Senate, for the first time since 2015, approves Amtrak board nominees
The U.S. SENATE confirmed nominations to the AMTRAK board of directors for the first time since 2015. In votes on Jan. 24, it reconfirmed Anthony Coscia, the current board chairman, while finally confirming three-time nominee Christopher Koos, mayor of Normal, Ill., as well as first-time nominee Joel Szabat, who as a member of the DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION served on the board as the representative of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao from June 2019 to January 2021. The confirmation votes came after U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), assured that the White House would address geographic-balance requirements for the board required by law, lifted his hold on the nominations.
AMTRAK, CSX TRANSPORTATION, NORFOLK SOUTHERN, and the PORT OF MOBILE assured the SURFACE TRANSPORTATION
BOARD they were working toward Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., and asked the board to cancel a planned Feb. 14 hearing on delays in launching that service. The board, which called for a detailed status report and invited the CITY OF MOBILE to participate in the hearing because of concern over “apparently unresolved negotiations” over a station site, had not yet indicated status of the hearing at deadline. The city is not a party to the settlement, but owns some of the land needed for a pocket track and platform where trains would lay over without blocking the CSX main line.
CANADIAN PACIFIC KANSAS CITY announced the schedule for the “Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour,” sending 1930 Montreal Locomotive Works 4-6-4 No. 2816 on a Canada-to-Mexico trip to celebrate the first anniversary of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. The trip begins April 24 in Calgary and concludes June 4 in Mexico City, with nine intermediate stops, seven of them in the U.S. A full schedule is at www.cpkcr.com/en/ community/final-spke-steam-train. Watch Trains for more details.
South Florida commuter operator TRI-RAIL began service to BRIGHTLINE’s downtown MiamiCentral station on Jan. 13, running shuttles from its Metrorail Transfer Station in Hialeah to the downtown terminal. MiamiCentral, which opened in May 2018, was built with two tracks for Tri-Rail service, but service had been delayed by issues ranging from problems in positive train control certification for FLORIDA EAST
COAST RAILWAY to platform clearance issues for some Tri-Rail equipment. NORFOLK SOUTHERN became the first Class I railroad to join the FEDERAL RAILROAD
ADMINISTRATION’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System in a one-year pilot program with the BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND TRAINMEN and SMARTTD. The program allows NS employees to report safety concerns while knowing the reports will not result in discipline.