Railpace Hot News
Keep up to date on the latest railroad news from the northeastern United States and Canada, edited by Carl Perelman.
January 6, 2021
LIRR Crews to Perform Signal Testing as Part of Main Line Expansion Project
Long Island Rail Road crews will perform signal testing in Mineola as part of the Main Line Expansion Project during the weekends of Jan. 9-10, 16-17 and 23-24. This critical infrastructure work will require both existing Main Line tracks to be taken out of service for 48 hours each weekend between New Hyde Park and Hicksville, resulting in service changes on the Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma Branches and schedule adjustments on the LIRR’s other branches.
January 5, 2021
CN Sets Grain Movement Record for Tenth Consecutive Month
CN announced that for the tenth consecutive month it has set a new record by shipping over 2.84 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Canadian grain and processed grain products via carload. This brings the volume of grain moved in the 2020-2021 crop year to-date via carload to 14.5 MMT, exceeding the previous all-time record pace volume by nearly 2 MMT, or over 15%.
January 5, 2021
CP reports best ever year, quarter, December for Canadian grain transport
Canadian Pacific moved 31.32 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Canadian grain and grain products in 2020, more than any prior calendar year in its history, the company announced Monday. At year’s end, CP also completed its best ever quarter and best ever December for hauling these commodities.
January 4, 2021
New Renewable Energy Contracts in Effect at MBTA
Taking effect this week, two new 100% renewable energy contracts with BP Energy Company and Direct Energy LLC will reduce the MBTA’s carbon footprint and save the T over $3 million per year. Finalized in October 2020, these contracts make the MBTA the largest transit agency in the United States to be 100% renewable and result in a significant reduction in the MBTA’s carbon footprint.
January 4, 2021
MTA Metro-North Railroad Announces Opening of Major Segment of Empire State Trail in Putnam and Dutchess Counties
MTA Metro-North Railroad today announced the completion of the Maybrook Trailway, a 23-mile segment of the Empire State Trail in Dutchess and Putnam Counties. The Maybrook Trailway is a vital link in the Empire State Trail, launched by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo as the longest state bike and walking pathway in the nation, spanning 750-miles from New York City to Canada and from Albany to Buffalo, and completed last week.
December 31, 2020
MTA Announces the Grand Opening of the East End Gateway at Penn Station—an Iconic New Entrance to the LIRR Concourse at Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street
MTA Construction & Development (MTA C&D) today announced the grand opening of the East End Gateway to the East End Gateway Concourse at Penn Station, a visually remarkable high-capacity entrance at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue. The new entrance gives Penn Station a front door identity on Seventh Avenue for the first time as well as provides direct access for customers headed from street level to the LIRR, as well as to NYC Transit’s and subway lines
December 31, 2020
Governor Cuomo Announces Grand Opening of Moynihan Train Hall in New York City
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the grand opening of Moynihan Train Hall, a 255,000-square-foot train hall designed for the 21st century in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. The $1.6 billion project transformed the more than 100-year-old James A. Farley Building into a world-class transportation hub that increases the existing Penn Station rail complex’s concourse space by 50 percent. The Governor also announced that the East End Gateway to Penn Station at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue opens on New Year’s Eve. The hall is named for former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
December 30, 2020
Rail Traffic for the Week Ending December 26, 2020
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 26, 2020. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 405,111 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.4 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending December 26 were 185,029 carloads, down 3.4 percent compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 220,082 containers and trailers, up 20.8 percent compared to 2019.
December 30, 2020
Amtrak Expands Its Presence In New York With The Addition Of The Moynihan Train Hall
As part of its 50th anniversary, Amtrak, in partnership with Empire State Development (State of New York), has expanded its footprint in New York City with the opening of Moynihan Train Hall, located inside the Farley Post Office building, between 31st and 33rd Street directly across 8th Avenue from New York Penn Station. The new station, combined with recent improvements to New York Penn Station, will relieve crowding, improve passenger comfort and security, and offer an enhanced facility that will better serve Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) and long-distance travelers, and commuter rail passengers.
December 29, 2020
Federal Railroad Administration Announces Landmark Achievement with Full Implementation of Positive Train Control
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced today that positive train control (PTC) technology is in operation on all 57,536 required freight and passenger railroad route miles, prior to the statutory deadline of December 31, 2020, set by Congress. In addition, as required, FRA has certified that each host railroad’s PTC system complies with the technical requirements for PTC systems. Furthermore, railroads have reported that interoperability has been achieved between each applicable host and tenant railroad that operates on PTC-governed main lines.
