6 minutes ago, Cleburger said:

Smells like politics.  Any chance CSX is trying to gum up the works in order to get some federal funding from Biden's Amtrak expansion plans?  

The railroads have been pulling this kind of garbage for decades, so I don’t think it has anything to do with undermining Biden or the current expansion proposal. It certainly has to do with undermining passenger rail in general, though. 

civil construction is now complete for eastside access.

 

lirr test trains will start this summer with the opening err, umm on track for dec 2022.

 

the project was conceived in the 1960s, planned in the 1990s and construction began in 2006:

 

 

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/commuterregional/esa-on-track-for-22-opening/

On 5/28/2021 at 11:34 AM, KJP said:

CSX is making a very strong argument for public ownership of railroad rights of way....

 

CSX removing controlled sidings in NY state

 

ESPA is highly concerned to have learned that CSX has recently removed from service the majority of the ‘controlled’ (i.e. signaled) sidings located between Hoffmans and Buffalo. This unexpected move will likely have a negative effect on Amtrak’s Empire Corridor already-poor on time performance across upstate on CSX.

 

These sidings were created when the New York Central installed Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) in the late 1950’s & early 1960’s and reduced their upstate mainline from four to two tracks. At that time approximately two to three mile segments of the former eastbound freight main track were retained at multiple locations and made part of the then highly-advanced remote controlled & signaled dispatching system. The sidings were intended, in part, to provide dispatchers the flexibility to move slower freight trains off of a main track, to allow higher speed passenger trains to pass.

 

After gaining ownership of the former NYC line from Conrail, CSX struggled to understand the use of the sidings, as there were no other wide-spread examples of a high-capacity double track mainline having such signaled sidings anywhere on their system. Under CSX, the operating flexibility afforded by these ‘controlled by the dispatcher’ siding was never maximized, which routinely led to delays to Amtrak trains stuck behind slower freight trains. And with the adoption of the Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) operating model in recent years, CSX has progressively increased the length of most freight trains, many of which now are over two-miles in length. Unfortunately, many current CSX trains can’t even fit onto the existing sidings.

 

But asides from providing operating flexibility & added capacity, the sidings also afforded CSX the ability to efficiently set-out malfunctioning ‘bad-ordered’ freight cars; stage on-rail track maintenance equipment and store cars as needed.

 

Reportedly the sidings have only been taken out of service for a sixty-day ‘trial’ period which started on May 21st. But with the siding at Oneida (which was already out of service) having now been fully ripped-up, the outlook for the remainder of the newly decommissioned sidings is likely poor. Being done clearly as a cost saving measure, the speculation is that CSX is looking to cut expenses by both reducing maintenance costs and also by lowering their local property assessments through the removal of the physical siding track & related switches/signals. It should be noted that such lowered property assessments will result in reduced tax collections for many local upstate jurisdictions and school districts.

 

ESPA strongly urges NYSDOT to swiftly investigate this move by CSX and its likely negative effect on the already poor Empire Corridor on-time performance on CSX. EPSA also urges NYSDOT to examine the impact the removal of the sidings could have on future passenger rail improvements along the route.

 

Goddamn stupid and shortsighted.

 

 

Lawmakers seek creation of North Atlantic high-speed rail entity

 

Twenty-three members of Congress are urging the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee to consider authorizing a new public-benefit corporation to create and build the North Atlantic Rail network.

 

North Atlantic Rail is a $105 billion plan for a new network of high-speed intercity and regional rail service connecting smaller cities throughout six New England states and New York. Then plan calls for a new 100-minute rail service from Boston to New York via Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut; and Long Island, New York.

 

MORE:

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/high_speed_rail/news/Lawmakers-seek-creation-of-North-Atlantic-high-speed-rail-entity--63666

Dallas-Houston High Speed Railway Signs Final Construction Agreement

https://www.focusdailynews.com/dallas-houston-high-speed-railway-signs-final-construction-agreement/

 

The Lane Construction Corporation and its parent company and joint-venture partner Webuild Group have signed a final agreement worth $16 billion with Texas Central that marks the latest milestone ahead of the start of construction of a high-speed railway between Dallas and Houston. The ambitious project promises fast, safe, and environmentally friendly travel as well as thousands of jobs and a major boost to the economy. It is one of the single biggest infrastructure investments of its kind in the United States by value and will be the first true high-speed rail service in the country, having it join the ranks of countries that have high-speed rail service, including Japan, China, France, and Italy.

