67 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Railway Age, 10/14/21

 

Chicago Cooperation=More Midwest Trains?

 

Written by David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor

 

 

 

In an unusual twist of circumstances, there are three events ongoing at this writing that have a lot to say about Amtrak corridors and trains in the Midwest. All were scheduled to take place within a three-day span.

 

The first occurred on Oct. 13. It was a press conference in Chicago that featured officials from Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC). 

 

At this writing, the second event is in progress. It is the MIPRC’s annual meeting in Detroit, taking place Oct. 14-15. The agenda will focus on the report unveiled at the Oct. 13 event and how the cooperating agencies hope to bring more trains and corridors to the region. Also on Oct. 15, there will be a virtual mini-conference sponsored by the Rail Users’ Network (RUN), a nationwide rider-advocacy group that calls for improvements at Amtrak, more rail transit and better connectivity between the two. Ironically, the theme of that conference will be “You can’t get there from here!—the Midwest’s missing passenger connections and what’s being done about them.”

 

In a sense, all of those events have focused or will focus on efforts to improve the region’s passenger rail network by bringing more trains to serve its population.

 

David Peter Alan is one of America’s most experienced transit users and advocates, having ridden every rail transit line in the U.S., and most Canadian systems. He has also ridden the entire Amtrak network and most of the routes on VIA Rail. His advocacy on the national scene focuses on the Rail Users’ Network (RUN), where he has been a Board member since 2005. Locally in New Jersey, he served as Chair of the Lackawanna Coalition for 21 years, and remains a member. He is also a member of NJ Transit’s Senior Citizens and Disabled Residents Transportation Advisory Committee (SCDRTAC). When not writing or traveling, he practices law in the fields of Intellectual Property (Patents, Trademarks and Copyright) and business law. The opinions expressed here are his own.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Lackawanna Cut-Off - Update #11: Congress Passes Infrastructure Bill

 

Nov 6, 2021

 

Lackawanna Cut-Off

 

In this video, Chuck goes over what the passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill on November 5, 2021 means for the future of Amtrak service between New York City and Scranton, PA via the Lackawanna Cut-Off.

 

 

[CNJRoss]

The Hill, Washington, DC  11/7/21

Amtrak chief outlines expansion plans with infrastructure spending

 

 

Amtrak's CEO Bill Flynn said that funding from the $1.2 infrastructure bill that passed on Friday would spur the largest expansion in the railroad's history, outlining some of the cities likely to see increased service. 

 

"Phoenix to Tucson is a great example," Flynn said in an interview with "Axios on HBO" of the new routes that Amtrak intended to introduce. "Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati. Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Those are essentially new routes where service practically does not exist today."

 

Flynn added Nashville would be his dream destination for a new Amtrak stop. "I think Nashville would be a great place to stop. I mean, how many country-western songs involve trains?" he said. 

 

Flynn's remarks come after the House finally passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package late Friday night, including about $66 billion for the passenger rail system.   . . .

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 11/8/21
 

The infrastructure package puts $66 billion into rail. It could power the biggest expansion in Amtrak’s 50-year history

 

 

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the House on Friday is expected to spur the largest expansion in Amtrak’s history while kick-starting repair and replacement projects across the nation’s passenger rail network.

 

The bill includes $66 billion in new funding for rail to address Amtrak’s repair backlog, improve stations, replace old trains and create a path to modernize the Washington-to-Boston corridor, the nation’s busiest. It would be the biggest boost of federal aid to Amtrak since Congress created it half a century ago.

 

“It’s transformative,” Amtrak chief executive William J. Flynn said in an interview Monday. Money set aside for Amtrak, he said, “represents more funds than have been cumulatively invested in Amtrak over the first 50 years of our history.”

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

RT&S, 11/9/21

 

Amtrak CEO confirms which two rail projects are a priority with new funding

 

 

Waiting for a huge increase in allowance, you can’t blame Amtrak for making a wish list.

