WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman today denied a $2.3 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan application from the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern (DM&E) railroad concluding it posed an unacceptably high risk to federal taxpayers.
In a decision released Feb 26, Boardman found that while the Powder River Basin project met some [...]

NEWARK, N.J. – N.J. Transit believes human error led to a track defect that is believed to have caused this morning’s derailment of Train 1252, officials said.
Ten days ago, a worn switch was replaced at Ridgewood Junction and a portion of the switch was improperly installed, resulting in a condition known as “tight gauge,” where [...]

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker today asked Congress to give the Federal Railroad Administration the statutory authority to revise hours of service rules for railroad workers, noting that current rules are not based on science related to fatigue.
Testifying before the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials of the House of [...]

WASHINGTON — For the first time ever the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will have authority to regulate railroad worker hours of service and will provide greater focus on risk reduction to improve safety in the railroad industry under a rail safety reauthorization bill submitted to the Congress today, FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced.
“We must [...]

NEW ORLEANS — The future role of the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (NOUPT) in meeting the city’s transportation needs where passengers could potentially transfer between transit, commuter rail and intercity rail and bus operations will be examined using a nearly $1 million federal grant, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced.
“Hurricane Katrina changed the [...]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CSX Intermodal (CSXI) announced today it will invest nearly $8 million early this year to expand a local terminal, the latest investment to support growth in consumer goods transportation.
“The Charlotte terminal is a key link in our eastern network, and upgrades will help us provide better service to our customers while enabling [...]

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — Employees at the nation’s largest rail yard can now voluntarily and anonymously report “close call” incidents that could have resulted in an accident, but did not, without fear of sanction or penalty from their employer or the federal government as part of a new rail safety pilot project.
“Having the opportunity to [...]

WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Charles D. Nottingham announced today that a mediated settlement has been reached in a case filed under the Board’s small rate-complaint procedures.  As a result, the shipper has requested that its complaint be dismissed.
“This settlement demonstrates that the STB can help resolve rail rate disputes in a matter of [...]

SEATTLE – Ridership aboard Amtrak Cascades trains in 2006 was 629,996. This ridership total was 1.1 percent lower than the total for 2005.
The ridership decline was largely due to a record number of Amtrak Cascades train cancellations in January, February, November, and December, primarily because of weather-related railroad route closings.
For the first time since the [...]