Overhauling Amtrak

[Busy Bee]

Those giant concrete bases for those skinny lights are hilarious. Why does America have to look like this? All the architectural flourish of a Wal-Mart cart return.

[Paniolo Man]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Those giant concrete bases for those skinny lights are hilarious. Why does America have to look like this? All the architectural flourish of a Wal-Mart cart return.

I really wish Helper had more of an artistic touch, the scenery around the station is the best of any train station I've ever been to.

[llamaorama]

Maybe it's cheaper to rent the drill that makes holes that size in the ground than it is to get a smaller version, and it outweighs the price of concrete. Also those lights are not going anywhere and a car or truck or snowplow can't clobber them. Since this is in Utah maybe its the latter thing?

[Busy Bee]

I think it's more of the "engineering handbook no architect involved" explanation.

[TowerDude]

Why do they all make low platform stations like this?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Why do they all make low platform stations like this?

The easiest answer is because the Superliners that Amtrak runs on long-distance routes have low-level doors.

The long answer is that freight train cars are often wider than passenger cars. If you design a high-level platform (typically 48" above top-of-rail) to align with a passenger car, freight trains will collide with the platform. The problem is even worse if the platform is curved, even slightly. Usually when you a see a high-level platform, it means the tracks are not used for freight at all.

In certain circumstances you can put in gauntlet tracks to shift freight trains over by 2-3 feet through the platform zone, but at each end is a switch that requires careful maintenance and neither Amtrak nor the Class 1s are prepared to maintain a lot of trackside equipment (see the East Palestine disaster). Gauntlet tracks are better suited to commuter railroads that have the resources to maintain them.

You can also do a high platform but push the platform edge back far enough that freight trains won't hit it. However, then you create a dangerous gap where people can get their foot trapped. The new cars on Brightline have an automated gap filler installed to fix this issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k17PfoaGibY But Amtrak is still using Superliners that are decades old. They are simply unable to upgrade the rolling stock and platforms at the same time, so we are likely stuck with low platforms on long-distance services for decades to come.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Why do they all make low platform stations like this?

The West Coast uses low platform rolling stock so its not an issue.

[aprice1828]

Amtrak sets new schedules for 110-mph Lincoln Service operations
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-revi...ce-operations/

15 minutes reduction in travel time. This is 30 minutes faster than 2019. St. Louis to Chicago in under 5 hours.

30 minutes might not sound like much but this entire project has brought better reliability through better track conditions and signaling. And the installation of quad gates should reduce the risk of collisions.

[Busy Bee]

I hope Seth Moulton runs for president one day. He'd get my vote in a heartbeat:

• Video Link

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by aprice1828

Amtrak sets new schedules for 110-mph Lincoln Service operations
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-revi...ce-operations/

15 minutes reduction in travel time. This is 30 minutes faster than 2019. St. Louis to Chicago in under 5 hours.

30 minutes might not sound like much but this entire project has brought better reliability through better track conditions and signaling. And the installation of quad gates should reduce the risk of collisions.

This is awesome news.

There should be a further (slight) reduction of Chi-StL travel time, and a big increase in schedule reliability, after Lincoln Service moves to the Metra Rock Island line. The current routing via the Heritage Corridor is dreadfully slow and delay-prone. Planning is underway for this right now, with Metra planning a 3rd track along portions of the route, Amtrak planning new track connections at Joliet and 16th St, and Blue Island planning to become the new mid-suburban Amtrak stop instead of Summit.

[aprice1828]

Originally Posted by ardecila

This is awesome news.

There should be a further (slight) reduction of Chi-StL travel time, and a big increase in schedule reliability, after Lincoln Service moves to the Metra Rock Island line.

The realignment in Springfield, IL will help too. It will be completely grade separated rather than borderline street running. Trains will still have to slow down for the station but they just won't have to crawl into town like they do now to avoid children chasing after beach balls in the street. There will be gentler curves and improved track conditions as well. Info on the Springfield realignment here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/529y89fqmh..._3203.pdf?dl=0 (from the official agency in charge of this, not my dropbox)

[Randomguy34]

New Amtrak map: light blue are proposed Corridor ID routes, dark blue are Amtrak 2035 routes that didn't apply for the program. Some routes not shown but are proposed include Minneapolis-Winnipeg, Las Vegas-Reno, and Virginia's east-west railway


Source: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories...c666a9dba452ca
Excel sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...zpE/edit#gid=0

[Nexis4Jersey]

Still has too many gaps and leaves out statewide plans that fill in those gaps like addressing the Susquehanna cities in PA , the Lehigh Corridor in PA (Harrisburg-Reading-Allentown-New York) , the Southern tier of NY isn't connecting to Buffalo or NY itself... Why were the FRA Long Distance routes included? 6 of those routes are included in the FRA study, so they shouldn't have added them on here... Its sad that Iowa dot , Massdot , VTdot , Maine Dot , NM dot did not push there full build plans they would have filled the ga[s in the map. And TN submitted the Memphis - Nashville corridor...not on here...

