welcome to the penn pit

where it all goes down —

😂

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C64rajjRmNe/?igsh=MTd2dmszM3ZrNGc4eg==

6 hours ago, mrnyc said:

lirr history —

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6uMUCwub2T/?igsh=MXBqNTg3ODRqeGF2Yw==

 

It deserves a book. I am regularly amazed by the punctuality and reliability of the LIRR. The "change at Jamaica" drill, however, gets old.  I think only once in 20 years has my Garden City train gone through to Penn Sta.

1 minute ago, Dougal said:

 

I want to read that. I am regularly amazed by the punctuality and reliability of the LIRR. The "change at Jamaica" drill, however, gets old.  I think only once in 20 years has my Garden City train gone through to Penn Sta.

 

i thought east side access aka grand central madison was supposed to fix that -- what were those billions for again?? 😂

3 hours ago, mrnyc said:

 

i thought east side access aka grand central madison was supposed to fix that -- what were those billions for again?? 😂

 

Except my LIRR dest. is always Penn Sta, to get Amtrak home.  Easier to change at Jamaica than to take two subways from Grand Central to Penn.

Too bad that big government has declared trains as ILLEGAL in Indianapolis 

 

 

celebration as nj gateway portal bridge project reaches 50% completion --

 

 

 

Elected officials, transportation leaders celebrate North Portal Bridge reaching 50% completion milestone

 

ByTom Bergeron(North Jersey) - May 14, 2024

 

After years of delays — and, quite frankly, decades of worries that the massive Gateway Tunnel project would ever come to be — the announcement Monday that the Portal North Bridge project was 50% finished was worthy of a celebration.

 

That’s why numerous elected officials and transportation leaders gathered Monday in Kearny to mark the occasion at a ceremony at the construction site.

 

The new bridge will replace the current 114-year-old swing bridge, which opens for maritime traffic, often resulting in a bottleneck along the busiest stretch of passenger rail in the country. The new bridge is a fixed span that eliminates the need to open and close.

 

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.) was so excited, he nearly broke out into song.

 

“New Jersey’s own Bon Jovi sang about being ‘halfway there,’” he said. “But we are not living on any prayer: This new bridge is a reality.”

Pascrell said the impact of the bridge cannot be overstated.

 

“The primary purpose of government is to improve the daily lives of our neighbors,” he said. “When it is soon finished, this new bridge will better the lives of millions of our neighbors. Leadership matters. President (Joe) Biden, Gov. (Phil) Murphy, our delegation in Congress and state leaders have worked hand-in-hand and we have delivered as a team. I cannot wait to be right here to cut the ribbon to this great bridge to our state’s bright future.”

 

The Portal North Bridge is a new modern two-track, high-level, fixed-span bridge that will improve service and capacity along this section of the Northeast Corridor. The new Portal North Bridge will rise 50 feet over the Hackensack River, nearly doubling the height clearance, and will allow marine traffic to pass underneath without interrupting rail traffic.

 

The project is being funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, New Jersey, New York and Amtrak.

 

more:
https://www.roi-nj.com/2024/05/14/industry/elected-officials-transportation-leaders-celebrate-north-portal-bridge-reaching-50-completion-milestone/

Celebrating the milestone are, from left, Jerry Keenan of New Jersey Alliance for Action, Balpreet Grewal-Virk of the Gateway Development Commission, Kevin Corbett of New Jersey Transit, Janine Bauer of the Gateway Development Commission, Tony Coscia of Amtrak, Stephen Gardner of Amtrak, Kris Kolluri of the Gateway Development Commission, Amit Bose of the Federal Railroad Administration and Michael Culotta of the U.S. Department of Transportation. - Gateway Development Commission

 

Speaking of the NEC....

 

FRA Makes More Than $2 Billion in New Funding Available to Continue Improving America’s Busiest Passenger Rail Corridor

https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2024-10656/funding-opportunity-projects-located-on-the-northeast-corridor-for-the-fiscal-year-2024

 

in covid rebound news —

via the LIRR twitter:

 

Exciting news! 

