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Cardinal/ Continued push for daily service


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 10 December 2010 - 11:02 AM

Charleston, WV State Journal, 12/9/10:

Amtrak's Cardinal could be on track for a big change in 2011. Currently, the long-distance train runs three times a week, linking Chicago and New York by way of Huntington, Charleston and a half-dozen other West Virginia communities. Now, a new Amtrak report recommends the train should run every day.

Take this daily.


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#2 steve4031

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Posted 10 December 2010 - 12:16 PM

So where does the equipment come from? The new vieliners don't arrive until 2012 or later iirc.

#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 10 December 2010 - 01:27 PM

So where does the equipment come from? The new vieliners don't arrive until 2012 or later iirc.

I don't think quite as much new equipment is needed as one might think. Remember you currently have sets sitting idle a few days at the terminal points not generating any revenue. A daily train would keep them in revenue service running back and forth between New York and Chicago. Plus it can share the pool with the Lake Shore Limited on both ends, and the Crescent, Silver Meteor, & Silver Star on the New York end.


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#4 jis

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Posted 11 December 2010 - 09:32 AM

Finding 2 or 3 more Amfleet IIs and a Dinette should not be that hard. Worst case, some of the mid-distance trains might lose one Amfleet II, but I suspect the TIGER repairs ar making sufficient additional Amfleet IIs available too. You just need one more Viewliner in the Lake Shore/Cardinal pool. They could probably pull that off by shuffling maintenance schedules a bit. As it is Amtrak appears to have way too many Viewliners not in active service at any given time. Perhpas the ARRA funding and all that has made the "state of good repair" status better for Viewliners.

#5 steve4031

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Posted 11 December 2010 - 12:48 PM

Well that sounds easier than I thought. A daily cardinal would make be a huge improvement. The 3 days a seek schedule really prvents me from using that train as much as I would like

#6 jis

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Posted 11 December 2010 - 04:26 PM

Coming to think of it, at a pinch they could do it with 3 additional Amfleet 1s and one Dinette, one Viewliner and one Bag. Each consist could be, Bag, Vieliner, Dinette, Amfleet II, Amfleet II, Amfleet I. Currently the two consists each have 3 Amfleet IIs I believe. These can be split up into 2 Amfleet IIs per consist for 3 consists. So again, it should be doable with a little shiffling.

#7 KevinKorell

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Posted 11 December 2010 - 04:55 PM

Is "shiffling" a cross between shifting and shuffling? :DThe consists are most likely not useable interchangably on both trains (Cardinal and LSL) since the latter has the split in Albany with the Boston section. In other words a LSL could not come into Chicago and go out that night as a Cardinal without some cars being taken off. Likewise a Card would have to gain some cars in Chicago to become a LSL.


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#8 KevinKorell

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Posted 11 December 2010 - 05:09 PM

Well that sounds easier than I thought. A daily cardinal would make be a huge improvement. The 3 days a seek schedule really prvents me from using that train as much as I would like

Steve is known for points runs, so you could even with today's setup do an overnight Indianapolis round trip. Most likely it would be Cardinal one way and Hoosier State the other way. Other than that you'd have to go to Staunton or such to do a Cardinal round trip since they currently pass between there and Charlottesville. I know in far past iterations of our group, long before I became social director, they did Cardinal round trips from the Washington end, as with the 3-day schedule it is possible since the Card leaves and arrives on the same days of the week.


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#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 18 June 2016 - 12:51 AM

NARP is running an Action Campaign in the interest of daily Cardinal. The efforts continue all these years later. The stuff we were talking about 5 or 6 years ago still applies, although the new Viewliner equipment we expected to be running still is not. And Cardinals have been running with 2 sleepers at peak times, which may put more demand on the Viewliner sleeper fleet.



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#10 KevinKorell

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Posted 27 November 2016 - 08:36 PM

West Virginia Metro News, Charleston, WV, 11/27/16:


 

Amtrak eyes daily service along West Virginia routes

 

 

Charleston Mayor Danny Jones is a train travel enthusiast, making trips across the country on Amtrak several times a year.

Article



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