Fest status by city Options

[KevinKorell]

Some of you have wondered why we have not yet visited a particular city. I would like to break down each major city or metropolitan area in the USA and Canada and explain what this group has or has not yet accomplished, and my estimates for when we might visit these places -- and why it's sometimes worth waiting a few years. I will go through the areas alphabetically:

Albuquerque

RailRunner commuter rail was completed during Chief RailFest 2012. No plans to return.

Atlanta

MARTA heavy rail was aced during Southeast RailFest 2011.

New modern streetcar line under construction, so we may revisit in the future.

Austin and San Antonio

Capital MetroRail Red Line in Austin area pending. Requires a visit during one of our Texas fests later this decade.

LStar regional rail between northern Austin and southern San Antonio is proposed. Hopefully it will be completed within the next few years and we will do it during the same visit as MetroRail.

Baltimore, Washington, and Northern Virginia

Entire Baltimore Metro and Light Rail systems completed.

MARC Penn and Camden Lines completed, but Brunswick & Frederick Lines are difficult to achieve without overnight weekday stays.

VRE Manassas Line completed during Washington RailFest 2005. Fredericksburg Line planned for Atlantic Coast RailFest 2013.

WMATA Metro heavy rail currently completed during Washington RailFest 2005. Possible future weekday visit to do new Rush Plus routings. Silver Line comes online late 2013. Tentatively a visit to accomplish this will take place in January 2014.

Modern streetcar lines being built in District of Columbia, will schedule Fest to ride these once they come online. Hopefully we can do this during the above January 2014 fest.

Boston and other New England areas

MBTA subways and trolley lines complete during Boston "T" Party events in 2002, 2007, and 2008.

MBTA commuter rail all completed as of January 2013.

Fitchburg to Wauchusett extension a year or two away; that will be done in the future.

Amtrak Downeaster extension to Brunswick opened November 2012. Initial schedule is impractical for a Fest. Will do it in the future once there are more round trips running to Brunswick.

Buffalo

NFTA light rail completed during Toronto RailFest 2004. No plans to return.

Calgary

Need to visit this city to ride its expanding light rail system, but made difficult by lack of intercity rail service.

Charlotte

CATS LYNX Blue Line light rail will be ridden during Atlantic Coast RailFest 2013. Future visits will be required to do extension of Blue Line, as well as other light rail, streetcar, and commuter lines that have been proposed.

Chicago

CTA heavy rail lines were completed during Windy City RailFest 2003, Eagle RailFest 2005, and Chief RailFest 2012.

Metra commuter lines still pending are NorthCentral Service to Antioch, and both branches of UP-Northwest to Harvard and McHenry. The others were achieved during the above 3 events.

Kenosha, WI Streetcar was completed during Chief RailFest 2012.

South Shore Line was completed during Windy City RailFest 2003.

O'Hare Airport people mover will be ridden on next significant Chicago visit as well.

This post has been edited by KevinKorell: Mar 31 2013, 06:10 PM

[KevinKorell]

Cincinnati

Modern streetcar under construction. May rate a visit in future, although it may be difficult if Cardinal remains thrice-weekly.

Cleveland

Completed GCRTA heavy & light rail system at Cleveland Fest 2001. Might be willing to return in future as group was very small and we have many new faces.

Dallas and Fort Worth and Denton

DART LRT Blue and Red lines completed at the time at Eagle RailFest 2005. Since then, Green Line has opened, and Orange Line is opening in small increments between July 2012 and mid 2014. This would rate a return visit once Orange Line is complete to DFW Airport.

DCTA A-Train commuter rail has opened since our 2005 visit, and it is accessible by the DART Green Line.

TEXRail commuter rail in planning stages. Unless it opens reasonably soon after DART is completed to DFW Airport, it would be done on a second subsequent visit.

McKinney Avenue Transit Authority streetcar in Dallas was completed at Eagle RailFest 2005. An extension to the West End district is coming within a few years.

Triinity Railway Express commuter rail was completed at Eagle RailFest 2005.

Denver

Regional Transit District light rail lines have never been covered by this group. West LRT line opens in Spring 2013. I-225 LRT line may be completed to Aurora by 2015.

Regional Transit District commuter rail lines under construction. Only East Line to Denver International Airport will be open in forseeable future.