Yesterday we carried 260,745 riders, a new single weekday record since the pandemic. 

We also saw 41% of our Manhattan-bound riders choose Grand Central Madison, the highest split with Penn Station since it opened for full service last year.
 

From PennDOT's latest second Pennsylvanian (expansion of more Keystone service to Pittsburgh) update:

 

Engineering design and environmental clearances continue for the four Early Action projects in Lemoyne and Camp Hill (100% design plans in progress), Enola to Duncannon (90% design plans in progress), and Johnstown (60% design plans submitted and will be reviewed by PennDOT).  The projects continue to have a target completion date in 2026 at which time the second Pennsylvanian can begin operating.  Construction in Lemoyne, Camp Hill and Johnstown could start as early as late 2024.

 

Preliminary engineering, environmental and surveying work has begun on the seven non-Early Action projects from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, for which construction continues to be anticipated for completion by 2031.  As a reminder, the list of all eleven projects is found on the attached PennDOT webpage which is also posted on WPPR's website.

 

The kickoff meeting with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regarding the $144 million FRA Federal-State Partnership grant awarded to PennDOT for the second train was held in January. These funds will be applied toward final design and construction of the non-Early Action projects. 

 

PennDOT is starting preliminary work to develop the Service Development Plan (SDP) for the Keystone Corridor (Pittsburgh to Philadelphia) Corridor ID grant it received that is separate from the second Pennsylvanian project.  The SDP will look to improve and enhance service on the line as well as facilitate future federal funding opportunities on the corridor.

 

https://advancingparail.com/projects/keystone-west/

 

Love the new train. Hate the new train schedule, especially eastbound. 

 

 

In other words, buy real estate in Palmdale...

 

 CA HSR environmental documents released today state that it will take 17 minutes to travel between the Central Valley and Burbank, which currently takes 64 minutes longer by car. Option 7R14A is favored as the most cost-effective.

https://hsr.ca.gov/2024/05/24/news-release-california-high-speed-rail-clears-path-for-major-environmental-clearance-connecting-san-francisco-to-downtown-los-angeles/

 

 

Great news out of the other Queen City. Charlotte doing what Cincinnati or Atlanta has not...

 

 

Two interesting bills signed into law in Colorado in the past few weeks. The first one signed doesn't use gas taxes collected at the pump paid by motorists. In Ohio and many other states, using this to pay for "non-highway-related costs" would be illegal (don't know if it applies to Colorado). So instead Colorado taxed petroleum farther "upstream". for transit and other non-highway costs (although it can be argued that transit is a highway related expense that reduces traffic, crashes, maintenance costs, etc)...

 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs multiple transit bills into law

 

May 16, 2024

 

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed multiple bills into law Thursday aimed at improving the state's transportation system.

Transit advocates say the new laws will also bring the state closer to its goal of passenger rail.

 

MORE

https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/colorado-gov-jared-polis-signs-multiple-transit-bills-into-law

 

##########

 

Then came this one. What's unique is that this financing is based on tax credits to support private sector investment in rail, not grants to fund Amtrak expansion. This might be an approach that red states may be more willing to support...

 

Polis’ pen keeps passenger rail bill on track in Northwest Colorado
Jun 1, 2024

 

The Colorado Office of Economic Development will administer the freight tax credit and may annually reserve up to $5 million from 2025 to 2036. After applying for the incentive, a taxpayer could receive a credit for up to 75% of their relevant costs.

The second income tax credit created by the bill will incentivize railroad operators to maintain rail line access in coal-transition communities by offering up to a 75% tax credit for direct operating and capital improvements to maintain or improve a qualified rail line.

CDOT can qualify a rail line if the agency determines it is at risk of inactivity and covered by an agreement for passenger-rail access, and the legislation allows the state to issue up to $5 million worth of those tax credits per year.

The bill would also provide up to $10 million in financial incentives for companies to locate along rail lines in the state’s “coal transition communities,” which are defined as communities that had coal mines, coal-fired power plants, or manufacturing or transportation related to such facilities as of 2017.