 

This agreement consolidates the results of the planning and advanced design stages of the project, as well as actualizing its value.

“We are excited to be part of this historical project that will bring high-speed rail to the United States,” said Mark Schiller, President and CEO of The Lane Construction Corporation. “It’s a true milestone for our country’s sustainable transportation infrastructure, and we are enthusiastic to bring 130 years of experience and expertise to the table as the contractor of choice to build it.”
 

 

^A few other things in that article really popped out for me:

"Lane and Webuild will execute all the heavy construction for the project, designing and building all 236 miles of the alignment, the entire track system, nearly half of it on viaduct, and the buildings and services for maintenance and other equipment, including industrial buildings, train depots, and facilities. Much of the alignment is elevated and will benefit from Lane’s expertise in constructing bridges and viaducts to reduce impacts as much as possible on landowners and residents of the counties the project will traverse."

Nearly half of it on viaduct?  Good lord.  This type of garbage is why projects in the US are so ridiculously expensive.  A reminder that Texas used eminent domain to take land in Arlington for the Rangers ballpark 25 years ago (while Bush Jr, a part owner of the Rangers, was Governor, FFS).  Maybe their need to be like tiers of eminent domain, in which anything for rail or public transit gets super high priority, and other valid uses get lower priority.  This project is going to be tremendously beneficial for Texas, but the costs are going to be way higher than they should be.  We desperately need new legislation to help make project less expensive.

 

"Departures will be every 30 minutes during peak hours and every hour during off-peak hours. This technology will reliably transport more than 400,000 passengers every day and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 101,000 tons per year – emissions that would otherwise be produced by car and air travel between the two cities. By 2050, approximately 13 million people are forecast to use the train."

Every single person who interviews, writes about, or considers hyperloop in any way, shape, or form, needs to ask about capacity.  Spoiler alert: hyperloop capacity SUCKS!!!  This thing is going to carry 400,000 people EVERY D*M* DAY!  I read that the Beijing-Shanghai HSR carries 500K a day.  DC to Boston and NYC to Chicago (to Milwaukee, and of course via Cleveland) HSR needs to be the number one transportation priority in the country.  Imagine getting a train in downtown Cleveland and then being in downtown Chicago in <2 hours or Midtown Manhattan in 2.5 hours.  I'm so freaking jealous of literally every other first world country and many developing countries that have way better transportation infrastructure than we do.

 

"The train offers a safer alternative to today’s commuter options. Millions of passengers safely and securely ride high-speed trains every day across Europe and Asia. They have proved to be the safest and most reliable mass transportation option in the world today. Japan’s Shinkansen High-Speed Train System has a 50+ year history in Japan of no crashes, fatalities, or injuries due to train accidents. In 2016 alone, there were 3,773 fatalities on Texas roads, many of which occurred on the stretch of I-45 between North Texas and Houston, which consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous in the United States."

I've read elsewhere that Japan's Shinkansen has carried 8 BILLION passengers without a single fatality. Not ONE, in  50+ years of operation.  Meanwhile Texas killed off 3,773 people in 2016 alone, many on this stretch of highway. 

 

Also, according to that infographic, they plan for revenue service in 2026 - that's several years sooner than I previously understood.  Great to see!

 

The infographic claims >13million population within one hour (drive?) from the three stations on the 240 mile route.  3C & D in Ohio is similar total distance and I would think the population along the corridor would be probably between 8-9M.  And if you were doing HSR, it would be a new alignment anyway, so going via Akron/Canton/Wooster/Mansfield might make sense and would probably pick up another 750k (I was already counting Akron's population in the previous number).  HSR in Ohio would be a dream.

 

The middle station of the Texas Central line is actually in a completely rural area (Roan’s Prairie ) quite far out from College Station/Texas A&M, so I wonder how involved the company building the line is going to be developing real estate in that area. Similar how transit lines were created in the old days

and sound off they do -- everyone in the bx is very excited!

 

 

New Yorkers sound off about $1.6B Metro-North expansion to East Bronx

Residents, transit advocates, and politicians gave their two cents about the proposal to expand Metro-North Railroad service into the transit-starved parts of the Bronx at a Tuesday virtual hearing.

