Amtrak

WASHINGTON — Amtrak suffered yet another blow in April, when its high-speed trains in the Northeast were taken off line, forcing the railroad’s management to add more Metroliners to the schedule. Starting April 25, Metroliner trains were added in most Washington-New York Acela weekday time slots between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. All 13 hourly departures will be covered by Metroliners starting May 2. “We are going to do everything we can to satisfy our passengers, running a reliable schedule that they can count on,” said Amtrak’s Senior Vice President of Operations, William Crosbie. Click here to read more.

More than 20 cars from a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed April 26 in North Carolina, snarling rail traffic and delaying Amtrak trains. In all, 21 of the train’s 112 cars derailed. The train was traveling from Asheville, N.C., en route to Linwood, N.C., when it derailed about 40 miles north of Charlotte, N.C. No one was injured in the derailment. A dozen cars derailed April 22 in a CSX rail yard in Waycross, Ga., a Jackson, Fla., television station reported. The 12 cars, which were carrying primarily logs, and two engines derailed in the east end of Rice Yard,

Following the release of President Bush’s proposed budget which would slash funding for Amtrak rail service, New England Council President James T. Brett joined other regional leaders in calling for the Administration to reconsider this proposal.