Platte Valley Trolley has limited hours, but may be possible on a Friday or weekend.

Denver therefore may not rate a visit until 2015 at the earliest.

Edmonton

Edmonton Transit System light rail awaits, but city is hard to get to with only thrice-weekly VIA Rail service.

Houston

Only the Metrorail Red Line exists as starter line from downtown to the south.

MTA of Harris County has 3 new Metrorail lines under construction, including a northward extension of the existing Red Line, the Purple Line to the southeast, and the Green Line to the east. Would rate a visit after these three lines go into service in 2014. Blue and Gold Lines are too far in future, and would most likely not be done until a subsequent second visit. Commuter rail being discussed but not on the horizon yet.

Houston is problematic with thrice-weekly Sunset Limited service, but it can still be achieved if participants are willing to ride Thruway bus in one direction from Longview and make uncomfortable overnight connection in San Antonio with Texas Eagle.

Jacksonville

Jacksonville Transportation Authority Skyway people mover runs weekdays only on 2 downtown routes. Being worked into Atlantic Coast RailFest 2013.

Little Rock

CAT RiverRail downtown streetcars run on 2 routes in a system very similar to Tampa's. Little Rock would rate a 24-hour stopover on the Texas Eagle on the way to or from one of the Texas events.

Little Rock's Amtrak station is not served by these streetcars, so taxi would be required between there and downtown.

Los Angeles area

Metrolink commuter rail: All lines were completed at the time of our Southern California RailFest 2009, except for the 91 Line movement in the Fullerton area (which we did cover aboard the Southwest Chief) and the segment of the Ventura County Line beyond Moorpark to East Ventura (the latter is only possible in peak directions, so one must stay overnight in the area, but it is along the Coast Starlight/Pacific Surfliner route). Future extensions of 91 Line/Inland Empire Line to Perris Valley, and San Bernardino Line to Redlands would rate riding those lines again.

Los Angeles County MTA light rail lines were completed at the time of our Southern California RailFest 2009. However since that visit, the Gold Line was extended beyond Union Station to East Los Angeles, and the Expo Line was opened over its first phase to Culver City. Final phase of Expo Line set for 2015. First phase of Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa also should be open by 2015, though further extensions to Montclair and Ontario are planned.

Angels Flight funicular was closed during our 2009 visit, but it is functioning now.

San Pedro Red Car was completed during our 2009 event.

Memphis

Memphis Area Transit Authority trolleys were covered during our Southeast RailFest 2011 event. The Madison Avenue Line innermost segment was closed due to a building demolition while we were there. That same line will be converted to light rail and extended to the Memphis Airport in the future, so once that opens we would return and ride the whole line.

Miami area

Miami Dade Transit Metromover people mover was completed in its entirety during Florida RailFest 2008. Only difference is that some of the station names have changed.

Miami Dade Transit Metrorail heavy rail was completed in its entirety at the time of Florida RailFest 2008. It is now known as the Green Line. A new branch known as the first phase of the Orange Line opened to Miami Central station in Summer of 2012. This small segment probably does not rate a return visit, but someday the Orange Line may be extended further to the north and southwest.

MIA Mover people mover runs between Miami Airport and Miami Central Station. The latter is now served by Metrorail Orange Line as well, and will eventually have TriRail and Amtrak as well.

TriRail system was completed between Mangonia Park and Miami Airport at Florida RailFest 2008. Since then, it was truncated back one station to Hialeah Market while construction at Miami Central station continues. TriRail will be re-extended there in 2013.

This post has been edited by KevinKorell: Nov 18 2012, 02:54 PM

[KevinKorell]

Minneapolis and St. Paul

Group has not yet visited this area.

Northstar commuter rail between Minneapolis and Big Lake. There is talk of extending it to St. Cloud, and of building other commuter rail lines in the Twin Cities area to connect with it.

Metro Transit Hiawatha light rail line (being renamed the Blue Line) exists between downtown Minneapolis, MSP Airport, and Mall of America in Bloomington. Central light rail line is expected to be open by 2014 (to be named the Green Line).

Amtrak station relocation to St. Paul Union Depot would put more distance between Amtrak and the existing light rail system. It would be better to wait until after the Green Line LRT opens before going to this area, to avoid a long bus or taxi trip.

