Amtrak Southwest Chief Discussion

CITY MOVES FORWARD WITH AMTRAK RELOCATION -- Fort Madison Daily Democrat

A firm has been hired to redesign the platform for the Santa Fe Depot that will ideally lead to relocating the Amtrak station to Riverview Park.

The Fort Madison City Council approved paying almost $30,000 to Klingner & Associates P.C. for the design.

The multi-million dollar depot project began in 2007 with renovations, but has slowed in recent years because of negotiations between BNSF Railway and the city. For example, this will be the second design for the platform. In 2011, Amtrak wanted the 500-foot platform expanded to 1,000 feet. Earlier this year, after reviewing the plans, BNSF objected to the original 1,000-foot platform.

Ridership, revenue up for embattled Southwest Chief route -- Denver Post

Ridership and ticket revenues for Amtrak's embattled Southwest Chief, which runs through southeast Colorado, rose slightly in 2015 amidst successful efforts to preserve the historic route.

Passenger numbers totaled 367,267, up 4.3 percent over 2014, and ticket revenues rose about .6 percent to just under $45 million, Amtrak data shows.

This poster believes that although total riders is somewhat important the Revenue Passenger Miles ( RPMs ) is more important. But Amtrak only posts RPMs system wide and not by route. The very low increase in revenue for the SWC can mean more passengers but riding fewer miles. Or it could be the same RPMs, more passengers, but fares less than last year. How can we find out ?

If anything,there seems to be an uptick on shorthaul passengers on the Chief
on parts of the route,that may or may not include the Boy Scouts getting on or off at Raton NM.
There's been no word of any sleepers to be cut during the "slow season" like last year as well.
With "El nino" weather pattern for this winter,Amtrak is getting thru close to the timecard,
while weather creates Cascade Delays,and Canceled flights across the air traffic routes,
that seems to get worse everytime.

USA Today reports on the beginning of the track modernization
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/de ... /75670686/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Today, workers are cutting out older sections of rails and replacing them with newly forged track. In some cases, the rails and ties date to the late 1940s. Originally sourced from a steel mill in nearby Pueblo, Colo., the old rails are 80-foot lengths that are bolted together, giving the train its characteristic "clickety-clack" ride.

The new rails — which are made in that same but now-modernized mill — are 1/4-mile-long sections welded together into a continuous rail that provides a quieter, faster ride.

Southwest Chief Derailment

Apparently just after midnight No. 4 carrying 128 passengers and 14 crew derailed about 20 miles west of Dodge City, KS. 11 passengers were taken to the hospital. Train 3 will be detouring between Newton KS and Albuquerque


http://blog.amtrak.com/2016/03/update-o ... f-train-4/

Apparently we should be reading the Pueblo Chieftain more often.

From March 5:

Pueblo connection may come

A deal to hook up Pueblo to the Southwest Chief line could be finalized by the end of the year, Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said Thursday.

...

At a meeting this week, Amtrak and Santa Fe officials suggested a plan that would link Pueblo to the La Junta stop on Amtrak with a daily run of just one car, called a “through car.”

There is already a Thruway bus, so I don't see how provides much improvement.


ColoRail, a group advocating for Fort Collins-Denver-Colorado Springs-Pueblo passenger rail, sees it as a stepping stone.

More YIMBYism in the op-ed section


Front Range corridor service could be useful, but connecting that service with the Southwest Chief would be merely a nice-to-have, rather than something that meets the needs of the corridor. I'm sure any such service is a long way off, so advocates are taking any chance they can get to publicize their case.

I can't believe this is turning into a single through car service. I guess the positive here is that at least the entire train isn't getting diverted.

Notable that this will be the first expansion of Amtrak's federal service in quite some time.

Glad to see it, even if I'm amused it isn't just a Thruway bus. Hoping this will eventually morph into a multi-car CHI-KCY-DEN section via the Chief.

Interesting to note: Pueblo already has Thruway service. And it runs from Denver via Colorado Springs (Southwest Chief Schedule). The schedule is notable in that it seems quite deliberately setup in order to allow passengers to catch either lunch or dinner at the station in Pueblo. Seems very convenient to the long distance traveler.

This train section could end up being remarkably well patronized.

La junta-Pueblo on the BNSF could be doable as a Push-Pull shuttle,as a cross platform transfer at La junta.
Might need to deal with UP on Pueblo Union station access.
Superliner coaches are in short supply untill the 3rd gen Superliner order is under construction at Rochelle Il.
Would a Amfleet Cafe and a Metroliner Cab Car work as connecting service till the UP,BNSF,and the state of Co
get their act together on Denver-Fort Collins-Pueblo-La junta(or Trinidad) service.

It could work, I guess, but you'd have the only Amfleet and Metroliner within a thousand miles. If you're hell-bent on not using one of Pueblo's wyes, you could use one of Amtrak's GP38Hs or P32BWHs to run around the coach at Pueblo.

I'd be mightily surprised if there were food or beverage service offered, and checked luggage seems far-fetched at first too.

On a related note to the Pueblo expansion, do you suppose Amtrak (and BNSF) would be amenable to a Topeka extension too?

Some NHHS equipment may free up in a few years as CtDOT ramps up computer operations via the Hartford line. Although MassDOT may have "dibs" for any knowledge corridor service Springfield north. Figure they'll need at least two sets. And we've had the never-ending DMU thread; this would be state supported and potentially purchased equipment.

In regards to checked baggage I'm having a hard time seeing how the Pueblo service could not offer it. Does Amtrak check baggage on Thruway buses?