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s so-called Penn Station Access project would add four new stations along a repurposed Amtrak line, allowing eastern Bronxites a direct ride to the west side of Manhattan, according to one state legislator.

 

“I believe that will be transformative, particularly in for the eastern half of the Bronx. It will make an enormous difference in people’s ability to get to work much more quickly,” said Bronx Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz at an MTA public hearing on June 15.

 

The $1.58 billion scheme would repurpose Amtrak’s Hell Gate Line and add four new wheelchair-accessible  stations to Metro-North’s New Haven Line at Co-Op City, Morris Park, Parkchester/Van Nest, and Hunts Point.

 

The project would add four new Metro-North stations in the East Bronx.

 

The line would continue non-stop through western Queens and into Penn Station and could shave around 50 minutes off commute times for East Bronx passengers, which would be “life-changing” for riders, according Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

 

“Commuter rail will finally be in the reach of East Bronx riders, many of whom don’t live anywhere near a subway,” Daglian said.

The transit advocate called on MTA to also consider adding a stop in Queens and implement a so-called Freedom Ticket to give riders a reduced fare and free transfer onto subways and buses. MTA has implemented a similar pilot program known as the Atlantic Ticket for Long Island Rail Road passengers from Jamaica to Atlantic Terminal.

 

more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/penn-station-access-mta-bronx/

Baltimore's Civil War-vintage B&P Tunnel is to be replaced - finally.  It will take ten years and $4 billion and will shave about 15 minutes off the NYC-WAS train times.  The new route was controversial and I haven't seen the approved map.  The name (Frederick Douglass Tunnel) seems to be more important to the news reports than the location.

 

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/06/18/bp-tunnel-renamed-frederick-douglass-tunnel-ahead-of-rail-project/

@Dougal it is here: https://www.amtrak.com/about-amtrak/bptunnel.html

 

 

Looks like a second Chicago-St. Paul daily passenger train is a done deal. MN Gov has signed the funding bill. 
 

“The infrastructure work is estimated to take approximately two to three years to complete, and the 2nd train could begin rolling in 2023-2024. This route will operate on the current Amtrak Empire Builder line, serving St. Paul, Red Wing, Winona and La Crescent in Minnesota, continuing on through Wisconsin and Illinois to Chicago.”

 

This train goes through Milwaukee, but not Madison. 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Looks like a second Chicago-St. Paul daily passenger train is a done deal. MN Gov has signed the funding bill. 

 

 

Nothing is a done deal until you see the train on the second day. First day may have been an hallucination.

Horrible location for a station. It's farther from The Strip than McCarran International Airport....

 

 

Brightline buys land near Las Vegas Strip for high-speed rail station

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/jul/06/brightline-land-las-vegas-high-speed-rail-station/

a tour with lots of pics and discussion about east side access:

 

 

https://secondavenuesagas.com/2021/06/07/inside-east-side-access-18-months-before-the-new-terminal-opens/

 

NEC Commission unveils 15-year plan to upgrade passenger-rail service

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/NEC-Commission-unveils-15-year-plan-to-upgrade-passenger-rail-service--64036

the post bashes penn empire plans:

 

https://nypost.com/2021/07/18/andrew-cuomos-penn-station-rescue-is-a-monstrous-boondoggle/

Interesting that Amtrak would rather use Norfolk Southern tracks, perhaps to access more job centers in New Jersey and Liberty Airport.

 

In my view, this is the most important segment to provide car-competitive travel between LA and SF. Finishing the rest will provide plane-competitive travel. This segment will also connect to Metrolink and to Brightline's Las Vegas route. Now, to get the funding...

 

CHSRA Board Greenlights Bakersfield-Palmdale Project

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/chsra-board-greenlights-bakersfield-palmdale-project/

newark penn station is getting an overhaul:

 

 

First Phase of Newark Penn Station’s $160 Million Overhaul Begins

 

By

 Chris Fry

 - 

August 27, 2021

 

 

A major investment in one of the busiest transit hubs in the United States has started in earnest during the dog days of summer and upgrades to the facility are slated to continue over the next half-decade.

 

Late last year, Governor Phil Murphy announced a massive plan to revitalize the aging Newark Penn Station. The 86-year-old facility is set to undergo a state-funded $160 million improvement project that aims to “restore Newark Penn Station to its full glory as the centerpiece of the region’s transportation network.”

