Amtrak Expansion Plan

[njtmnrrbuff]

Amtrak running on LIRR to Nassau and Suffolk County is probably at the bottom of the list right now. It would be nice though if an Amtrak train did run to Montauk during the peak season. I'd much rather ride in an Amfleet for 121 miles than ride in one of LIRR's C3 boxed shape bilevels. Probably five years from now, much of the Amfleet rolling stock as well as the P32AC-DMs will have joined the retirement club. Getting the Ethan Allen to Burlington is important. It will be great to be able to take a passenger train into Downtown Burlington for a change as opposed to having to use Essex Junction.

[eolesen]

Interesting - the largest expansion discussions since 1971 and possibly largest new equipment orders are happening under

1) a CEO that the rail community tells everyone is trying to kill Amtrak
2) an administration that the rail community hates thinks is trying to kill Amtrak

Makes you really question the credibility of the rail advocacy community....

[Arlington]

^ It also generally vindicates PRIIA, and that a market-like system would give states who wanted more service a clear and fair mechanism for buying it from Amtrak instead of having to somehow get a political mandate for it from Congress.

[lordsigma12345]

Here's the list as it stands right now. Pretty impressive stuff.

1. Downeaster: Seasonal service extension to Rockland

2. Gulf Coast: Service between Mobile and New Orleans

3. Midwest: Service between Chicago, Detroit and Toronto

4. Ethan Allen: Extension to Burlington

5. Vermonter: Extension to Montreal

6. Valley Flyer: Service between Springfield and Greenfield (starting within the next 30 days)

7. Berkshire Flyer: Seasonal service between New York Penn and Pittsfield

8. New York: Service from New York Penn to Long Island

9. Heartland Flyer: Extension to Newton via Wichita

10. Illinois: Service between Chicago and the Quad Cities

11. Illinois: Service between Chicago and Rockford

12. Minnesota: Service between Minneapolis St. Paul and Duluth (operator not certain to be Amtrak)

I have a feeling there's probably something in California we're missing but I don't know where. Is there a Capitol Corridor extension underway? I also corrected the error on the Gulf Coast proposal. Mobile, not Orlando is the proposed terminal (for now).

Massachusetts is also studying an east-west corridor that could go on the list. All of the six alternatives run between Springfield and Boston with some also extending the service to Pittsfield. No decisions have been made on who would operate it or how.

[gokeefe]

Add one more : Amtrak is working on having 10 trains/day Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha Service.

I had left out schedule expansions for now because the list would be too long as there are so many. Basically everything on the state supported routes is probably going to see more trains. It's just a question of which routes will get them first. Agreed that the Hiawatha will probably be "first in line" for additional frequencies.

[gokeefe]

Massachusetts is also studying an east-west corridor that could go on the list. All of the six alternatives run between Springfield and Boston with some also extending the service to Pittsfield. No decisions have been made on who would operate it or how.

This is a tricky one too but I will admit that getting all of these communities to join the MBTA would be nearly impossible. That means "more likely than not" that Amtrak will be the operator.

[Station Aficionado]

In California, the state still plans to resurrect the Coast Daylight at some point (first intercity service to San Francisco since A-Day).

[David Benton]

Interesting - the largest expansion discussions since 1971 and possibly largest new equipment orders are happening under

1) a CEO that the rail community tells everyone is trying to kill Amtrak
2) an administration that the rail community hates thinks is trying to kill Amtrak

Makes you really question the credibility of the rail advocacy community....

None of that matters because he is cutting dinners on the long distance trains. They also seem to be overlooking the fact He is doing it to comply with a congress mandate by 2020

In California, the state still plans to resurrect the Coast Daylight at some point (first intercity service to San Francisco since A-Day).

.
I believe they planned to use a Talgo set to implement( even did a test run). That option is probably off the table now.

[mtuandrew]

Interesting - the largest expansion discussions since 1971 and possibly largest new equipment orders are happening under

1) a CEO that the rail community tells everyone is trying to kill Amtrak
2) an administration that the rail community hates thinks is trying to kill Amtrak

Makes you really question the credibility of the rail advocacy community....

1) indeed, and if there’s anything Delta Dick knows, it’s network expansion. I’m kind of amazed he’s been able to get the Class 1s to even think about allowing expansion.
2) there’s no potential personal profit or loss in Amtrak therefore he’s not interested

[rcthompson04]

Interesting - the largest expansion discussions since 1971 and possibly largest new equipment orders are happening under

1) a CEO that the rail community tells everyone is trying to kill Amtrak
2) an administration that the rail community hates thinks is trying to kill Amtrak

Makes you really question the credibility of the rail advocacy community....

1) indeed, and if there’s anything Delta Dick knows, it’s network expansion. I’m kind of amazed he’s been able to get the Class 1s to even think about allowing expansion.
2) there’s no potential personal profit or loss in Amtrak therefore he’s not interested

Being treated ambivalently by a potential opponent in a heavily partisan era is a victory. If you are going to build strong bipartisan support in our times you have to serve as many areas with good frequency as possible.

[rcthompson04]

Makes you really question the credibility of the rail advocacy community....

You mean the “long-distance rail advocacy community”. I have nothing against the advocacy community except to the extent they waste time on things that impact few instead of focusing on the things that impact far more.

This should surprise nobody as advocacy groups are often very unrepresentative of their group as a whole. It is often the hallmark of advocacy groups.

[gokeefe]

In California, the state still plans to resurrect the Coast Daylight at some point (first intercity service to San Francisco since A-Day).

Would this service use a station other than Jack London Square in Oakland? Trying to understand the connection in San Francisco ...

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

In California, the state still plans to resurrect the Coast Daylight at some point (first intercity service to San Francisco since A-Day).

Now that would be huge. I would prefer it to be overnight service between Los Angeles and San Fran though to be on an opposite schedule to the Coast Starlight because the schedule is impractical for travelers traveling between LA and San Jose/Oakland while overnight would be of better use for that length of time.

[mtuandrew]

Would this service use a station other than Jack London Square in Oakland? Trying to understand the connection in San Francisco ...

Pretty sure the connection between Jack London Square (for most Amtrak trains) and San Francisco Caltrain Depot (for the proposed Coast Daylight) would either be in San Jose or a self-transfer via BART and other transit.

Now that would be huge. I would prefer it to be overnight service between Los Angeles and San Fran though to be on an opposite schedule to the Coast Starlight because the schedule is impractical for travelers traveling between LA and San Jose/Oakland while overnight would be of better use for that length of time.

Agreed; an 8pm departure and 8am arrival would be ideal.

[gokeefe]

It took a little bit of digging but the Coast Daylight is most definitely in the planning process in California. Here's the most recent mention from an official document.

Very interesting development. Clearly ongoing for many years and appears to be very close to implementation.