Rail Industry News
Maryland, CSX apply again for federal funding for Howard Street Tunnel expansion in Baltimore
(Source: Baltimore Sun, March 4, 2019) BALTIMORE, Md. — Maryland and CSX Transportation have submitted another application for federal money to heighten the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore so it can fit shipping containers stacked two-high on freight trains — a...
Cause of massive Metra delays: A worker fell on the circuit board during server upgrade
(Source: Chicago Daily Herald, March 1, 2019) CHICAGO — An Amtrak worker fell onto a circuit board during a server upgrade Thursday morning and caused hourslong delays for Metra riders stuck on crowded trains going to and leaving Chicago's Union Station all day long....
Class I average operating ratio inched upward in 2018
(Source: Trains, February 27, 2019) The Class I railroad average operating ratio rose slightly in 2018 — the first increase in a decade — as congestion-related costs and an accounting rules change pushed the closely watched efficiency metric up at four of the seven...
NTSB announces leadership changes
(Source: Progressive Railroading, March 1, 2019) The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday announced several key leadership appointments, including the selection of Sharon Bryson as managing director. Full story: Progressive Railroading
Editorial: Clear up the confusion about high-speed rail, Gov. Newsom
(Source: Editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, March 1, 2019) SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has a message for Gov. Gavin Newsom: Figure out what you’re doing with high-speed rail, and fast. Full story: San Francisco...
California rail authority calls Trump plan to end high-speed rail funding “rash and unlawful”
(Source: Los Angeles Times, March 4, 2019) LOS ANGELES — The California rail authority delivered a sharp rebuttal Monday to the Trump administration, saying its threat to cancel and rescind $3.5 billion in grants for the state bullet train project is “rash and...
Editorial: Trains must have 2-person crews
(Source: Editorial in the North Platte Telegraph, March 3, 2019) NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — Really, a two-person crew mandate shouldn’t be necessary. Common sense, not to mention common humanity, says it’s inviting senseless tragedy — inside the engine, outside it or both —...
Opinion analysis: Supreme Court rules railroad’s payments to injured workers for lost wages are taxable
(Source: Supreme Court of the United States Blog, March 4, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — A laid-off railroad worker goes head to head with the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded corporation over a $3,765 payment that — the worker says — is owed to him because the...
UE strike against Wabtec continues in Erie, Pa.
(Source: Erie News Now, March 4, 2019) ERIE, Pa. — Striking UE Local 506 and Local 618 employees are taking turns walking the picket lines, then warming up with a meal in the union hall. Over and over on the picket line they chant, "Who are we? UE. What do we want? A...
STB: Class I workforce down a bit in January
(Source: Progressive Railroading, March 4, 2019) U.S. Class Is employed 146,556 employees in mid-January, down 0.72 percent compared with December 2018's level, but up 1.54 percent compared with January 2018's count, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB)...
New Amtrak sign in place at 30th Street Station
(Source: Television station WPVI, February 27, 2019) PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The new Amtrak schedule sign is in place at 30th Street Station, but it isn't working quite yet. Engineers tested it out and determined that it still needs some adjustments. Full story:...
W.Va.’s New River Train trips will not run this year, official says
(Source: Herald-Dispatch, February 28, 2019) HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — While there was still some hope that the New River Train might run in 2019, that hope appears to be gone. Chris Lockwood, the general manager of the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society Inc.,...
Passengers bonded on Amtrak train that was stuck in Oregon snowstorm
(Source: Associated Press, February 27, 2019) SALEM, Ore. — An Amtrak train with almost 200 people aboard hit downed trees during a blizzard and got stranded in the Oregon mountains for a day and a half, but passengers and crew banded together during the ordeal that...
Amtrak trains stop, reverse direction due to Sierra Nevada avalanche
(Source: Associated Press, February 27, 2019) RENO, Nevada — Amtrak passenger train service between Reno and Sacramento, California, is unlikely to resume until at least Friday because of a lingering winter storm that sent an avalanche across the Union Pacific tracks...
Driver acquitted in 2018 crash with Amtrak train carrying members of Congress
(Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 28, 2019) ALBEMARLE, Va. — After more than five hours of deliberation Wednesday, a jury found a truck driver not guilty in a fatal crash involving an Amtrak train carrying members of Congress. Full story: Richmond...
Rail groups ask Congress to oppose lifting truck weight, size limits
(Source: Progressive Railroading, February 27, 2019) The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) joined other organizations earlier this week in asking Congress to oppose legislative language that...
Amtrak agrees to match TIGER grant for Southwest Chief upgrade
(Source: Hutchinson News, February 27, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan coalition of senators whose states are on the route of the Southwest Chief announced Wednesday that Amtrak has finally agreed to fund $3 million in matching grants for improvements on the...
New York’s Cuomo, de Blasio propose restructuring of MTA
(Source: Progressive Railroading, February 27, 2019) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio yesterday unveiled a 10-point plan to reorganize the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and create "dedicated and sustained" funding streams...
Labor code issues flagged in 2018 fatal CP Rail accident at Calgary train yard
(Source: Canadian Press, February 27, 2019) CALGARY — Documents show a federal investigator flagged labor code contraventions after a Canadian Pacific Railway train conductor died in a workplace accident in a Calgary rail yard last November. A written directive...
NJ Transit legal strategy leaves injured rail employees in limbo
(Source: North Jersey Record, February 27,2 019) BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — NJ Transit has asked a state court to dismiss a pair of workplace injury lawsuits, arguing again that it cannot be sued under a longstanding federal law that protects railroad workers. The agency...
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