 

 

more:

https://jerseydigs.com/first-phase-of-newark-penn-stations-160-million-overhaul-begins/

 

Lord knows it needs it.

Brightline construction update and overview.... Normally this guy covers the construction work section by section. But this edition has a project overview and update all the way from Orlando to West Palm Beach!

 

 

Texas Central bullet train is looking for low interest federal infrastructure loans that would be created by the infrastructure bill. 
 

Still stupid they have elevate almost all of it, but looks like the numbers will work anyway if the fed loans come through .  
 

 

 

On 9/8/2021 at 8:20 PM, Boomerang_Brian said:

Still stupid they have elevate almost all of it, but looks like the numbers will work anyway if the fed loans come through.

Why do they have to elevate it all? Is that lack of routing/use of eminent domain or is it being sabotaged by the State?

Edited September 10, 20213 yr by Dev

I know they did use eminent domain at least a little bit because there were lawsuits about it. Still it's a lot easier to get resident buy-in if you aren't splitting their land in half, and with how straight high speed rail needs to be it probably helps to keep disgruntled residents to a minimum. 

 

Plus, other than being a huge cost increase, elevating the track is a good thing. It won't cut towns, farms, or natural areas in half. If a private company is deciding to build HSR and while under a profit incentive decides to elevate large portions of it, that's a double win in my book! 

everybody's fav station name, rancho cucamonga station, came up on insta:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CT98s0jNyCw/

 

 

 

I may have posted about the Rio Grande Plan in Salt Lake City before. If not, here's a rundown. A group of citizens have come up with a plan to turn SLC's historic Rio Grande station into a transit hub similar to Denver's Union Station. They've updated the plan with new renderings and the city council and mayor have some comments in the linked article. 

 

https://www.buildingsaltlake.com/the-rio-grande-plan-updated-putting-trains-underground-in-depot-and-granary-districts-gets-salt-lake-citys-attention/

good news for the bronx!

 

 

 

MTA completes environmental review for Metro-North Penn Station Access and four new stations in the Bronx

Mass Transit
Sept. 28, 2021

"The environmental review process for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Metro-North Penn Station Access Project has been completed.

The milestone makes four new stations in the Bronx as well as direct Metro-North service to Penn Station from the Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut a step closer to reality.

"This is an important milestone for a project that will give people in several transit-deprived areas of the East Bronx with access to jobs, education, health care and everything New York and Connecticut have to offer,” said Acting MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “By making use of existing infrastructure, we are connecting people to these opportunities at a fraction of the cost it would take to build a new rail line. The next step is to award a contract to one team that will manage both the design and construction in a coordinated way to deliver the project on time and on budget..."

 

 

more:

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/press-release/21240090/mta-headquarters-mta-completes-environmental-review-for-metronorth-penn-station-access-and-four-new-stations-in-the-bronx

 

screenshot

So the Hell Gate Bridge will be back to four tracks again. Cool. Cool. I hope MTA/FTA will help refurbish it too.

hopefully they can restore the old hunts point station.

 

probably not, and that will cause a stink, but it would be cool if they would do it:

 

 

1908

Pop Up Metro aims to provide affordable passenger operation

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/pop-up-metro-aims-to-provide-affordable-passenger-operation/

 

“Rail entrepreneur Henry Posner wants to make passenger service more affordable and more available. He calls it Pop Up Metro, and to do it, he’s betting on batteries, remanufactured British multiple unit cars, and a bold business model to reduce the risk to potential rail operators.

If it were anyone but Posner, this project might be seen as a crackpot idea with little chance of success. But Posner is the co-founder of Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), which owns Iowa Interstate Railroad along with operations in England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Peru.

A German subsidiary, RDC Deutschland, this year won a contract to operate five routes in north Germany that will use new Stadler battery-electric trainsets [see “Railroad Development Corp. wins contract to operate battery regional trains in Germany,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 16, 2021].”

This would be awesome for a phase one rollout of local commuter rail where there are existing tracks. 

Sorry, but I still consider Posner as a bit of a crackpot.

1 hour ago, KJP said:

Sorry, but I still consider Posner as a bit of a crackpot.