 

MORE:

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/polis-pen-keeps-passenger-rail-bill-on-track-in-northwest-colorado/

Love me some dual-mode locos

 

 

Offer decent train services, people will ride them. Shocker.

 

 

Watch Brightline start LA-Vegas service before CAHSR does

 

 

The Lakeshore Rail Alliance will be hosting a passenger rail summit in Erie this Thursday at 1pm EDT. It will be live-streamed on Facebook
on All Aboard Erie's page:  https://www.facebook.com/AllAboardErie

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 20241 yr by gildone

9 hours ago, gildone said:

The Lakeshore Rail Alliance will be hosting a passenger rail summit in Erie this Thursday at 1pm EDT. It will be live-streamed on Facebook
on All Aboard Erie's page:   https://facebook.com/AllAboardErieDate:

The Internet is telling me that link is broken. Facebook is such a pain with links. 

 

Is this the right one?

https://facebook.com/events/s/lakeshore-rail-summit/474590581621902/

1 hour ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

The Internet is telling me that link is broken. Facebook is such a pain with links. 

 

Is this the right one?

https://facebook.com/events/s/lakeshore-rail-summit/474590581621902/

Sorry, I had an error.  Here's the correct link:  https://www.facebook.com/AllAboardErie

On 6/11/2024 at 4:52 AM, KJP said:

Watch Brightline start LA-Vegas service before CAHSR does

 

 

 

This is troll bait. SNCF's plan skipped the cities in the Central Valley. The law that California passed requires the RoW that they have now. It wasn't politically possible. But sure, a person will rage bait online because CaLiForNiA CaN't BuiLd HiGh SpeEd RaIL! 

50 minutes ago, JaceTheAce41 said:

 

This is troll bait. SNCF's plan skipped the cities in the Central Valley. The law that California passed requires the RoW that they have now. It wasn't politically possible. But sure, a person will rage bait online because CaLiForNiA CaN't BuiLd HiGh SpeEd RaIL! 

 

Yes this project is getting built -- veerrrry slowly. The fact is that this project is mired in politics and it, like all US infrastructure projects, is taking far too long and costing too much money. The engineering/consulting mafia wants it this way so they can make more money. The only hope is for comprehensive campaign finance reform or, in its absence, for more transportation agencies to move the planning and engineering work in-house to reduce costs and to weaken the engineering/consulting mafia.

nice to see —

 

 

 

Rail News: Passenger Rail

 

Virginia panel OKs VRE Manassas Line, Crystal City station projects to reduce I-66 congestion

 

6/7/2024

 

The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) this week approved 15 projects — including two that involve the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) — designed to reduce traffic congestion in the Interstate 66 corridor. 

 

The nearly $30 million in projects will be funded as part of NVTC's Commuter Choice program, which reinvests toll revenue into projects that demonstrate the ability to move more people through two of northern Virginia's most congested corridors.

 

 

more:

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/Virginia-panel-OKs-VRE-Manassas-Line-Crystal-City-station-projects-to-reduce-I-66-congestion--72096

On 6/12/2024 at 11:24 AM, KJP said:

 

Yes this project is getting built -- veerrrry slowly. The fact is that this project is mired in politics and it, like all US infrastructure projects, is taking far too long and costing too much money. The engineering/consulting mafia wants it this way so they can make more money. The only hope is for comprehensive campaign finance reform or, in its absence, for more transportation agencies to move the planning and engineering work in-house to reduce costs and to weaken the engineering/consulting mafia.

 

The amount of hoops this project has had to jump through is infuriating. Endless environmental impact studies that highway projects (that have a worse impact) don't have to deal with. If I were a congressman, I would propose legislation that rail infrastructure would be exempt from environmental review if it is adjacent to already existing infrastructure (road, rail, pipeline, power lines). 

1 hour ago, JaceTheAce41 said:

 

The amount of hoops this project has had to jump through is infuriating. Endless environmental impact studies that highway projects (that have a worse impact) don't have to deal with. If I were a congressman, I would propose legislation that rail infrastructure would be exempt from environmental review if it is adjacent to already existing infrastructure (road, rail, pipeline, power lines). 

