ALBANY, N.Y. — In the wake of several recent accidents, the federal government today is launching a rail inspection project to check nearly 1,300 miles of track across New York State for flaws that might lead to a train derailment among other new measures designed to improve rail safety in the wake of several recent […]

LOS ANGELES — The Federal Railroad Administration announced it will jointly prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with the California High-Speed Rail Authority for two sections of the state’s proposed high-speed passenger rail project.
The two EIS documents, covering the Palmdale to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Orange County corridors, will involve preliminary engineering designs […]

ONEIDA, N.Y. — The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to the scene of a train derailment and fire that occurred this morning in Oneida, New York.
Around 7:12 a.m., a CSX freight train derailed an unknown number of cars resulting in a significant fire. About 40 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cars were in […]

WASHINGTON – Seeking an outlet to share the numerous, heart-warming stories it regularly receives from passengers, Amtrak has launched a new website for travelers to share their train travel experiences.
Christened Whistle Stop, the site, found at whistlestop.amtrak.com, includes feature stories on Amtrak routes with photos taken from the train along those routes.
The first three feature […]

HARRISBURG, Pa. — With the statistics tabulated and verified, Norfolk Southern announced that its Harrisburg Division was the safest operating division on the railroad’s 22-state network for 2006, with an injury ratio of .56.
The Harrisburg Division’s Transportation Department recorded the lowest operating department injury ratio in the history of Norfolk Southern, with a ratio of […]

ANOKA, Minn. — Officials from the state of Minnesota, the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) and BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) signed a key agreement today that defines Northstar’s rights to operate along the 40-mile stretch of BNSF train tracks between Big Lake and downtown Minneapolis.
“This agreement is another significant milestone toward delivering Minnesota’s first commuter […]

WASHINGTON – The number of train accidents declined for the second year in a row and there were fewer highway-rail grade crossing collisions according to preliminary 2006 rail safety data announced today by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters.
“The aggressive actions we are taking to improve rail safety are paying dividends,” Secretary Peters […]

OAKLAND - BNSF Railway’s annual San Joaquin Valley track maintenance and rehabilitation has concluded and all Amtrak San Joaquin trains are back to their normal schedule.
The track work between Bakersfield and Fresno began in January and was recently completed.
Amtrak operates the San Joaquin Service, with six daily round-trips to Bakersfield from Oakland or Sacramento, under […]

CHICAGO — Amtrak has completed a report requested by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) that evaluates possible Northwestern Illinois routes between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa, via Rockford, Illinois.
This “Feasibility Report on Proposed Amtrak Service” is also in response to a July 2006 town meeting held in Rockford and hosted by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin […]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — At the invitation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CSX Transportation (CSXT) today joined EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and other stakeholders at Port Newark, N.J., to support the agency’s overall goal of reducing diesel locomotive emissions.
On hand for the announcement was CSXT Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Tony Ingram, who […]