Thanks, I don’t know anything about him. For general use, I think batteries on trains is dumb (why carry all that weight?); however, I’m intrigued by the idea of getting to revenue service quickly for proof-of-concept. Electrification via catenary can come later. 

Sounds too good to be true but if he wants to take on all the risk himself it's worth a shot

Fingers crossed this holds up AND turns into reality:

 

The $10 billion for housing next to transit in low-income areas would be huge, especially in Cleveland.

 

And the $10 billion for high-speed rail would be very cool, but won't go very far. At $50 million per mile over level open ground, $10B gets us 200 miles of true HSR. At California HSR prices, that gets us 125 mile of true HSR. If we had European construction costs, $10 billion would get us five times as much HSR vs American construction costs.

gov houchul scales back cuomo's penn neighborhood plans:

 

 

Hochul’s plan presented Wednesday would keep Cuomo’s plan to finance renovations to Penn Station through the construction of 10 skyscrapers in the immediate vicinity — but reduce the overall size of those towers by 1.4 million square feet, she said during an afternoon press conference in Manhattan.

“We can scale it down and still generate the revenue we need to fund the transformation of Penn Station while benefiting the surrounding neighborhood,” Hochul said.

She said the state would not wait for the completion of the new Gateway tunnel under the Hudson River and additional track capacity at Penn to improve the passenger experience there.

”Gateway and Penn expansion, yes, are both projects I fully support. And we will get them done,” she said.

 

more:

https://patch.com/new-york/midtown-nyc/new-penn-station-plan-revealed-hochul-scales-back-cuomos-vision

https://nypost.com/2021/11/03/gov-hochul-advances-smaller-cuomo-penn-station-project/amp/

 

 

 

 

 

with the passing of uncle joe’s infrastructure bill, this is the targeted nyc region haul — per the post:

 

Rail: $58 billion

 

$22 billion for Amtrak improvements, including the Gateway tunnel project under Hudson River.

 

$24 billion for Northeast Corridor modernization.

 

$12 billion for Intercity passenger rail, including high-speed rail.

 

 

Mass Transit: $9.8 billion

 

$9.8 billion for Clean Buses and Mass Transit

 

 

“Tip of the tongue projects likely to receive immediate assistance will be additional relief for the MTA/LIRR, the Gateway Tunnel project, Penn Station access, the East River Tunnels, and the Second Ave Subway,” Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for Sen. Schumer told The Post.

 

The cash will also mean faster ferries, completing a high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) lane on the Staten Island Expressway, and upgrading the city sewer system to better handle flooding and more.

 

On 11/7/2021 at 8:26 AM, mrnyc said:

with the passing of uncle joe’s infrastructure bill, this is the targeted nyc region haul — per the post:

“Tip of the tongue projects likely to receive immediate assistance will be additional relief for the MTA/LIRR, the Gateway Tunnel project, Penn Station access, the East River Tunnels, and the Second Ave Subway,” Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for Sen. Schumer told The Post.

 

The cash will also mean faster ferries, completing a high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) lane on the Staten Island Expressway, and upgrading the city sewer system to better handle flooding and more.

 

 Off topic: I'm so old that to me "Uncle Joe" always means Stalin.  

 

On topic:  the putative projects all seem like a reasonable prioritization except maybe the SI HOV lane.  Assuming it's an additional lane and not just taking one away from the existing near-gridlock traffic, is there actually room for an additional lane?  If it's necessary to widen the right-of-way, I don't think it's worth it.

Edited November 8, 20213 yr by Dougal

^ pretty sure its just adding or extending hov on the existing staten highway. its pretty wide already.

 

edit -- i guess they have been pushing for this for 5yrs, since a partial hov around the verrazzano bridge was enacted -- it looks like a combination of rebuilding ramps, etc., to extend it would be needed  -- not sure about lanes -- basically they want hov all the way across staten island to the westernmost goethals bridge over to nj -- from august:

 

 

 

HOV LANE EXTENSION

Since 2017, Councilman Steven Matteo ( R-Mid-Island) has petitioned Cuomo and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to extend the borough's HOV lane to span the entire length of the Staten Island Expressway, from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the Goethals Bridge, in order to ease congestion at the terminus of the lane.

The Staten Island Expressway HOV lane currently stretches from the Verrazzano to the Victory Boulevard exit.