 

The legislation would be killed by the consulting/engineering mafia. We don't pass laws based on common sense and research in the USA. This country passes them based on who gave lawmakers more money. You don't pay - you don't get to play.

Tampa transportation leaders vote on resolution supporting railway expansion

https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2024/06/14/resolution-passed--supports-amtrak-expansion-and-brightline-arrival-in-tampa

The actual current state of CAHSR! 

Great graphic by @HSRail

BTW, here's the reason why that graphic was created. This is the last LA-SF segment cleared and now eligible for construction...

 

California High-speed Rail Authority OKs $22.6B Palmdale-Burbank Segment

 

With approval of the Palmdale-Burbank segment, the California High-speed Rail Authority has completed environmental clearance for 463 line miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

 

https://www.enr.com/articles/58898-california-high-speed-rail-authority-oks-226b-palmdale-burbank-segment

4 hours ago, KJP said:

The actual current state of CAHSR! 

Great graphic by @HSRail

 

I am just wondering how much benefit there would be, if any, to take the HSR route from SD to LA (and anywhere north of LA) vs. just using the existing Amtrak Pacific Surfliner? 

2 hours ago, surfohio said:

 

I am just wondering how much benefit there would be, if any, to take the HSR route from SD to LA (and anywhere north of LA) vs. just using the existing Amtrak Pacific Surfliner? 

LA - inland Empire - San Diego is 167 miles, plenty long enough for a substantial time advantage compared to even an upgraded Surfliner. 

The Surfliner isn't very fast. It does top out at 90 mph but there's a lot of slow spots including the mini Horseshoe Curve just north of San Diego. And if you're living in the Inland Empire, getting to San Diego means going to Downtown LA first which adds even more trip time.

Sorry guys I did a poor job of phrasing. I live in SD, so I was wondering if on a trip north it would be faster to just take the Surfliner to LA and catch HSR from that point on.  

Probably. But it's still going to be many years before anyone can answer that question.

Great ridership start for Borealis ((Chicago-MKE-Twin Cities). 

 

That's awesome. I can't wait to see what the farebox recovery rate for that is. During the recent House subcommittee hearing, someone from Wisconsin was talking trash to the president of Amtrak's board about how they shouldn't spend money on it because it isn't faster than driving. Love to see it when the data shows that's a bad faith argument.

15 minutes ago, Dev said:

 Love to see it when the data shows that's a bad faith argument.

 

Not bad faith, just ignorance. The train may be slower, but you can still saving time because you can be more productive on the train than you can be while behind the wheel. that time now belongs to you rather than to the car.

2 hours ago, Dev said:

That's awesome. I can't wait to see what the farebox recovery rate for that is. During the recent House subcommittee hearing, someone from Wisconsin was talking trash to the president of Amtrak's board about how they shouldn't spend money on it because it isn't faster than driving. Love to see it when the data shows that's a bad faith argument.

MKE to Saint Paul scheduled for 5:50. Driving best case is 4:44. That’s not a bad comparison. And also a good reminder that the train does NOT have to be faster than driving to be successful. 

 

9 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

And also a good reminder that the train does NOT have to be faster than driving to be successful.

I know, that was the point of my comment.

  

11 hours ago, KJP said:

 

Not bad faith, just ignorance. The train may be slower, but you can still saving time because you can be more productive on the train than you can be while behind the wheel. that time now belongs to you rather than to the car.

If you heard his comment you could tell it was in bad faith. He was explicitly saying that Amtrak should be defunded because every single possible trip combination is not faster than a car.
But yes, it will be interesting to see how much of the ridership is non-leisure as well as how many become regular riders since the experience is so much better than driving.

On 6/30/2024 at 9:03 PM, Dev said:

That's awesome. I can't wait to see what the farebox recovery rate for that is. During the recent House subcommittee hearing, someone from Wisconsin was talking trash to the president of Amtrak's board about how they shouldn't spend money on it because it isn't faster than driving. Love to see it when the data shows that's a bad faith argument.

