March 1, 20232 yr Not sure where to put this as it's not Amtrak or "federal" news. The High Speed Rail Alliance has proposed an "Integrated Network Approach" for developing passenger rail in the US: https://www.hsrail.org/blog/integrated-network-approach/
March 9, 20232 yr Author North Carolina is a strong supporter of passenger rail. And this is what strong support can get you.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 9, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, KJP said: North Carolina is a strong supporter of passenger rail. And this is what strong support can get you.... Of course they are. They want the traffic between Florida and the eastern seaboard passing through, not over.
March 9, 20232 yr Author 2 hours ago, E Rocc said: Of course they are. They want the traffic between Florida and the eastern seaboard passing through, not over. They're focusing on travel within North Carolina and to some extent up to Washington DC. The state has quadrupled service between Charlotte and Raleigh and reduced travel times section-by-section. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 9, 20232 yr 6 minutes ago, KJP said: They're focusing on travel within North Carolina and to some extent up to Washington DC. The state has quadrupled service between Charlotte and Raleigh and reduced travel times section-by-section. Ohio should be studying NC. We're already sent lots of our residents there, including most of my family!
March 9, 20232 yr little wary of this, but looks like good news ... METRO-NORTH Amtrak Pact Puts MTA’s Penn Station Access Megaproject Back on Schedule MTA crews will get needed access to Amtrak’s tracks crossing the Hell Gate Bridge, but Amtrak passengers potentially face months of service impacts. BY JOSE MARTINEZ MAR 3, 2023 Amtrak has agreed to add what MTA officials called “the missing ingredient” in their plan to connect Metro-North commuters to Penn Station — a project facing delays and cost overruns because of a lack of coordination between the two sides. The federally funded passenger railroad this week pledged to open the tracks along the Hell Gate Line to MTA construction crews and contractors working on the Penn Station Access project. It aims to add four new Metro-North stations in The Bronx by 2027 and create a terminal on Manhattan’s West Side for a commuter railroad that serves the northern suburbs. more: https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/3/3/23624483/amtrak-mta-penn-station-access An Amtrak train rolls over the the Hell Gate Bridge, which will be used to facilitate construction of new Metro-North lines from Westchester County into Penn Station. -- Courtesy of Amtrak
March 9, 20232 yr Author 38 minutes ago, Cleburger said: Ohio should be studying NC. We're already sent lots of our residents there, including most of my family! Check out the video. Imagine this in Ohio -- three Charlotte-Raleigh round trips plus the Charlotte-Raleigh-New York City. So four trains in each direction between Charlotte and Raleigh which had nothing before the 1990s. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 9, 20232 yr "hey ange, didja hear the raleigh train to charlotte is back?" "well, don't that beat all barn."
March 9, 20232 yr ^^From my perspective, we rail advocates should be pointing almost exclusively at North Carolina as we push for Ohio rail, primarily because of politics. There are hundreds of better examples of rail projects to model ourselves after, but pretty much all the others can be dismissed as foreign or “blue state” by Ohio political “leadership”. By comparison, using NC as the example doesn’t have those political headwinds and has had great success on what is, quite frankly, not as good of a ridership generating route as what 3C&D will be. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
March 9, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, Cleburger said: Ohio should be studying NC. We're already sent lots of our residents there, including most of my family! That has more to do with weather than anything else. In addition it's traditionally more business friendly than Ohio, without being explicitly anti-labor.
March 24, 20232 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 24, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, KJP said: For those who maybe don't know the industry as well, what are your thoughts on this hire?
