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When California voters passed a referendum in 2008 to construct a high-speed rail connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, there was no shortage of skeptics. Forty-seven percent of the state voted against the plan, and a group of think tanks issued a nearly 200-page report that year arguing costs would skyrocket, ridership would not match projections, and the environmental benefits were overstated. The skeptics, of course, have been vindicated. But few thought it would be as bad as it has since turned out to be. Fifteen years, and countless setbacks later, not a single mile of track has been laid,...

In 2008, California voted yes on a $9 billion bond authorization to build the nation’s first high-speed railway. The plan is to build an electric train that will connect Los Angeles with the Central Valley and then San Francisco in two hours and forty minutes. But 15 years later, there is not a single mile of track laid, and executives involved say there isn’t enough money to finish the project. The latest estimates from the California High-Speed Rail Authority suggest it will cost between $88 billion and $128 billion to complete the entire system from LA to San Francisco. Inflation...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, will not support Sen. J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) bipartisan railway safety bill in the wake of a disastrous train derailment that has rocked the small community of East Palestine, Ohio. Last month, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, with a population of less than 5,000, leaving chemicals spewing into the community’s environment. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates that more than 43,000 fish and other aquatic animals were killed as a result of the toxic chemical spill, while residents have reported feeling sick,...

Here in south-central Indiana we are watching the rail tracks removed throughout our region of the state. There is, . . . no, was a rail line 500 feet from the Indiana house I bought in 1997. At that time we enjoyed watching and hearing two fairly long freight trains pass us each day. We went to the Philippines for a missionary tour, and when we returned (2004), there was no more rail traffic. But after several months, one day, to our surprise, we heard the rail-crossing bells, then a train horn, then we saw a lengthy automobile carrier train...

California is taking action to curb locomotive emissions operating within its borders as part of the state's sweeping climate agenda. On Thursday, the California Air Resource Board (CARB), a state agency tasked with protecting air quality and reducing harmful pollution, announced that it would pursue aggressive regulations to limit freight train emissions. The so-called In-Use Locomotive Regulation makes California the first state to tackle freight train emissions which represent just 0.5% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to federal data.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael Regan said on Friday that he expects the cleanup in East Palestine, Ohio, to take three months. “We are absolutely laser focused on ensuring that Norfolk Southern cleans up this mess as quickly as possible. We are optimistic that the cleanup will be complete in three months,” Regan said during a conference call on Friday. “We will continue to be transparent. We will continue to ensure that the people of East Palestine get the protection that they deserve and that Norfolk Southern will be held accountable,” the EPA administrator added.

ROBIN WEINEREarlier this month we learned that California’s ruinously expensive bullet train system had gone up in price once again. The full system is now expected to cost $128 billion and that’s if it’s completed sometime in 2040. The other bad news about the bullet train was just as worrisome. A new estimate of anticipated ridership for the finished system showed a drop of about 25%.Declining ridership isn’t just a problem for the rail system of the distant future. It’s also a huge problem for systems that already exist and none has been hit quite as bad as BART, the...

Commuter trains are how most Americans commute in the really big cities. The top three commuter train systems in the United States are in the New York City Metro area. 1. Long Island Railroad (118 million annual riders) 2. New Jersey Transit Rail (88 million annual riders) 3. Metro North Railroad (86 million annual riders) Next closest is the Chicago Metra System (67 million annual riders) It drops precipitously from there. So basically, New York City dominates, and I mean dominates, commuter rail in the USA. It is not even close. I mean, you have 400 plus individual stations to...

Three of the five top shareholders in Norfolk Southern — the freight rail carrier under the spotlight for its saftey and environmental record following last month's toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — have been aligned with the eco-conscious, socially aware ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing framework embraced by many leading financial firms in recent years. Asset management firms BlackRock Fund Advisors, JPMorgan Investment Management, and The Vanguard Group were all part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a coalition of ESG-minded money mangers committed to channeling investment capital to firms working toward the goal of net-zero greenhouse...

