Articles by Railfanning.org News Wire

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Amtrak

Amtrak: New, More Convenient Schedules Between New York and Florida

July 25, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON – Beginning Monday August 1, Amtrak’s daily Silver Service trains will operate on new schedules between New York and Miami, creating more desirable arrival and departure times in several cities along the trains’ routes and improving connections to trains traveling to other areas of the country. The new schedules mean: Later southbound arrival times in Jacksonville and Orlando, allowing passengers a little more sleep and breakfast on-board before reaching their destinations. Earlier northbound departures from Miami allowing passengers from Jacksonville and Orlando an improved choice of afternoon and evening departures for New York and other northeast cities. Passengers from
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Transit

MARTA Board Approves FY06 Operating and Capital Budget

June 7, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
ATLANTA – The Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority today passed a $770.7 million Operating and Capital Budget for Fiscal Year 2006, which begins on July 1, 2005. In conjunction with their decision, the Board also passed a new policy requiring that an amount equivalent to 10% of the prior year’s operating budget be maintained in an operating reserve account. "After careful thought and deliberation, this board has passed a budget that is responsible and that will allow us to continue to provide the best possible service to our customers through enhancements to our operations as well
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Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific Railway names Kamloops’ interchange in honor of Chinese rail worker

May 27, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia –  In a ceremony highlighted by a Lion Dance that symbolizes good luck and good blessings, Canadian Pacific Railway named a railway interchange in Kamloops in honor of Cheng Ging Butt, a railway laborer who represented the dedication of those who came forward to work on the CPR transcontinental line in the British Columbia interior, the company announced. Thousands of Chinese railway workers helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway from the West Coast to Eagle Pass in the Monashee Mountains of Western Canada and many perished. "Cheng Ging Butt is representative of the extraordinary people who withstood
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BNSF

BNSF to Expand Use of Environmentally Friendly ‘Green Goat’ Switch Engines in Los Angeles Area and Texas

May 23, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway Company and RailPower Technologies Corp. have announced that BNSF will keep its Green Goat, an environmentally friendly hybrid switch engine, in service for five years in the Los Angeles area and that it is acquiring four cabless Green Goat units for use in Texas. In Los Angeles, the Green Goat(R) joins BNSF’s four Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) locomotives in service elsewhere in the area; the four are the only LNG locomotives in the country. The Green Goat uses a relatively small, clean, efficient, diesel genset in conjunction with over 300 batteries to improve fuel
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Safety

Railroads Set Safety Record in 2004

May 19, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Employees at the nation’s railroads reported their lowest employee casualty rate in history during 2004, Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, said May 19 at a luncheon ceremony honoring railroads with the best employee safety records last year. Twelve railroads received gold, silver or bronze E.H. Harriman Memorial Safety Awards in four separate categories at the awards luncheon. Hamberger told the audience that last year’s employee casualty rate was nine percent lower than it was in 2003, when the previous record was set. "And for the first two months of this year,
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Commuter Rail

N.J. Transit Approves Lower Fare Increases

April 21, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
NEWARK, N.J. – The N.J. Transit Board of Directors on April 21 approved an FY 2006 fare plan that delivers lower than expected fare increases for many commuters, as a result of $12.6 million in additional internal management efficiencies and revenue enhancements. Under the plan, which will take effect July 1, commuter rail and interstate bus fares will increase an average of 9.9 percent – down 25 percent from the original proposal. This level of increase is consistent with inflation, which already totals 9 percent since April 2002 – the last last fare increase – and is widely expected to
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NTSB

NTSB Approves Safety Recommendations

February 3, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
The National Transportation Safety Board on Feb. 3 approved the following: The National Transportation Safety Board therefore makes the following safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration: Require in 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 213, Track Safety Standards, that rail cracks originating from bond wire attachments be identified as rail defects and that information be collected on the methods and locations of those attachments. (R-05-01) Require in 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 225, Guide for Preparing Accident/Incident Reports, that derailments caused by rail cracks originating from bond wire attachments be reported with a specific cause code and that
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Norfolk Southern

Motiva Enterprises and Norfolk Southern Build Largest Rail-Served Ethanol Terminal in New York Harbor

February 2, 2005 Railfanning.org News Wire
NORFOLK, Va. — Motiva Enterprises LLC and Norfolk Southern Corporation on Feb. 2 announced the opening of a new high-capacity ethanol terminal located at Motiva’s petroleum distribution terminal in Sewaren, N.J. It is the largest rail-served ethanol terminal in the New York Harbor area. The terminal is strategically located to serve the New York and Connecticut markets for ethanol. The facility, which replaces Motiva’s 23-car-per-day terminal, is capable of unloading 40 railcars per day. The expansion more than doubled the terminal’s capacity from 1 million gallons per day to more than 2 million. Ethanol is increasingly being used as a