May 6, 2021

Governor Northam Announces Agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway to Expand Passenger Rail to Southwest Virginia

Governor Ralph Northam today announced that the Commonwealth has reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway to extend passenger rail service to the New River Valley for the first time since 1979. Known as the Western Rail Initiative, this agreement will increase intercity passenger rail service from Roanoke to the Northeast Corridor and is an expansion of the Transforming Rail in Virginia program to build a 21st-century rail network.

May 6, 2021

Steamtown’s Union Pacific Big Boy Returns to Static Exhibition

Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is pleased to announce that its Union Pacific Railroad “Big Boy” No. 4012 has returned to static exhibition in the park following an extended cosmetic restoration; just in time for National Train Day and National Preservation Month. The locomotive was removed from display in 2019 in order to replace rusted parts, remediate hazardous materials from its original construction, and receive a new paint job.

May 5, 2021

CNJ Steam Locomotive 113 Powers Benefit Train in June

On Saturday,  June 19, Central of New Jersey #113, from Minersville to Port Clinton and return, pulling coaches and an extra-fare open gondola!   The locomotive will face south on the way south and north on the way north, with the gon right behind the tender in both directions.On return to Minersville we will host our full-menu all-inclusive pig roast at the station. PROCEEDS FROM THIS EXCURSION BENEFIT READING & NORTHERN ENGINEER CHRIS BOST, a regular at the throttle of #113, as he fights chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIPD), a nerve disease. 

May 5, 2021

Rail Traffic for April and the Week Ending May 1, 2021

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 1, 2021, as well as volumes for April 2021.  U.S. railroads originated 951,840 carloads in April 2021, up 23.7 percent, or 182,060 carloads, from April 2020. U.S. railroads also originated 1,173,952 containers and trailers in April 2021, up 33.8 percent, or 296,758 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in April 2021 were 2,125,792, up 29.1 percent, or 478,818 carloads and intermodal units from April 2020. In April 2021, 17 of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with April 2020. These included: coal, up 55,929 carloads or 28.7 percent; motor vehicles & parts, up 38,891 carloads or 465.9 percent; and chemicals, up 17,201 carloads or 14.8 percent. Commodities that saw declines in April 2021 from April 2020 included: crushed stone, sand & gravel, down 823 carloads or 1 percent; primary forest products, down 124 carloads or 2.9 percent; and farm products excl. grain, down 74 carloads or 1.9 percent.

May 4, 2021

Governor Cuomo Announces New York City Subway Will Resume 24 Hour Service Beginning May 17

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo  announced that the New York City Subway will resume 24 hour a day service beginning May 17. In April, MTA New York City Transit officials announced 2,009,025 trips were recorded on the subway on April 8, the first time that more than two million trips were taken on the subway since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The MTA will continue its unprecedented disinfection and cleaning effort. More than 75 percent of MTA customers agree the subway has never been cleaner. The resumption of 24-hour service will coincide with the Governor’s announcement lifting the 12 a.m. food and beverage service curfew for outdoor dining areas.

April 30, 2021

Governor Wolf Joins President Biden to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Amtrak and Call for Critical Infrastructure Investments

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf today joined President Joe Biden at William H. Gray III 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to celebrate Amtrak’s 50th anniversary and to highlight the need for critical rail and public transit infrastructure investments.

April 30, 2021

Governor Murphy Breaks Ground On New NJ Transit Lyndhurst Station

April 29, 2021

VIA Rail’s 2021 Public Meeting

VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) invites the public to watch its 2021 Annual Public Meeting (APM) to be aired on May 27, 2021, at 4 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). As part of the APM, VIA Rail will report to Canadians on its performance, financial results and projects for 2020, an unprecedented year for the Corporation due to the consecutive crises it faced. 

April 28, 2021

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Announces $1.69 Billion for Amtrak in Response to COVID-19

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced that the Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is making more than $1.69 billion available to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to provide relief from the impacts of COVID-19 to the company’s business operations, workforce, and state funding partners. The funding is provided under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 

April 28, 2021

Rail Traffic for the Week Ending April 24, 2021

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 24, 2021. .For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 538,184 carloads and intermodal units, up 30 percent compared with the same week last year.  Total carloads for the week ending April 24 were 240,075 carloads, up 25 percent compared with the same week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 298,109 containers and trailers, up 34.3 percent compared to 2020.