" News / Exclusive: U.S. Officials Address 'Asymmetric Warfare' In Recent Train Derailments Many of the accidents are happening along a key DoD railway corridor known as 'STRACNET' Published: March 08, 2023 | By Adrian Norman The United States has recently experienced numerous high-profile incidents involving the destruction of critical infrastructure, including fires at warehouses and food processing plants, and other events impacting the nation’s food, water and energy assets. A primary concern for many are train derailments across the U.S., some of which have resulted in ecological damage to surrounding areas, killing animals and contaminating the water supply. Such...

The latest report from the California High-Speed Rail Authority projects costs for the initial segment at $35 billion, which exceeds secured funding by $10 billion. Other segments of the system are likely to have their projected costs increase, too. The state hopes it will get more federal aid.

A source told The Ohio Star that her husband, a wildlife biologist and consultant for the federal forestry, received hundreds of calls on both Sunday and Monday from colleagues who say forestry workers have found hundreds of dead animals in Ohio’s parks. Several labs across the country have received specimens of whole minks, deer, elk, worms and livers of such animals and they are finding toxicities that are off the charts, she said.

The heads of a dozen US railroad unions said Wednesday that workers are getting sick at the site of the toxic Ohio train derailment. The meeting comes after labor leaders claimed that workers at the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment have fallen ill with “migraines and nausea.” “I have received reports that [Norfolk Southern] neither offered nor provided these workers with appropriate personal protective equipment, such as respirators that are designed to permit safely working around vinyl chloride, eye protection and protective clothing such as chemical retrain suits,” the American Rail System Federation wrote in a letter to Buttigieg...

train derailed in Clark County, Ohio, Saturday evening, Fox News Digital has confirmed. According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel and hazmat crews responded to the train derailment on State Route 41 and Gateway Boulevard near the Clark County Fairgrounds at about 5 p.m. It is not known if the train was carrying any freight at the time of the derailment. The Clark County Sheriff's Office confirmed the train was not a passenger train.

A private company that wants to build a high-speed rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas took a step toward construction on Thurdsay with the announcement of a labor agreement for the proposed project. Local ABC affiliate KABC-7 reported: Brightline, the company that will build the system, has announced a landmark labor agreement with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition, which is “compromised of 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers in the United States.” … The $10 billion investment is expected to create nearly 35,000 jobs during construction and over 1,000 permanent...

Prominent environmentalist Erin Brockovich hosted a packed town hall meeting in East Palestine, Ohio, Friday to relay information to local residents affected by a Norfolk Southern train derailment that released toxic chemicals into the town earlier this month. Brockovich and Mikel Watts, a trial lawyer, informed residents about the action they can consider as the town continues to rebuild itself after a controlled burn was conducted on derailed cars carrying chemicals including vinyl chloride and others associated with health hazards such as cancer.

OHIO'S MESSAGE TO TRUMP: 'Thank You for Not Forgetting About Us' [VIDEO]Ohioans are showing their gratitude.While on the ground in East Palestine former President and 2024 candidate Donald Trump was swarmed by residents who just wanted to say “thank you” for showing up.One resident asked Trump’s thoughts on Joe Biden not showing up.“It’s terrible,” Trump says, adding later that FEMA should have shown up a long time ago.Watch the clip above.

Just started speaking.......

In the video, Buttigieg skirts a series of questions from a reporter while walking on the street, referring to his comments to the media earlier in the day and noting that he was "taking some personal time" when approached. At the end of the clip, the Biden administration chief asks to take a picture of the reporter, Jennie Taer, of the Daily Caller. "I guess he didn't like that [I was asking him about the derailment] so he took a pic[ture] of me," she wrote. "I'm just doing my job, sir."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday said that his office has made a criminal referral in response to the recent train derailment over the border in East Palestine, Ohio, and the aftereffects on the environment and nearby communities. Shapiro shared the information during a news conference in East Palestine with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, EPA Administrator Michael Regan and other officials. A reporter had asked what actions the governors might take, such as penalizing Norfolk Southern, the rail company involved in the Feb. 3 derailment. "We've made a criminal referral to the acting attorney general in Pennsylvania to review and...