The Ann Arbor Railroad received the maximum available, up to $500,000, from the state Grade Crossing Projection Fund for a project to upgrade the crossing lights and gates and install crossing-light cantilevers at the Summit Street crossing in Toledo. The total cost of the project is set at $659,366; the commission will provide 75% of the cost, with the railroad providing 25%, as well as costs over the commission’s maximum of $500,000.

Also receiving funding:

• The Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railway, to receive $466,880 in federal funds for lights and gates at the Cleveland Street crossing in the village of Antwerp.
• The Kanawha River Railroad, to receive $399,761 in federal funds for lights and gates at the State Route 256/Main Street crossing in Fairfield County.
• The Wheeling & Lake Railroad, to receive $299,448 in federal funds for lights and gates at the State Route 3/Main Street crossing in Wayne County. The W&LE will contribute $74,862.

The commission is responsible for evaluating the state’s grade crossings to determine the need for installing active warning devices. In a press release announcing the awards, the PUCO says the number of collisions between trains and motor vehicles in Ohio has decreased from 356 in 1990 to 67 in 2024.

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The Government of Ontario today celebrated the arrival of the first of three new Siemens trainsets built for the revival of Northlander passenger service, introducing the equipment at a press conference featuring Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria.

“The Northlander is more than a train,” Ford said during the event at VIA Rail Canada’s Toronto Maintenance Centre. “It’s a lifeline to jobs, education, family and friends, and so much more. … That’s why we are bringing it back into service later this year, and that’s why I am thrilled to welcome the first of three new Northlander trainsets.” Said Sarkaria in a press release, “The Northlander is a key part of our $100 billion plan to build transit and highways so we can protect Ontario and connect families to good jobs, housing, and the services they rely on.”

The first trainset is undergoing testing and commissioning work in Toronto before moving north for extensive Ontario Northland testing along the 740-kilometer (460-mile), 16-station Northlander route. Preparations for the return of the service included completion last year of the North Bay Rail Bypass, a 982-meter connection between Canadian National’s Newmarket Subdivision and Ontarion Northland’s Temagami Subdivision; the government, which provided Ca$5.7 million for that project, says it will cut 15 minutes off the train’s travel time.

The new trainsets of one locomotive and three passenger cars, are being built by Siemens under a Ca$139.5 contract announced in 2022 [see “Ontario government orders equipment …,” Trains.com, Dec. 15, 2022]. Features include wheelchair lifts, fully accessible restrooms, and galley-style food service. The proposed Northlander schedule, calling for 10-hour, 40-minute travel times between Toronto and Timmons, Ont., was released last month [see “Proposed schedule released …,” Trains.com, Jan. 2, 2026].

The Northlander’s return will come more than 13 years after it was discontinued in September 2012.

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.

The three-year agreement includes an immediate 3% pay raise over a 2.8% increase already received in April 2025; a classification system with increased pay rates effective Jan. 1, 2027; a 2.75% increase on Jan. 1, 2028; and pay differential for the second and third shifts. It also includes improvements in benefits, time off, and job security.

Workers at the Plattsburgh facility produce passenger rail equipment and components. They join those at Alstom’s Hornell, N.Y, facility, where equipment including Amtrak’s NextGen Acela is built, as members of the IAM.

“This agreement replaces uncertainty with enforceable rules and real protections,” said Josh Hartford, IAM special assistant to the International President for the Rail Division. “More importantly, it establishes a solid foundation from which IAM Union members at Alstom can continue to build power, improve working conditions, and raise standards across the rail industry.”

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is making progress in federally mandated repairs to its Silverliner IV fleet, meaning Regional Rail passengers could soon see an end to the overcrowded conditions that resulted from that equipment being sidelined.

The news site Billy Penn reports that SEPTA has now received the thermal wire it needs to add heat detectors to the cars, a fire-prevention measure ordered by the Federal Railroad Administration. A shortage of that wire kept the agency from meeting the Dec. 5 deadline for adding the thermal detectors [see “SEPTA to miss latest FRA repair deadline …,” Trains.com, Dec. 5, 2025].

SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch told Billy Penn that the thermal detectors have been added to 203 of the 223 Silverliner IVs. Completing the work takes about four hours per car, he said. The agency has also completed other repair work, found during FRA-mandated inspections, on about 180 cars.

The FRA ordered the inspections in October after a series of fires involving the Budd-built Silverliner IV equipment, which dates to the 1970s. [See “FRA issues an emergency order …,” Oct. 2.] The inspections and repairs have limited many Regional Rail trains to two cars instead of the usual three or four cars, leading to months of overcrowding and skipped stops by full trains.

“It’s been an extraordinarily difficult three months now for our riders,” Busch told the news site. “We really can’t thank them enough for their patience. We know it’s impacted them and their lives and their families and their ability to get to work.”

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. — A man found dead along Metra’s Milwaukee North line last week apparently died when he fell off or tried to step off of a moving train, according to the Lake County, Ill., coroner’s office.