March 24, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, KJP said: Oh my goodness! I know there are many passenger rail fans here who don’t maybe follow transit Twitter or the industry as closely, so let me tell that Andy “Train Daddy” Byford is the best hire Amtrak could make. The only thing that could make this better is if he was actually running all of Amtrak. Andy was a superstar at MTA who was pushed out because Cuomo couldn’t handle someone else getting the spotlight. He actually rides transit. He gets trains. Hopefully he had enough power within Amtrak to make a difference. Here’s transit guru Reece raving about the hire: When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
March 24, 20232 yr Author I think he's a good choice. He's a true believer, not merely a hire because "why not." It remains to be seen if he will have the freedom to create and innovate or will he be limited by the board and Congress. He's got a protector in the White House, so I think his success may well depend on Amtrak Joe's. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 24, 20232 yr what did i tell ya — they got train daddy! good get amtrak — Andy Byford, ex-NYC Transit boss, to work for Amtrak By Clayton Guse Published Mar 23, 2023 Andy Byford, the former NYC Transit boss known as ‘Train Daddy,’ will return to the U.S. to work for Amtrak, railroad officials confirmed on Thursday. Byford will start on April 10 as a senior vice president for Amtrak’s high-speed rail program, according to an email announcing his hiring. The memo says he’ll be based in Washington, D.C. and will “ensure operational strategy alignment between new HSR [high-speed rail] programs and our current network.” more: https://gothamist.com/news/andy-byford-ex-nyc-transit-boss-to-work-for-amtrak
March 24, 20232 yr 4 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said: Oh my goodness! I know there are many passenger rail fans here who don’t maybe follow transit Twitter or the industry as closely, so let me tell that Andy “Train Daddy” Byford is the best hire Amtrak could make. The only thing that could make this better is if he was actually running all of Amtrak. Andy was a superstar at MTA who was pushed out because Cuomo couldn’t handle someone else getting the spotlight. He actually rides transit. He gets trains. Hopefully he had enough power within Amtrak to make a difference. Here’s transit guru Reece raving about the hire: @mrnyc @KJP To bad we couldn't get him to run the RTA!!! Rumor has it we need new leadership lol 😆 Do any of you rail gurus know of good potential candidates out their that the city might be able to hire to lead the RTA?
March 24, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, NR said: @mrnyc @KJP To bad we couldn't get him to run the RTA!!! Rumor has it we need new leadership lol 😆 Do any of you rail gurus know of good potential candidates out their that the city might be able to hire to lead the RTA? I think replacing RTA’s board is way more important than replacing Birdsong. Fortunately Bibb is working on that, and I hope Ronayne follows his lead if he gets the opportunity. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
March 24, 20232 yr Author Agreed "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 24, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, NR said: @mrnyc @KJP To bad we couldn't get him to run the RTA!!! Rumor has it we need new leadership lol 😆 Do any of you rail gurus know of good potential candidates out their that the city might be able to hire to lead the RTA? pete tomlin may be available. he was byford’s hand picked signaling expert. actually if he is amtrak should grab him up too!
March 30, 20232 yr This might not be the best place to ask but, how is the ride from Cleveland to Chicago? My wife and I are debating riding Amtrak or flying for a long weekend to watch the Guards at Wrigley. This would be our first time using Amtrak.
March 30, 20232 yr 24 minutes ago, JB said: This might not be the best place to ask but, how is the ride from Cleveland to Chicago? My wife and I are debating riding Amtrak or flying for a long weekend to watch the Guards at Wrigley. This would be our first time using Amtrak. It's a fairly smooth process the last time I went. The only big problem I have with it is the time you have to catch the train. I wanted to go to Bloomington/Normal, IL but I can't leave the car for 9 days, and nobody wants to drop me off at 3:30 AM! 😆
March 30, 20232 yr 52 minutes ago, plinth857 said: It's a fairly smooth process the last time I went. The only big problem I have with it is the time you have to catch the train. I wanted to go to Bloomington/Normal, IL but I can't leave the car for 9 days, and nobody wants to drop me off at 3:30 AM! 😆 Am I able to leave my car there?
March 31, 20232 yr Author 7 hours ago, JB said: Am I able to leave my car there? Yes. It's free, too. The station parking lot gate is locked when there's no trains (ie daytime). Just don't leave anything of value in the car. But I usually take Uber/Lyft from/to Lakewood. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 31, 20232 yr 16 minutes ago, KJP said: Yes. It's free, too. The station parking lot gate is locked when there's no trains (ie daytime). Just don't leave anything of value in the car. But I usually take Uber/Lyft from/to Lakewood. I'm not far up the road from you if you ever need a ride and I'm in town. The 4:30 am Cleveland uber scene is not robust!