 

In my gangster voice "I got yer farebox recovery ratio right here!"

 

Wisconsin Republicans spent like 15 years talking about how no one would ride a train in the Midwest and it would be an expensive boondoggle...and then a new route was added and it turned a profit in less than two weeks.

https://bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2024/07/03/borealis-train-amtrak-passengers-milwaukee-chicago.html

 

13 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

In my gangster voice "I got yer farebox recovery ratio right here!"

 

Wisconsin Republicans spent like 15 years talking about how no one would ride a train in the Midwest and it would be an expensive boondoggle...and then a new route was added and it turned a profit in less than two weeks.

https://bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2024/07/03/borealis-train-amtrak-passengers-milwaukee-chicago.html

 

Over the weekend I ran through an old podcast from 2019 detailing a lot of the political fight over that original project. It felt like a good warm-up for the fights we will be in for in the near future with the CID and LD proposals.

WPR - Derailed

I rode this line to Florida in 1986 when Amtrak's Silver Star traveled this way. I always thought this would be a good high speed rail line, separate from most freight traffic. Amazing to see this happening...

 

 

 

Brightline Details How It Will Increase Seat Capacity 75% To Meet Demand

https://www.thenextmiami.com/brightline-details-how-it-will-increase-seat-capacity-75-to-meet-demand/

 

Tri-Rail express vs. Brightline: How prices food, ride, timing, other amenities compare

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2024/07/11/tri-rail-express-vs-brightline-comparing-prices-food-ride-timing/74279287007/

 

Brightline is great but it's like flying first class, unaffordable for most people. TriRail, while not great gets the job done and has stations at both Fort Lauderdale and Miami International Airports which dives quite a chunk of ridership. Plus, when Brightline jacked its prices up and banned bicycles it lead to a jump in ridership for TriRail so hopefully this growth in will encourage more investment in the system. They are already buying new trains with the federal grants and repairing some of the stations. Excited for the Express to start. They are also moving forward with the Surfer Line that will run on the same tracks as the Brightline so stations can be located downtown in several of the cities like Lake Worth, Delray, and Boca Raton (West Palm is the only City where the TriRail Station is actually downtown). Exciting things are hopefully on the way!

Hey @KJP - Empire Builder and Borealis are racing. 

 

I knew it would happen. 

Big news for Albany and the Empire Corridor....

 

Construction begins on new CSX-owned rail bridge over Hudson River

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/mow/news/Construction-begins-on-new-CSX-owned-rail-bridge-over-Hudson-River--72354

I really like this routing...

 

NYC to Boston in 100 minutes: a high-speed train proposal picks up steam

https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-to-boston-in-100-minutes-a-high-speed-train-proposal-picks-up-steam

 

Will Connecticut change their tune, now knowing they will be skipped altogether???

(Doubt)
 

Quote

The proposed route would bypass some cities in Connecticut, like Bridgeport and Stamford. Bob Yaro, a coalition member who previously ran the prominent advocacy group Regional Plan Association, said previous pitches for high-speed trains between New York and New England were shot down by Connecticut officials who saw them as a slight.

 

3 hours ago, Dev said:

Will Connecticut change their tune, now knowing they will be skipped altogether???

(Doubt)
 

 

Ah, good old parochialism. Another reason why states are poorly suited to the development of interstate routes.

The state-owned portion west of New Haven could be a 125-160 mph corridor but the state has not embraced a speed upgrade here. There are still some bridges that need to be replaced, but the overhead catenary system was replaced with a constant tension system that allows higher speeds. So, I'm not sure what the problem is here except state interference.

 

East of New Haven, Amtrak has done and is doing everything it can to speed up a curvaceous right of way along the coast that's subject to worsening flooding. Connecticut needs to understand that local and regional passenger rail service here is not going away unless mother nature takes it. But this section as totally inappropriate for high speed rail. Reroute Acela across northern Connecticut from the state capital to Providence and add a station stop such as at Mansfield for the University of Connecticut. The nutmeg state doesn't have to lose anything from this.