Amtrak’s Oregon service under threat

Amtrak’s Cascades service between Portland and Eugene will end if Oregon’s state legislature enacts the budget adopted by its Joint Ways and Means Committee the week of March 30, 2015 that proposes slashing funding for the daily state-backed service on the corridor.

Kenneth M. Uznanski, Jr., 1962-2014

Kenneth M. Uznanski, Jr., the former head of the Washington State Department of Transportation Rail Division and a highly respected national figure in passenger railroading, died July 7, 2014 at St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Wash. He was 52.

Talgo USA to Scott Walker: Pay up!

Wisconsin’s arch-conservative, Tea-Party-favorite governor, Scott Walker, may have gotten more than he bargained for (or didn’t bargain for) when he killed his state’s department of transportation plan to acquire new passenger trainsets and build a higher-speed line connecting Milwaukee to Madison shortly after taking office in 2011.

Oregon marks debut of state-owned Talgo gear

The first Oregon-owned Talgo passenger train to enter intercity passenger service made its official debut in Eugene, Ore., last week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by numerous Oregon state and local officials, Amtrak representatives, and executives from Seattle-based Talgo Inc.

Amtrak, California, and FRA team up for new HSR gear

A triad of U.S. HSR interests makes its move, upsetting some preconceived conventional wisdom involving the nation’s passenger rail outlook.