April 5, 20232 yr a bit of good news — Amtrak restores New York-to-Montreal passenger train By Ben Brachfeld Posted on April 3, 2023 Passenger train service resumed Monday on the route between New York and Montreal, Amtrak announced, restoring a scenic route shuttered when the U.S.-Canadian border was closed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. more: https://www.amny.com/transit/amtrak-restores-new-york-to-montreal-passenger-train/ An Amtrak Adirondack train near Schenectady in 2016. Benjamin Turon via Wikimedia Commons
April 6, 20232 yr Author FRA 03-23 April 6, 2023 Contact: FRA Public Affairs Tel.: (202) 493-6024 [email protected] FRA Holds Stakeholder Meetings to Study the Restoration and Expansion of Amtrak Long-Distance Passenger Rail Services FRA makes strides in the first federal effort in more than 50 years to advance a vision for an expanded and interconnected long-distance passenger rail network across America WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) concluded a series of six working group meetings in February to inform and collaborate with stakeholders across the country on FRA’s Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study. Mandated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this study will evaluate the restoration of daily passenger rail service along discontinued long-distance routes and current long-distance routes that operate with less than daily service. It will also open possibilities for establishing new long-distance routes and bolstering essential intercity passenger rail connections, especially in rural areas. During these working group meetings, local officials, State DOTs, Amtrak, Class I Railroads, metropolitan planning organizations, regional passenger rail authorities, and other key stakeholders from across the country reviewed the Study’s requirements as well as existing and discontinued long-distance passenger rail services. Meeting participants also discussed the potential economic benefits of new passenger rail connections, options for advancing evaluations of potential routes, and how Amtrak and communities can work together to improve use of intercity passenger rail service along long-distance routes. In the coming months, FRA will hold additional working group meetings to keep stakeholders informed about the Study’s progress and work toward a common long-term vision for long-distance passenger rail service. “The Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study is one part of our broader effort to make passenger rail a more reliable travel option as well as an alternative to congested roads. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law not only prioritizes this study, but it also provides the federal government with unprecedented resources to link communities and economies through passenger rail,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “FRA envisions a future where Americans can easily access the passenger services they need, and conducting this study alongside partners who know the transportation needs of their States and localities brings us one step closer to this vision.” Once complete, the Study will lay forth a vision for long-distance passenger rail service, identifying preferred options for restored, enhanced, or new long-distance service as well as a prioritized inventory of capital projects and other actions needed to advance the routes. The Study will also include estimated costs and public benefits for regions along relevant routes and identify federal and non-federal sources of funding. The Study’s results will provide valuable information on the benefits of preferred options, including how those routes could link and serve large and small communities as part of a regional rail network; advance the economic and social well-being of rural areas of the United States; provide enhanced connectivity for the national long-distance passenger rail system; and reflect public engagement and local and regional support for restored passenger rail service. Long-distance rail services benefit both passengers traveling end-to-end on long-distance trains and those traveling to and from the many intermediate stations served along routes. Between March 2020 and March 2022, long-distance routes served over 4.8 million passengers. In the seven-months that followed, long-distance routes served over 2.5 million passengers – more than half the ridership of the previous two years combined. This increase comes at a time when Amtrak ridership numbers are rising across the board, and, after a pandemic dip, is further evidence that Americans are returning to travel by rail. Materials from the working group meetings are available on the Study website here. More information about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law can also be found on FRA’s website here: https://railroads.dot.gov/BIL ### "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 13, 20232 yr Author Hope so. But these usually end up making things even more complicated/expensive. Remember the Paperwork Reduction Act?? FHWA Issues RFI to Improve Surface Transportation Project Environmental Review Process https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/fhwa-issues-rfi-to-improve-surface-transportation-project-environmental-review-process/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 16, 20232 yr Author Cool GIF. Restore what we've lost. Even before 1962, we had a lot more passenger rail service. In 1959, Trains magazine famously asked "Who Shot The Passenger Train?" And yet we'd love to have the service that existed in 1959. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 18, 20232 yr On 4/16/2023 at 8:18 PM, urb-a-saurus said: Long distance east-west service seems too Chicago-centric. It always was but it certainly is now. All east-west long distance routes originate or terminate at Chicago since 1979. In 1962 the other east-west gateway was St Louis, called the "Gateway to the West." Memphis and New Orleans were much smaller. In the old days you could ride in the comfort of a sleeping car to nearly everywhere and there were coast to coast sleepers too.
April 20, 20232 yr ^ it doesnt seem very wise to route everything thru one city from a strategic/military point of view.
April 20, 20232 yr 4 hours ago, mrnyc said: ^ it doesnt seem very wise to route everything thru one city from a strategic/military point of view. Tough not to when the routes are so limited. Hopefully that will change. @KJP -- Has the military ever weighed in during these past 50 years of railroad consolidation and decline on the necessity of retaining trackage for national security reasons? I wonder whether they would they keep silent if the freight companies ripped out the rails between Minneapolis and Seattle, for example.
