SEPTA officially announced Wednesday, June 19, that it will close its Bridgeport Viaduct, a bridge spanning the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania used by SEPTA’s Norristown High Speed Line, beginning July 8.
The Surface Transportation Board has granted permission to Union Pacific Railroad to cease service on 12.5 miles of the Lockport Branch, located in Lofourche Parish, La., which UP owns, while affirming rival Class I railroad BNSF to continue operating over 14.1 miles of the branch, rejecting UP objections.
Testifying Tuesday, June 18, 2013 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, an Army Corps of Engineers official said the agency would not expand its environmental review of coal being exported through U.S. West Coast ports, despite objections from environmentalists in several western states.
The Minneapolis City Council has given initial approval to a plan to redirect up to $60 million in property taxes to help fund a streetcar line along Nicollet and Central avenues in Minnesota’s largest city.
Eight New York State legislators are urging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to pursue an elusive “one-seat ride” to New York-Penn Station for Rockland and Orange county residents, tying it to Amtrak’s Gateway Tunnel plan to increase Northeast Corridor capacity under the Hudson River.
Canadian Pacific said Wednesday, June 19 it has launched a faster intermodal rail service between Toronto and Calgary to better serve customers on this route. The new service offering cuts 20 hours from previous schedules, CP said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is urging Metro-North Railroad to provide more protection to track workers who depend on dispatchers for signal inspection, following the death of track worker May 28 in West Haven, Conn., on Metro-North’s New Haven Line.
Six streetcar route options are on the table in San Antonio, Tex., but the city’s famed landmark, The Alamo, appears unlikely to be served by any of them.
Isabel Hamilton Benham, who died May 18, 2013, at the age of 103, was a formidable and influential presence in railroad affairs on Wall Street for much of the 20th Century. She made history by becoming the first female partner in a major Wall Street firm, R. W. Pressprich & Co., Inc.
VIA Rail Canada announced Friday, June 14, 2013, that it has reached an agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union, which represents some 2,200 service, sales office and maintenance personnel.