Amtrak CEO: ‘More humility, listening skills’

    HOPE, Ark. – Amtrak President Joseph Boardman told an audience here last week that poor service and arrogance were to blame for Amtrak’s loss of the contract to operate the Virginia Railway Express, reports the Hope Star newspaper. The commuter service contract [...]

Longest rail tunnel; but much work remains

It’s billed as the world’s longest tunnel – 35.4 miles long — and it’s been 60 years in the planning and digging. It’s in Switzerland. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is the backbone of a proposed high-speed freight and passenger rail network through Europe, according to vario [...]

Light rail to LAX moving forward

A new light rail line from downtown Los Angeles to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is moving closer to reality thorough a $546 million federal loan to Los Angeles County, reports the Associated Press. The almost nine-mile line is expected to create 5,000 jobs; and, eq [...]

Good times continue to roll for railroads

For the first 40 weeks of this year – through Oct. 9 – rail carloadings are up almost 10 percent over last year, and intermodal loadings have soared by more than 15 percent, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Oct. 9, intermodal w [...]

MBTA expanding routes into Rhode Island

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will extend, by year-end, its commuter rail service from Boston to Providence and Warwick, both in Rhode Island, reports progressiverailroading.com. Trains will make six stops per day at the soon-to-be-completed InterLink [...]

NS leases 36 miles of N.Y. track to short line

Norfolk Southern has leased 36 miles of track and trackage rights in New York to Middletown & New Jersey Railroad, reports progressiverailroading.com. The track connects Campbell Hall, N.Y., to a connection with the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway in Warwick, N. [...]

New technology sets train speed, saves fuel

A new technology to calculate optimal locomotive speed to save fuel has been developed by General Electric’s GE Transportation, reports the website, smartplanet.com. According to smartplanet.com, the technology, called Trip Optimizer, “can save 3.3 million gallons on th [...]

AFL-CIO launching young worker outreach

A new survey by the AFL-CIO shows young workers worse off this year than they were last year. In response, the federation is ratcheting up its outreach program to connect with the next generation of workers. The survey shows young workers are more likely to be working part ti [...]