Railfanning.org News Wire – Page 257

Kansas City Southern Acquires Puerta Mexico Intermodal Facility, Adds Direct Train Service

March 13, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

KANSAS CITY — Kansas City Southern has acquired the Puerta Mexico intermodal facility at Toluca in the State of Mexico. Later this month, Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. will add direct train service from Lazaro Cardenas to Puerta Mexico, providing Mexico City import and export shippers with a service alternative featuring improved consistency and reliability and better transit times, the railroad said.

The Travel Trolley Launches 2010 Travel Outlook Survey

March 13, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

ATLANTA – The Travel Trolley has launched a trends survey to gauge travel plans for 2010. “There has been a lot of discussion in the media about how the economy is affecting everything from shopping to financial investments to travel plans,” said Todd DeFeo, editor of The Travel Trolley. “Rather than speculate on what role the economy is playing in people’s plans, I decided to find out firsthand about the 2010 travel outlook.” The brief survey should take no longer than five minutes to complete and asks 10 questions ranging from the number of leisure trips planned for 2010 to

N.J. Transit Implements Emergency Spending Freeze

March 13, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — N.J. Transit has implemented an emergency spending freeze and told employees that it will reduce its workforce by more than 200, rollback spending on retirement accounts and cut executive salaries, officials announced March 2.

Teens Struck by CSX Freight Train in Ga.

March 13, 2010 Todd DeFeo

ATLANTA — One teenager was killed and another was sent to a local hospital after they were struck by a CSX freight train early this morning, Cobb County police said.

WMATA Train Operator Fired

March 12, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — A Metrorail train operator, who was involved in the pocket track derailment at the Farragut North Metrorail station on Feb. 12, was terminated on March 11 from her position as a train operator.

Alternatives for New Passenger Rail Service in Kansas Outlined

March 12, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

CHICAGO – Four alternatives for state-sponsored passenger rail service between Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Fort Worth are detailed in a study released by Amtrak and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).

AAR: 2009 Safest Year Ever for Nation’s Freight Railroads

March 12, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads announced that 2009 was the safest year in freight railroad history, with preliminary year-end data indicating the train accident rate, employee casualty rate and grade crossing incident rates were all at record low levels last year.

2009: A Record Low Number of Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Collision Deaths

March 11, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Newly released federal statistics indicate 2009 had a record low number of deaths and injuries from highway-rail grade crossing collisions.

AAR Reports Monthly Carload Declines Slow in February 2010

March 10, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported that in February 2010, U.S. freight railroads saw a 1.5 percent decline in carloads compared with the same month last year and a decline of 15.6 percent compared with the same month in 2008.

Boardman: ‘Amtrak Long-distance Trains are Running Strong’

March 9, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Amtrak’s long-distance trains are attracting more passengers as Amtrak continues to implement its comprehensive and multi-year Route Performance Improvement (RPI) program, officials said. “Amtrak long-distance trains are running strong,” President and CEO Joseph Boardman said. “We are making changes, improving our service and passengers are responding favorably.” Boardman noted total ridership on Amtrak’s 15 long-distance trains reached nearly 4.2 million in fiscal year 2009, an increase of 13 percent from fiscal year 2006. During the same period, the on-time performance of long-distance trains improved from 30 percent to 75 percent contributing to higher customer satisfaction scores, increasing from