April 21, 20232 yr Author @Foraker They have, by identifying a STragegic RAil Corridor NETwork or STRACNET. Some rail corridors were preserved because they were part of STRACNET but not all -- if they could access a military facility by an alternative route. For example, the Camp James A. Garfield (previously the Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center, previously the Ravenna Arsenal), was served by two different railroads so one was allowed to be abandoned. The CSX access was retained and continues to be used for delivery of heavy armored vehicles for training. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 24, 20232 yr amtrak didn't just land train daddy, but it looks like they are looking for many more new recruits -- i keep seeing hiring ads: https://careers.amtrak.com https://r1---sn-ab5l6nkd.gvt1.com/videoplayback/id/7ff8cd1c275f6155/itag/18/source/dclk_video_ads/requiressl/yes/acao/yes/mime/video%2Fmp4/ctier/L/ip/0.0.0.0/ipbits/0/expire/1682369032/sparams/acao,ctier,expire,id,ip,ipbits,itag,mh,mime,mip,mm,mn,ms,mv,mvi,pl,requiressl,source/signature/475F6DA41FEC94FEB1163FE0346936CD709E1CB1.6ED342B223780A497A71F5A8B3A37FE9267D7998/key/cms1/cms_redirect/yes/mh/Z2/mip/2603:7000:6a01:24ab:7c22:ad5b:9e1c:6341/mm/28/mn/sn-ab5l6nkd/ms/nvh/mt/1682346980/mv/m/mvi/1/pl/37/file/file.mp4
April 26, 20232 yr Alright, first time Amtrak user tickets purchased for June. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly. I hear Union Station is a bit of a hassle to navigate?
April 26, 20232 yr Senator Jon Tester Blocks Biden Board Nominees Yesterday, U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) joined several other U.S. Senators in blocking President Biden's Northeast Corridor nominees to the Amtrak Board of Directors. Specific geographic requirements are outlined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that the president signed in November 2021. These requirements are outlined in U.S. Code under 49 USC §24302. Board of directors. The Aurora Group News: Tester Blocks Biden's Amtrak Nominees from Northeast Corridor Fights for rural America... https://theauroragroup.org/news 49 USC §24302. Board of directors https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title49-section24302&num=0&edition=prelim This is a major development. For years many passenger rail advocates complained about Amtrak's focus on the Northeast Corridor over all else and the slate of Biden nominees would have made the bias even more pronounced. This is why Congress added language calling for geographical balance on the Amtrak board. The current list of nominees are nearly all from the NEC and represent an attempt to defy the wishes of Congress. Tester just called their bluff. This could also lead to the formation of a pro rail bloc in the Senate which will demand fair treatment for the entire country, not just the NEC.
April 27, 20232 yr On 4/26/2023 at 8:19 AM, neony said: Senator Jon Tester Blocks Biden Board Nominees Yesterday, U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) joined several other U.S. Senators in blocking President Biden's Northeast Corridor nominees to the Amtrak Board of Directors. Specific geographic requirements are outlined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that the president signed in November 2021. These requirements are outlined in U.S. Code under 49 USC §24302. Board of directors. The Aurora Group News: Tester Blocks Biden's Amtrak Nominees from Northeast Corridor Fights for rural America... https://theauroragroup.org/news 49 USC §24302. Board of directors https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title49-section24302&num=0&edition=prelim This is a major development. For years many passenger rail advocates complained about Amtrak's focus on the Northeast Corridor over all else and the slate of Biden nominees would have made the bias even more pronounced. This is why Congress added language calling for geographical balance on the Amtrak board. The current list of nominees are nearly all from the NEC and represent an attempt to defy the wishes of Congress. Tester just called their bluff. This could also lead to the formation of a pro rail bloc in the Senate which will demand fair treatment for the entire country, not just the NEC. Its good to see more elected officials advocating for the beneficial role Amtrak can (and does) play in rural communities. Montana has been fighting for expanded rail service for almost half a century. Bring back the North Coast Hiawatha! - https://www.bigskyrail.org/ North Coast Hiawatha Passenger Rail Study - 2009
April 27, 20232 yr On 4/16/2023 at 6:26 PM, KJP said: Cool GIF. Restore what we've lost. Even before 1962, we had a lot more passenger rail service. In 1959, Trains magazine famously asked "Who Shot The Passenger Train?" And yet we'd love to have the service that existed in 1959. I hate seeing this s**t, it makes me so sad at what we could have had. So many of those lines could have been upgraded to high speed by now.