Montreal

STM heavy rail Metro lines were covered in their entirety at the time of Montreal RailFest 2006. Since then, the Orange Line has been extended into the city of Laval, from Henri-Bourassa to Montmorency.

AMT commuter rail lines were not completed during our 2006 Fest. We only rode the Blainville Line, Deux Montagnes Line, and the Vaudreuil-Hudson Line as far as possible to Vaudreuil. Hudson service is only one rush hour trip, so it's not possible for us. Since our visit, the Blainville Line was extended beyond Blainville to St. Jerome, so it would rate a re-ride. Also with the building of a track connection, AMT wants to bring the Blainville-St. Jerome Line into Central Station instead of its current terminus of Lucien-L'Allier. There is a connection between the new De La Concorde station in Laval and the extended Metro Orange Line. There are also midday trips possible on the Delson-Candiac and Mont-Saint-Hilaire Lines. A new line called Repentigny-Mascouche Line or Train De L'Est will be opening within the next couple of years, providing yet another commuter rail option.

Nashville

Nashville MTA's Music City Star is mainly oriented to rush hour travel. There are extended hours on Friday nights only, and no weekend service. The only possible round trip out of town and back again is therefore on Friday evenings. Getting there is the challenge, since there is no Amtrak service and the one Thruway bus connection was cancelled several years ago.

New Orleans

New Orleans RTA streetcars were ridden during our Southeast RailFest 2011. The Riverfront Streetcar had a large segment out of service the day we were there, so we need to ride it again. The Loyola Streetcar is under construction, and new lines will also be opening in the French Quarter in a few years. A return trip at that time will be worthwhile, perhaps once again on a "passing through" basis as we did in 2009.

New York City area, North Jersey, Connecticut

All MTA New York City Transit heavy rail subway lines have been covered by our group during many Fests since 2001. In the future will be the extension of the 7 line in Manhattan, and the first phase of the Second Avenue subway.

All PATH heavy rail lines have been ridden, although certain movements at junctions may not have been accomplished.

Shore Line East commuter rail was ridden between New Haven and Old Saybrook during Metro New York RailFest 2009. Very limited service weekdays only to New London, but segment is often covered on Amtrak.

MTA Metro North RR commuter rail has been covered in its entirety, all of the Grand Central services east of the Hudson River, and those run by NJ TRANSIT west of the Hudson River. There has been some interest in riding the Port Jervis line once more, as we have not done it together since 2003.

MTA Long Island RR commuter rail has entirely been covered by us. Future new trackage will be East Side Access into new sub-basement of Grand Central Terminal.

NJ TRANSIT commuter rail has been covered in various Fests since 2002. Meadowlands Rail Line will elude as as long as it runs on an event-only basis. If and when the mall opens near the sports arenas, service may become regular.

NJ TRANSIT light rail lines were all ridden in their entirety, however a new segment of Hudson-Bergen Light Rail opened in early 2011 between 22nd and 8th Streets in Bayonne. We can ride this the next time we meet in the New York City area.

AirTrain Newark and AirTrain JFK at the two airports were covered by our group.

Norfolk

Hampton Roads Transit TIDE light rail within Norfolk will be a feature of Atlantic Coast RailFest 2013.

We may or may not use the extended Amtrak rail service into Norfolk, depending on the convenience of the schedule.

Ottawa

OC TRANSPO O-Train was ridden in its entirety when we were in Canada for Montreal RailFest 2006. It may later be extended downtown, but for now there are no plans to return.

Philadelphia and South Jersey

SEPTA heavy rail and trolley lines have been covered by our group in their entirety. There is one unridden segment that was recently opened, a diversion of the 15 Girard trolley to Frankford & Delaware, near Sugar House Casino.

SEPTA commuter rail lines have also been completed.

PATCO heavy rail has been completed.

In the future there will be an extension of NJ TRANSIT's RiverLINE from Camden to Glassboro.

[KevinKorell]

Phoenix

Valley Metro has a light rail line running basically east-west serving Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix. It's currently being extended further into Mesa, and more extensions and branches are planned.

Trouble is, getting there. Amtrak's Sunset Limited stops 30 miles away in Maricopa with no connections, and Amtrak's Southwest Chief stops 145 miles away in Flagstaff, with some Thruway bus connections.