[ardecila]

^ This is literally the best case scenario. FRA told the states "if you think you might want to set up a rail corridor send us your best ideas, we will pay every cent for studies".

The states that did not respond were those that were simply too virulently anti-rail or too disorganized to submit.

[Nexis4Jersey]

I think the Northeastern states need a similar plan to the Midwest FRA plan...and a regional agency in charge of distributing funding and studying routes... PA , Mass , VT , DE all have 7 more corridors not listed on that map but being advanced on a state level...

[202_Cyclist]

Well, this is great news!

Hudson Tunnel Project to Get $6.9 Billion in Largest U.S. Transit Grant


By Patrick McGeehan
6 July 2023
New York Times

"The federal funding would allow work on the long-delayed Gateway tunnel to start by next year, said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.

The federal government is on track to give $6.88 billion, the most ever awarded to a mass-transit project, for the construction of a second rail tunnel under the Hudson River to New York City, Senator Chuck Schumer said Wednesday.

Mr. Schumer, the Democratic majority leader from Brooklyn, said he intended to announce the grant in the city on Thursday. A White House aide confirmed that the Department of Transportation planned to notify the tunnel project’s sponsor, the Gateway Development Commission, of the decision this week..."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/n...l-gateway.html

[Atlurbsandspices]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

New Amtrak map: light blue are proposed Corridor ID routes, dark blue are Amtrak 2035 routes that didn't apply for the program. Some routes not shown but are proposed include Minneapolis-Winnipeg, Las Vegas-Reno, and Virginia's east-west railway


Source: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories...c666a9dba452ca
Excel sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...zpE/edit#gid=0

Are you sure each of these corridors has actually been submitted and/or is up for consideration? I see some of the sources in the spreadsheet are not state agencies. For instance, the GA Sierra Club is responsible for most of the routes in GA listed on the spreadsheet, and I do see that they left a detailed comment on the regulations.gov site concerning these routes, but I am not sure they are actually eligible to submit a proposal.

[202_Cyclist]

I've been riding Amtrak to Connecticut every two weeks recently. I need to take a couple of photos but there has been significant progress on the Portals bridge replacement in New Jersey.

[202_Cyclist]

Elections have consequences.

GOP Seeks Massive Cuts to Amtrak
More hurdles ahead for rail transit in FY24 after debt ceiling scare.

Streetsblog
July 17, 2023
By John Besche

“ Amtrak funding seemed safe when President Biden and Speaker McCarthy eked out an 11th-hour debt ceiling deal. But just over a month later, the national rail system and other federally funded train programs are back in jeopardy with mere days left in session before Congress goes on recess.

The debt ceiling agreement suspended the government’s borrowing limit through 2025, but it stipulated that Congress pass its spending bills before the end of the fiscal year. One proviso in the agreement imposes an automatic one-percent cut on all spending if lawmakers can’t meet the deadline. The GOP House Transit, Housing, and Urban Development subcommittee on appropirtions proposed a budget this week that would cut Amtrak funding by 64 percent from last year —with a 92 percent cut to the Northeast Corridor, which advocates say would hobble rail service across the country. With the fiscal year set to end on Sept. 30, that leaves little time for negotiation.

"These House proposals are simultaneously infuriating and unserious,” Rail Passengers Association President Jim Mathews said in an email. “The U.S. DOT is overseeing the most transformational investment in passenger rail infrastructure nationwide in more than half a century, and we're seeing unprecedented interest and excitement about adding and upgrading passenger rail service from cities and towns all across America. And yet the House would simply ignore this broadly popular effort to score cheap political points while jeopardizing the nearly $10 billion our national passenger rail network contributes to the country's GDP every year.”

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/07/...cuts-to-amtrak

[Sir610Jawnman]

Even if the GOP passes some bogus anti-rail bill we can be confident that the Senate won't take the bait. But we CAN be sure Biden will veto anything to cut Amtrak funding since he's an avid railfan and long-time rider.