April 28, 20232 yr 21 hours ago, VintageLife said: I hate seeing this s**t, it makes me so sad at what we could have had. So many of those lines could have been upgraded to high speed by now. No question about it. What we have now is the palest shadow of what once was. The network was fraying around the edges since the late 1950's but what really accelerated the decline was the 1967 decision by the Post Office to remove mail from the trains. After that happened, the American passenger train was in a death spiral and the coming of Amtrak was just more bloodletting. We lost 2/3 of what trains remained on May 1, 1971 and more yet in 1979 and at other times. Today, Amtrak itself is ambivalent about anything other than the Northeast Corridor and state supported services.
April 29, 20232 yr On 4/26/2023 at 8:16 AM, JB said: Alright, first time Amtrak user tickets purchased for June. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly. I hear Union Station is a bit of a hassle to navigate? Chicago Union Station? It can be, but it's doable. Good luck on your trip.
May 6, 20232 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 17, 20232 yr Posted on Twitter just yesterday (5/16/23). The US High Speed Rail Association had a conference in DC: Edited May 17, 20232 yr by gildone
May 17, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, gildone said: Posted on Twitter just yesterday (5/16/23). The US High Speed Rail Association had a conference in DC: East Coast to Midwest HSR priority should be Philly/DC-Harrisburg-Pitt-CLE-Toledo-(Detroit branch)-Chicago, but Lakeshore / Upstate NY would also be a viable HSR route. I suppose one distinct advantage for is Northeast Ohioans is that upstate NY routing definitely goes through Cleveland, while the Pennsylvania route might go through Columbus instead. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 17, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said: East Coast to Midwest HSR priority should be Philly/DC-Harrisburg-Pitt-CLE-Toledo-(Detroit branch)-Chicago, but Lakeshore / Upstate NY would also be a viable HSR route. I suppose one distinct advantage for is Northeast Ohioans is that upstate NY routing definitely goes through Cleveland, while the Pennsylvania route might go through Columbus instead. With Columbus rising in profile, its current lack of any service, and its position as the inevitable hub of a 3C's service, we might see some pressure to bypass both Cincinnati and Columbus in east/west routings.
May 18, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, Lazarus said: With Columbus rising in profile, its current lack of any service, and its position as the inevitable hub of a 3C's service, we might see some pressure to bypass both Cincinnati and Columbus in east/west routings. Columbus still wouldn't have the draw of metro Detroit, Cleveland and Toledo; that's close to 6 million people to Columbus' two million.
May 18, 20232 yr Author Uh oh, here it comes again. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 18, 20232 yr 13 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said: East Coast to Midwest HSR priority should be Philly/DC-Harrisburg-Pitt-CLE-Toledo-(Detroit branch)-Chicago, but Lakeshore / Upstate NY would also be a viable HSR route. I suppose one distinct advantage for is Northeast Ohioans is that upstate NY routing definitely goes through Cleveland, while the Pennsylvania route might go through Columbus instead. Will it use the same trains as the one on the Acela (assuming unify fleet) and what kind of upgrade would the tracks need. Edited May 18, 20232 yr by nokoeeee
May 18, 20232 yr Author 6 hours ago, nokoeeee said: Will it use the same trains as the one on the Acela (assuming unify fleet) and what kind of upgrade would the tracks need. There are no plans for such a service. It's just a wish by a congressman. Lots of elected officials over the decades propose things like this and they never go anywhere. Even if this one did, the new Acela trains will likely be retired before a project development process advances far enough to where the the types of trains can be considered. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 18, 20232 yr 21 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said: East Coast to Midwest HSR priority should be Philly/DC-Harrisburg-Pitt-CLE-Toledo-(Detroit branch)-Chicago Could HSR be done easily/effectively through PA given the hilly terrain, curves and switchbacks? I’m not an expert but I was under the impression it requires wider curves; maybe this is another advantage to the NY route
May 18, 20232 yr 45 minutes ago, sonisharri said: Could HSR be done easily/effectively through PA given the hilly terrain, curves and switchbacks? I’m not an expert but I was under the impression it requires wider curves; maybe this is another advantage to the NY route If we lived in an actual first world country, an HSR tunnel under the Alleghenies between Pitt and Harrisburg would be our number 2 top priority infrastructure project (after upgrading the Northeast corridor to true HSR). When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
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