To this point, the state has been unwilling to support the proposed HOV lane extension for the Staten Island Expressway, but it's possible that new leadership could be more receptive to the project.

However, even if the extension were to be supported by statewide leaders, it could carry a hefty price tag that would likely require federal funding to complete.

Last November, the NYSDOT provided Matteo with what he described as an "astronomical estimate" of $500 million to $800 million to complete the HOV lane in both directions, and $300 million to complete it in just one direction.

"An extension of the lane would require major reconstruction of multiple mainline and ramp structures on the SIE and the SIE/West Shore Expressway interchange. In addition, there would be a need for large retaining walls, extensive wetland mitigation, and significant amounts of new pavement," wrote NYSDOT regional director Craig Ruyle.

"An extension of only the eastbound or westbound HOV lane would still involve many of the same costly elements noted above," Ruyle added.

Matteo has been highly skeptical of the exorbitant price tag associated with the proposed extension, in part because it only cost $111.07 million when the lane was extended from Slosson Avenue.

 

 

more:

https://www.govtech.com/fs/these-n-y-transportation-issues-could-get-new-attention

 

Edited November 8, 20213 yr by mrnyc

hmm, i didn't realize this, but it seems the largest empire/penn station area redevelopment tower, at the pennsylvania hotel site, is already getting underway.

 

people have seen them hauling stuff out of the hotel, so interior demo is happening:

 

 

 

What Happens to Cuomo’s Penn Station Renovation Plan Under Kathy Hochul?

 

By Rebecca Baird-Remba October 18, 2021 3:57 pm

 

 

.....Meanwhile, Vornado is getting ready to start construction on one of the largest of those 10 buildings, a 2.6 million-square-foot office and retail tower on the site of the Hotel Pennsylvania, at 401 Seventh Avenue. The 102-year-old hotel was shuttered in April 2020, and Vornado expects that it will take roughly two years to demolish its 1,700 rooms and begin construction on the new office building. The Foster + Partners-designed tower, known as Penn 15, is supposed to rise 1,270 feet and 57 stories into the air.

The commercial landlord is renovating the Long Island Rail Road concourse inside Penn Station, which involves moving Two Penn Plaza’s below-grade retail 60 feet deeper into the basement in order to widen the concourse and raise its ceiling. It is also renovating its public plazas around Penn Station, widening the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue, and rebuilding the main mid-block entrance to Penn Station along Seventh Avenue to make it wider and more attractive. The New Jersey Transit entrance, at the corner of West 31st and Seventh Avenue, will remain as it is for now.

 

 

more:

https://commercialobserver.com/2021/10/what-happens-to-cuomos-penn-station-renovation-plan-under-kathy-hochul/

 

 

Edited November 12, 20213 yr by mrnyc

Gov. Hochul is also bringing forward a pretty solid Empire Corridor development initative...

 

+ Reduce NYC-ALB to 2 hours

+ Replace Livingston Avenue bridge over the Hudson at Albany 

+ Capacity enhancements at Syracuse

+ Few other things I'm forgetting 

 

KJP:

 

The other item NY is talking about is a maintenance base at Niagara Falls NY

 

 

You Tube vid concerning Amtrak's $7.3 billion deal with Siemens Mobility for wholesale replacement of Amtrak's current Amfleet equipment.

 

 

Some other items. I don't know if any of this has been posted elsewhere, so apologies in advance if there is any duplication.

 

Several good things are happening:

 

The Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA), an umbrella organization consisting of every rail advocacy organization between New York and Chicago, has been at work.

 

One result of its efforts has been to urge Erie County PA to create a new rail commission, which it did. The County also dedicated $1 million in funding for it. This is a big breakthrough.

 

A couple of things may come out of this, including a Buffalo-Erie-Cleveland capital needs study and possibly new daytime service to Cleveland.

 

LRA is now looking to add organizations and build support for more passenger rail in the New York-Buffalo-Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago corridor, including both corridor and through services.

 

This is all fluid and things could change but is very encouraging.

 

 

Edited November 14, 20213 yr by neony

 

So a murder weapon is now an historic treasure??

 

 

^ i bet its all cleveland’s fault (dolans pushing it)! 😂

a return of baton rouge to nola passenger rail?

 

 

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/will-new-orleans-baton-rouge-passenger-rail-service-return/