Railpace Newsmagazine

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 22, 2026. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 532,462 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.2 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending August 22 were 235,885 carloads, up 3.2 percent compared with the same week in 2025, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 296,577 containers and trailers, up 5.0 percent compared to 2025.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy unveiled America’s Great Corridors of Commerce (AGCC) – a first-of-its-kind, voluntary nationwide opportunity to transform highway and rail corridors into multi-use arteries for transmission wires, fiber optic lines, water pipelines, and other vital utilities. The initiative will give State Departments of Transportation and railroads the ability to lease “rights-of-way”—the land running alongside roads, tracks or shared space utility tunnels.

Norfolk Southern Corporation and Wabtec Corporation today announced an expanded program to modernize 33 of the railroad’s DC-traction Evolution Series locomotives. As part of Norfolk Southern’s fleet modernization strategy, the initiative will convert the units to AC-traction technology to improve performance, reliability, and efficiency.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a series of service and infrastructure improvements for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Long Island Rail Road’s Montauk Branch. The upgrades will come in two phases: the first phase will extend the track siding at the Amagansett station; the second phase will include the construction of a permanent second platform at the Hampton Bays station.

Amtrak announced, “Pause for Progress,” a critical infrastructure upgrade scheduled to take place this fall in the First Street Tunnel just south of Washington Union Station. For a nine-day period, from October 16–26, 2026, Amtrak will implement a temporary service outage at “A-Interlocking” to replace aging track components and improve reliability along the Northeast Corridor and into the Southeast. The outage will begin after the close of service Friday, Oct.

Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll announced that a second daily Pennsylvanian train between New York City and Pittsburgh – via Harrisburg – will begin operating in mid-November, following close collaboration with Amtrak and Norfolk Southern. The Shapiro Administration has invested more than $80 million into the rail expansion, with construction already underway or completed.

USDOT announced the award of an $78.9 million grant to the City of Stuart to rebuild the St. Lucie River Bridge. The grant will allow for the replacement of the existing 100-year-old St. Lucie River Railroad Bridge with a new double-track structure with significantly improved vertical and horizontal navigational clearances.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 15, 2026. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 525,099 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending August 15 were 233,261 carloads, up 1.9 percent compared with the same week in 2025, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 291,838 containers and trailers, up 2.7 percent compared to 2025.

The N.C. Department of Transportation has been awarded a nearly $300 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to improve safety, reliability and capacity of current and future passenger rail service along the Piedmont Corridor. “This federal investment demonstrates our partners’ confidence in North Carolina’s ability to deliver major rail projects,” said N.C. Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson.

Amtrak officially reopened East River Tunnel (ERT) Line 2 this week, completing the first major phase of the ERT Rehabilitation Project and providing key safety and reliability improvements for thousands of daily Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), and NJ TRANSIT customers. Over the past year, crews completely reconstructed the 116-year-old tunnel’s interior systems, including track, power, communications, drainage, and structural elements.