feature, a turnout, weathering a car, whatever. The project just isn’t working, and the realization that […]
ORLANDO — Brightline’s Miami-Orlando schedule is out, and tickets are now on sale — even though an official start date has not yet been announced. Starting today, travelers can book tickets on Brightline trains between Orlando International Airport and South Florida destinations. Tickets are on sale for trips Sept. 1 through Jan. 7, 2024; however, […]
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Southern Railway board of trustees will decide in July whether to place the proposed sale of the city-owned railroad on the November ballot, WVXU Radio reports. The city has agreed to sell the railroad, the nation’s only municipally owned interstate rail line, to Norfolk Southern for $1.62 billion. But city voters […]