The body of 30-year-old Allen Chiquini was found the evening of Friday, Jan. 2, near Winchester Drive and Ellis Avenue in Libertyville, about four-tenths of a mile from the Libertyville Metra station.

A coroner’s update reported by WLS-TV says that an investigation including a review of video evidence determined that Chiquini had boarded a northbound train, believing it to be a southbound train. “After failed attempts at opening the passenger doors, he exited that train through the rear door by climbing over the safety barrier,” the update reads. “Once outside the train, Mr. Chiquini either fell or tried to step off the train while in transit, resulting in the fatal traumatic injuries.”

Toxicology results are pending, according to the coroner’s office.

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.

NIZANDA, Mexico — Eleven days after a derailment that killed 14 people, two lines of Mexico’s Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec remain closed, with no estimate when they will reopen.

Along with the trans-isthmus railway’s Z Line, where the Interoceanic Train derailed on Dec. 28, an additional route known as the K Line also remains shut down, El Universal reports. That 447-kilometer route runs from Tonalá, where it connects with the cross-isthmus Z Line, to Ciudad Ixtepec, at the border with Guatemala. Test runs of a passenger train on that route were held Dec. 15-19, but additional tests were canceled after the derailment.

Meanwhile, TV Azteca reports that an audit of the isthmus railway project found technical irregularities in construction as well as improper payments. The report from the Superior Audit of the Federation, which audits the activities of federal, state and local governments and agencies, reports work on the railway began in 2019 without adequate planning and had to be modified on the fly.

Among the issues: planning  did not adequately address elements of track construction such as the material for embankments and sub-ballast, requiring modifications that raised costs and compromised the quality of the work. The audit also determined that some 200 cubic meters less of ballast (more than 7,000 cubic feet) was used than was reported, although the railway was billed for the full amount. In all, the report found more than 8 million pesos (more than $445,000) in payment irregularities, the network reports.

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.

Scale: HO (1:87.1)

Price: Without sound, $119.99; with sound, $149.99

Era: May 2004 to present

Manufacturer: Broadway Limited Imports, 9 East Tower Circle, Ormond Beach, FL 32174; 386-673-8900; broadway-limited.com

Broadway Limited HO Union Pacific power car No. 2066 features:

• Body-mounted Kadee-compatible knuckle couplers
• Clear window glazing
• Controllable interior lights (dimmable with finger touch control)
• Detailed interior and underbody
• Etched-metal fan grills
• Magnetic wand to control volume and startup/shutdown sequence
• Metal wheel stubs mounted on plastic axles
• Minimum operating radius, 18”
• Plastic diaphragms
• Plastic trucks with raised foundry data and mix of molded and freestanding parts
• Separate, factory-applied details, including antenna, grab irons, and handrails
• Will operate on code 70, 83, and 100 rail

Release date: Summer 2026

Road names: Union Pacific (with and without roof antenna). Also available painted primer gray without roof antenna (sound and non-sound versions).

News & Products is a regular feature of Trains.com for model railroad operators and builders to get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more. Model railroad product news may include HO, N, O, S, and Z scales. Product release dates and prices will vary according to each manufacturer.

If you are a manufacturer and have new product releases, please email Senior Editor Cody Grivno at cody.grivno@firecrown.com.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — CEOs with strongly opposing views of the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger will be the keynote speakers at the annual winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, a key annual gathering of railroad officials and customers where discussion of the merger is likely to be the leading topic.

The event at the Renaissance Schaumberg Convention Center Hotel begins with a reception on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 13, and runs through midday on Thursday, Jan. 15.

CPKC CEO Keith Creel and BNSF CEO Katie Farmer — who have both come out against the merger — are among speakers scheduled to appear Wednesday, Jan. 14. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena will be the morning keynote speaker on Thursday.

Also on the agenda as keynote speakers are Janet Drysdale, chief commercial officer at Canadian National, and Christopher Kuehl, founder and managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence.

Short line and regional railroads are also well represented, with speakers including R.J. Corman Railroad Group CEO Justin Broyles; Jon Carnes, CEO of Transtar and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway; Michael Miller, CEO of Genesee & Wyoming; and Joe Parsons, CEO of Iowa Interstate. They will take part in a panel discussion moderated by Chuck Baker, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.

Other rail industry speakers include Anthony B. Hatch, president of ABH Consulting; Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies; James Pearce, vice president, people solutions, and Christian Rowe, vice president, development, at supply chain firm Savage; Alex Peiffer, chief operating officer at autonomous railcar startup Intramotev; and Lorie Tekorius, CEO of The Greenbrier Cos.

From the shippers’ perspective, speakers include Mike Barth, vice president, transportation and logistics, United Sugar Producers and Refiners, and  Katie Beardslee Kloentrup, senior digital mine engineer at mining company Carmeuse.

Registration for the MARS meeting is still being accepted, with rooms available at the overflow hotel, the Embassy Suites Schaumburg. Information is available at the MARS website.

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.