Amtrak continues cuts on seven long-distance routes
Amtrak is continuing frequency reductions on seven routes. January service cuts from daily to five days a week on most long-distance routes were to be effective through March 27th. Now cuts are being continued on Silver Meteor, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Lake Shore Limited, City of New Orleans, and Crescent routes. Daily service will return March 28th for the Capitol Limited, Texas Eagle, and Coast Starlight along with full Chicago-Milwaukee and NYC-Albany-Rensselaer services. Cuts will continue indefinitely. [trains.com]
Amtrak preparing for service to Miami Intermodal Center
Amtrak has begun active preparations to serve the the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC). MIC was built in front of Miami International Airport in 2013 for rental cars, rail and bus. FDOT also built a platform for Amtrak, but it turned out to be too short for Amtrak trains. A $5.6 million overhaul in 2016 made space for the longer trains, but FDOT and Amtrak were still unable to come to terms. Now, while Amtrak continues to serve a station in nearby Hialeah, the passenger rail service has again expressed interest in serving the MIC. [thenextmiami.com]
Del Mar rejects plan for bluff-top railroad fence
The Del Mar City Council has voted 3-2 to reject North County Transit District’s (NCTD) offer to build a shorter, more visually attractive fence to keep people off the bluff-top railroad tracks. Instead, the council majority said the district should build no barrier at all, and they hope the California Coastal Commission and the federal Surface Transportation Board will back them up. Without an agreement in place, NCTD officials have said they will construct the project according to their own specifications. [delmartimes.net]
Norway to study new railway to the Arctic Circle
Norway’s government has commissioned the Norwegian Railway Directorate to study the construction of a new rail link to Tromsø in the Arctic Circle. The study, which is expected to be completed by mid-2023, will consider route options for an approximately 375 km line from Fauske on the existing Trondheim – Bodø line to Tromsø. Tromsø is the 12th largest city in Norway and the third largest in the Arctic Circle after Murmansk and Norilsk in Russia. A 2019 report found the line was not economically viable. [railjournal.com]
