Amtrak

ST. LOUIS – The City of St. Louis and Amtrak are pleased to announce the official grand opening of the Gateway Transportation Center (GTC), the city’s new $26.4 million multimodal transportation hub. Mayor Francis G. Slay, Comptroller Darlene Green, Amtrak Board Member Thomas Carper, Greyhound, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Citizens for Modern Transit and other local officials dedicated the facility located at 430 South 15th Street. For nearly twenty years, a multimodal station to connect Amtrak, Greyhound, MetroLink and Metro Bus service has been an important concept in the overall design of St. Louis City’s transportation systems, but until

WASHINGTON – Amtrak announced that Auto Train service will resume Saturday, Nov. 22, from both its terminals. The Auto Train carries passengers and their automobiles between Lorton, Va., and Sanford, Fla. The service was temporarily suspended Nov. 19 when cracks were found in the underframes of the rail cars that carry automobiles. No passenger-carrying cars were affected. “Although no incidents resulted from these cracks, we suspended service in the interest of safety,” Amtrak acting President and CEO William Crosbie said. We deployed welders and materials to both Auto Train facilities and worked round-the-clock in 12-hour shifts to resume this very

OAKLAND – Amtrak, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) anticipating the busiest travel week of the year, are planning ahead for Thanksgiving by adding extra train cars and encouraging passengers traveling throughout California to make their reservations early. The week of Thanksgiving — Tuesday, November 25 to Monday, December 1 — is typically Amtrak’s busiest travel period of the year, carrying more than 665,000 passengers last year systemwide. To accommodate more passengers traveling during this holiday week, more capacity will be added to the Amtrak San Joaquin, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Capitol

WASHINGTON – Amtrak canceled operation of its Auto Train after cracks in auto carrier underframes were discovered. The daily Auto Train carries passengers and their automobiles between Lorton, Va. and Sanford, Fla. After the decision to cancel the train, Amtrak personnel offered Auto Train passengers the option of remaining on the trains they had boarded for meal service and use of the accommodations they had reserved, without charge. Full ticket refunds were also offered. Amtrak also provided hotel vouchers to those passengers who chose to rest over night before driving their cars to their destinations. The popular Auto Train, which

WASHINGTON — Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant has resigned his post. Earlier this year, President Bush signed into law the Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. Officials said the law will increase funding for Amtrak over the next five years. The legislation, which allocates $12.9 billion over five years for Amtrak, creates for the first time a “federal funding partnership which places rail passenger service on a more equal footing with other modes,” Kummant said previously. “The work on this authorization bill spanned nearly three congresses and does change