Commuter Rail
Railfanning.org News Wire
Amtrak
Amtrak’s Grounded Acela Returns to Service on N.E. Corridor
WASHINGTON – The first Acela Express trains returned to service July 11 with four daily departures from New York and Washington, marking an end to a roughly three-month service disruption, Amtrak announced. Throughout July, Amtrak announced weekday Acela Express service between New York and Washington beginning Monday, as well as weekend service starting July 16 on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak suspended the trains’ operations after the discovery of cracks on the spokes of brake discs on April 15. The first trains to return operated Monday-Friday with two morning and two afternoon departures from New York and Washington, and served all
Amtrak
Amtrak: New, More Convenient Schedules Between New York and Florida
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
Amtrak
June 2005 Wreck Roundup
A Union Pacific coal train derailed June 26 near Glenwood Springs, Colo., and the mishap stranded 200 passengers aboard an Amtrak train using the same tracks. Eighteen cars of the Union Pacific train derailed, but no coal from any of the cars spilled, WLS television in Chicago reported. Amtrak planned on using buses to transport passengers past the derailment. Eleven cars derailed in Jasper County, Texas, on June 24 and caused more than $1 million in damages, KTRE reported. Although the 74 car Watco Co. train had four cars with hazardous materials, none of them derailed, and no injuries or
World
CSX
May 2005 Wreck Roundup
A vacuum train derailed May 31 at a Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, Newsday reported. The MTA train pulled out of a station around 4 a.m. and it took crews almost 12 hours to clean up the derailment. A Canadian National train derailed May 30 in Baton Rouge, La., and forced the evacuation of some downtown blocks, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate reported. Eight cars derailed, half of which were carrying the flammable gas propylene oxide, according to the newspaper. On May 24, a Union Pacific train derailed in Los Angeles and a car leaked acetone, a television station reported. A pair
Transit
MARTA Board Approves FY06 Operating and Capital Budget
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
Canadian Pacific
Canadian Pacific Railway names Kamloops’ interchange in honor of Chinese rail worker
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
Transit
BNSF
BNSF to Expand Use of Environmentally Friendly ‘Green Goat’ Switch Engines in Los Angeles Area and Texas
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