 

SNIP

 

The projects receiving the biggest amount of money are expected to be the Gateway Project, which calls for replacing the Hudson Tunnel that connects New York with New Jersey, and the Connecticut River Bridge Replacement Project.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

Railway Age, 11/16/21

 

A Hard Sell and a Long Shot

 

 

 

In October, I reported on three events that took place within three days, all of which concerned the possibility of more Amtrak-operated state-supported trains in the Midwest. The events are now over, including the Oct. 15 online conference sponsored by the Rail Users’ Network (RUN). In light of that conference, it appears that, despite the hopeful-sounding talk from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIRPC), getting more state-supported trains and corridors in the region will be a hard sell and a long shot.

 

There seems to be little connection between the concurrent conferences sponsored by MIRPC and RUN. The former included various transportation officials who would be the “players” in the event that any new trains or corridors are established. All presenters at the latter are or were citizen-advocates on the ground who would be expected to take a large part in pushing for new services, with or without support or acknowledgment from the “official stakeholders” who possess more money and political clout. 

 

The only person who might bridge the two events is Derrick James, Amtrak’s Chicago-based Government Affairs Director. Representing Amtrak at the RUN conference, he summarized the newly passed infrastructure bill and Amtrak’s Connect US initiative for eventually adding state-supported services.  . . .

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Letter to the Editor of Cleveland, OH Plain Dealer, 11/23/21:

 

 

 

     Improving Amtrak rail service from Cleveland to New York and Boston  

 

 

 

The Plain Dealer is to be commended for its coverage of Amtrak’s future service to Cleveland, including the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati corridor and additional service on existing routes (”Rail advocates train sights on DeWine,” Nov. 12). I would like to propose an easy starting point for adding service to Cleveland on the present route of the Lake Shore Limited: The easiest way is to split the Lake Shore Limited into separate Boston-Chicago and New York-Chicago trains.

 

Letter

 

Splitting the Lake Shore Limited into two separate Boston and New York trains has been tossed around for years, including during the "Network Growth Strategy" days in the early to mid- 2000's.     There is no doubt that a city the size of Cleveland deserves better calling times than it has with the existing Lake Shore and Capitol Limiteds, but the proposal in the letter above for a westbound train that would arrive in Cleveland in the early morning and Chicago around 12 Noon might pose some issues for connections.   Even with the current Chicago arrival time before 10 AM, there have been countless cases of missed western connections.

[KevinKorell]

Pocono Record, 11/29/21:

 

 

 

     Bob Casey makes stop in Poconos to talk Amtrak, infrastructure  

 

 

 

Elected officials gathered at Dansbury Depot on Monday to tout Pennsylvania’s share of the funding in the new federal infrastructure law, with a particular focus on Amtrak’s proposal to restore passenger rail to the tracks right outside.

 

Full story

[KevinKorell]

Epoch Times, 11/29/21:

 

 

     Amtrak to Complete Long-Awaited Scranton, Pennsylvania, to New York Route  

 

 

A long-awaited passenger rail route connecting New York City to Scranton, Pennsylvania, is on track to be completed in three to five years through funding from the recently passed federal infrastructure bill.

 

More

[CNJRoss]

The Hill, Washington, DC  12/2/21
 

Reform Amtrak to get the biggest value

 

By Rick Geddes, opinion contributor

 

 

No corporation will benefit more from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in November than Amtrak. The bill’s pledge to spend $66 billion on the federal-supported firm represents a 480 percent year-over-year increase, making it the largest expenditure on passenger rail since Amtrak’s creation in 1971. 

 

Taxpayers have a right to expect the most from each of the billions of dollars spent via the infrastructure bill. They also have a right to expect operational improvements in Amtrak. Although some of the funds will go to upgrade old, Amtrak-owned rail infrastructure — such as the much-needed replacement for the 148-year-old Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel on the Northeast Corridor at a cost of $4 billion and the Hudson River Gateway project at an estimated $12.3 billion — injecting competition on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is the policy reform with the single greatest benefits to taxpayers.

 

Continue here.

 

Rick Geddes is a nonresident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and founding director of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy, a professor of economics, and a professor at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University.