Pittsburgh

Port Authority (PAT) has two light rail lines, three if you count the two separate branches of the Blue Line. It's one of few cities with no Day Pass fare instrument, so paying for travel would be quite complicated for those who go there just to ride all day, especially when it runs into the rush hours.

There are also two Inclines, one run by PAT and the other privately run but included in PAT's fare structure.

Portland

TriMet's 4 MAX light rail lines were all ridden by our group at Pacific Northwest RailFest 2010. The next expansion Portland-Milwaukie, now being called the Orange Line but operationally will be an extension of the Yellow Line, will open in a couple of years.

TriMet's WES commuter rail is under our collective belts, and there will be no extensions of this route in the forseeable future.

Portland Streetcar was ridden in its entirety at the time. In September of 2012 a new branch loop opened to the east side of the Willamette River and almost it loops back to the existing line. The loop will be completed when the new bridge opens for the Milwaukie MAX extension.

So once Portland-Milwaukie is in service, as well as the full Streetcar line, Portland calls us back for a re-visit.

Sacramento

Since our group did Sacramento during the Northern California RailFest 2007, the only change was the recent addition of the Green Line. One mile of new track has been added by Sacramento RT, to an area that is still being developed. This alone probably does not make a revisit in the near future worthwhile. Hopefully the rest of the Green Line to the airport will become a reality soon.

St. Louis

When we were there for Eagle RailFest 2005, we rode the only Metrolink LRT line that existed then, Shiloh-Scott to the Airport. That is now known as the Red Line. There's another branch now between Forest Park and Shrewsbury, known as the Blue Line. With no more additions to the system in the near future, we should revisit St. Louis sometime. It is currently penciled in as part of a Midwest RailFest, the same event that would include activities in Chicago and the Twin Cities.

Salt Lake City

Utah Transit Authority (UTA) has a growing network of TRAX light rail lines. There are now three lines existing, and one of them will be extended by mid-2013 to the airport.

UTA's FrontRunner commuter rail has an existing line from Salt Lake City north to Ogden. By the end of 2012, the line will be extended south from Salt Lake City to Provo. The Pleasant View extension of FrontRunner North beyond Ogden will also reopen along with FrontRunner South, however a same-day round trip out and back to Pleasant View will not be possible.

A modern streetcar is also under construction in the Sugar House district of South Salt Lake, and it will be connected to the TRAX light rail lines at one end.

Once all are in place, we should visit this city. Hopefully we can do this within a few years.

San Antonio: See Austin and San Antonio

San Diego and Oceanside

We completed the Metropolitan Transit System's San Diego Trolley routes, all 3 of them (Orange, Blue, & Green Lines), during our Southern California RailFest 2009. During the summer of 2012, the routes were reconfigured. An extension north of Old Town will open in a few years.

North County Transt District's Sprinter light rail and Coaster commuter rail were also ridden in 2009 in their entirety.

The only thing new in San Diego is the Silver Line, which is very much like San Francisco's "F-Market & Wharves" Line in that it is a collection of heritage streetcars. In San Diego, they run on the same tracks as the Trolley, circulating around the downtown loop.

San Francisco and Oakland and San Jose

During Northern California RailFest 2007, we rode the entire BART heavy rail system. BART will be opening new segments incrementally, first beyond Fremont to Warm Springs, and then on to Berryessa in Santa Clara County. Finally it will go to downtown San Jose and then Santa Clara. Any revisits to ride these will be scheduled to take in as much as possible.

We also covered the whole Muni streetcar and cable car system, as well as the heritage streetcar line that runs on Market Street and to Fisherman's Wharf. The agency is building its Central Subway, which will reroute "T-Third" streetcars on a line perpendicular to (and interchanging with) the existing Muni Metro along Market Street. The new line, while mostly underground, will rate a return to the city whenever it opens to Chinatown. An "E-Embarcadro" surface streetcar line also debuted in 2012, but it only runs on rare occasions.

CalTrain commuter rail was also ridden during our 2007 event, however we did not get to do the southernmost portion of the system between San Jose Diridon Station and Gilroy. It is a peak directional run, so the only way it's possible is by riding the combination of a VTA bus and light rail in the other direction.

Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) is another commuter rail line in the area, running between San Jose and Stockton. We "aced" this one too in 2007.

A third area commuter line, known as Sonoma-Marin Area Regional Transit (SMART) will eventually run between a ferry terminal at Larkspur (with water connection to San Francisco) and Cloverdale. Unfortunately, the only section under construction and set to open in 2016 will be between San Rafael and Santa Rosa. It may be best to wait until the entire system is built out to appreciate it.

Valley Transportation Authority has 3 light rail lines in the San Jose area. Plans to extend them are far in the future, and we already have completed what exists now.

This post has been edited by KevinKorell: Nov 18 2012, 02:39 PM

[KevinKorell]

Seattle and Tacoma

During Pacific Northwest RailFest 2010 we rode Sound Transit's LINK light rail, a system that will be growing to the north, south, and east in increments. When the dust has settled and the system is significantly larger, we shall come back.

There's also Sound Transit's Sounder commuter rail, which was extended south from Tacoma to Lakewood. The Lakewood extension is not possible for the group unless we double back by bus. We rode Seattle - Tacoma, but the current schedule prohibits same day Seattle - Everett travel. However the latter segment is covered by the Vancouver Cascades trains, and the Empire Builder, all of which we did ride.

Tampa

The TECO Line Streetcar is basically a tourist line, although it does serve those local travelers who can use it. We covered the line in its entirety at the time during Florida RailFest 2008. Since then, the line was extended one stop beyond Dick Greco Plaza to Whiting Street.

Light rail is being discussed for a few corridors in the area, but I don't think it will be anywhere in the near future before the availability of anything new warrants a return trip.

Toronto

We did the entire subway system at that time, as well as all but one streeetcar line during Toronto RailFest 2004. We returned briefly during our travels associated with Montreal RailFest 2006 to complete the remaining streetcar line.

New subway and streetcar lines extending the existing network are being built or proposed. There should be a lot of new stuff to ride in a few years.

On the commuter rail side, GO Transit has a few routes that do not allow for same-day turns out of Toronto, so they may be left unexplored. A few may have return bus trips, so that is up to a potential group whether it's worth a long bus trip to be able to take a one way train trip. The Bramalea midday turn we took in 2004 is not even possible anymore since GO Transit shifted its resources to extend that line beyond Georgetown to Kitchener. So unless they start providing contraflow trains or midday or weekend turns, I don't see the commuter rail system luring us back.

Vancouver

Vancouver's SkyTrain system we rode in its entirety during Pacific Northwest RailFest 2010. We covered the Expo and Millennium Lines, and both branches of the newer Canada Line. The system is being expanded to include the Evergreen Line, hopefully by 2016. Furthermore, the system may push further west beyond the VCC-Clark station.

The West Coast Express commuter rail continues to operate with the rush hour flow only, so a same day round trip is not possible. When the above Evergreen Line opens, it will connect with one of the intermediate commuter rail stations, so a partial trip will be feasible.

There is also the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway tourist service. It is currently suspended due to budget problems, but with some influx of cash it could be extended and reopened. During our 2010 visit it was not running as the post-Olympics conversion from the Olympic Line was still taking place.

Washington: See Baltimore, Washington, and Northern Virginia

This post has been edited by KevinKorell: Oct 12 2012, 03:47 PM

[KevinKorell]

I have edited a few pages of this thread to reflect the following:

Boston/New England: Added the Wauchusett MBTA extension, which was forgotten. Also changed wording of Downeaster plans now that the timetable is known.

Portland, OR: Changed wording now that the first phase of the Portland Streetcar loop has opened.

San Diego: Added the route reconfiguration that happened earlier this year, and added the under construction Blue Line extension beyond Old Town.

Seattle/Tacoma: Changed wording now that Sounder Lakewood extension has opened, and schedule known.

[KevinKorell]

Edited Boston/New England again, now that Brunswick extension of Downeaster is in service.

Edited Salt Lake City, now that new FrontRunner schedule is known (and Pleasant View is not possible for Fest).

[KevinKorell]

Updated this for Boston above, acknowledging our visit in January 2013 that completed commuter rail with the Lowell and Wickford Junction trips. Also changed Downeaster extension to indicate only that we will do it once a same day round trip is possible with minimal dwell in Brunswick.