Railroad Forums 

  • Fantasy Commuter Rail

  • General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.
General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.

Moderators: mtuandrew, gprimr1

 #1291367  by Joke Insurance
 
hammersklavier wrote:Baltimore-Washington
MARC
-Restore commuter rail along the former line from Annapolis Jct. to Annapolis. Service would diverge and head to both Baltimore and Washington.
If Light Rail will ever extend from Glen Burnie to Annapolis, can the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail be converted back to its former use? Or will new ROW have to be built for any extension?
hammersklavier wrote:VRE
-Extend Potomac Line service to Richmond.
-Extend Manassas Line service to Culpeper. Possibly to Charlottesville.
-Restore commuter rail along line from Manassas to Front Royal.
In addition to what you I'd to see, I'd also like to see the Warrenton Spur/Warrenton Branch Greenway convert into VRE use.
hammersklavier wrote:CORE-Baltimore
-Convert the Howard St. Tunnel into a passenger tunnel. Link services heading north and west via the WM line(s) with those heading south and east via the B&O lines. Do this, of course, under the aegis of the Great Circle Tunnel.
Is it possible to add a second track in that tunnel?
hammersklavier wrote:CORE-DC
-Develop a freight bypass of this crucial route.
Which route from this? Check it out on Page 7:

http://www.ncpc.gov/DocumentDepot/Publi ... tion2D.pdf
hammersklavier wrote:MISC
-Investigate the viability of a commuter line linking D.C. with Waldorf and/or North Beach. De novo rights-of-way are likely needed.
Two things:

1. Would you include a destination to Lexington Park, similar to what's on here? http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Office_of_ ... 282009.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
2. In order to save time from trains heading up all the way to the Bowie Junction, could any of the former Chesapeake Beach Railway ROW be used from Upper Marlboro into D.C.? If not, could another alignment be used elsewhere?
 #1291547  by sipes23
 
In Illinois, I wonder if there'd be enough traffic to warrant extending the UP-West to DeKalb. Or the BNSF to Plano. The STAR line is pure fantasy now that CN has taken over the EJ&E.

In Wisconsin, I'd have to go for the KRM that would have linked the UP-North terminus in Kenosha to Milwaukee via Racine. Seems like a no-brainer, but they couldn't get funding. And maybe not at full commuter strength, but at least a few frequencies a day: a line from Milwaukee to Green Bay via the Fox Cities. There might not be much end-to-end traffic, but the US 41/45 corridor is really busy with cars so there's some demand of some sort there.

In New England, getting trains to Concord, NH would be a major step. Especially if there were a stop near MHT and a shuttle to the airport. That would be very good.

And in fantasy, commuter rail from Colorado Springs to Denver.
 #1291625  by djlong
 
sipes23 wrote: In New England, getting trains to Concord, NH would be a major step. Especially if there were a stop near MHT and a shuttle to the airport. That would be very good.
That's actually the plan. We should soon see the study that was commissioned last year. Then we'll get all the naysayers saying it's impossible to pay for it. Who knows if it'll ever happen? But if it does, we're looking at 1 or 2 stops in Nashua, one in Bedford to connect to the airport and one in Manchester near the mill buildings, Verizon center, ballpark and convention center. Going to Concord is often described as "Phase II"
 #1291650  by sipes23
 
djlong wrote:Going to Concord is often described as "Phase II"
Phase II always worries me. I was on 93 for the first time in a few years this summer for an interview up in the mountains, and I couldn't believe the traffic volume. They're probably going to need a few more frequencies than they've planned on.
 #1292942  by GWoodle
 
[quote="sipes23"]In Illinois, I wonder if there'd be enough traffic to warrant extending the UP-West to DeKalb. Or the BNSF to Plano. The STAR line is pure fantasy now that CN has taken over the EJ&E.

It may help if the Elburn station was closer to IL-47. I'd like to see a Aurora-Elgin feeder bus lines. As busy as Randall Road is, there is need for some N-S transit options.
 #1293355  by mtuandrew
 
sipes23 wrote:In Wisconsin, I'd have to go for the KRM that would have linked the UP-North terminus in Kenosha to Milwaukee via Racine. Seems like a no-brainer, but they couldn't get funding. And maybe not at full commuter strength, but at least a few frequencies a day: a line from Milwaukee to Green Bay via the Fox Cities. There might not be much end-to-end traffic, but the US 41/45 corridor is really busy with cars so there's some demand of some sort there.
Always wondered why there isn't intercity or commuter rail between Milwaukee and Green Bay. It's been on Wisconsin's to-do list for years, ever since the foundation of Amtrak I believe, but nothing has come up. Same with Milwaukee - Madison though... and we all saw what a disaster that was politically.
sipes23 wrote:And in fantasy, commuter rail from Colorado Springs to Denver.
How about we really dream and call it Pueblo - Denver - Cheyenne?
 #1294302  by Joke Insurance
 
For MARC:

Create a spur line from Brunswick/Harpers Ferry to serve Charles Town WV and Winchester VA.

For VRE:

Reactive the the whole Warrenton Spur, and have a spur line serve Warrenton VA.
 #1298619  by sipes23
 
Myrtone wrote:Any fantasies involving split/bi-level trains?
It's the daily reality for Chicago.

I didn't know that single level passenger trains existed until I moved out east and saw that Boston's commuter rail was single level. It looked weird.
 #1298814  by Bob Roberts
 
mine is easy (yes, that is sarcastic) and occasionally discussed. Connect up the North Carolina urban system. The core of the network would be Raleigh-Greensboro-Charlotte (yes a duplicate of the Piedmont route but with substantially increased frequency). Since this all runs on the NCRR there would be no real issues in negotiating with the host RR, but capacity would need to be increased a bit (even above the ARRA funds) to prevent interference with NS freights.

The big payoff would be creating a transportation system which can enable increased density (and less sprawl) in these cities.

Beyond the core route I would add
1) a loop from Greensboro to Winston-Salem (on NS) which are lightly used but slow tracks. Then run South from Winston to Lexington (on the WSSB) to hook back up with the NCRR at Lexington (this is a fantasy after all).
2) An extension from Charlotte to Columbia SC and Greenville SC. These would both be on heavily used NS tracks and unlikely to have a warm reception from the host RR. In addition there are serious station issues in both SC terminal locations.
3) An extension from Raleigh to Wilmington (via Goldsboro) mostly on CSX. There are some abandoned tracks that would need to be reopened (and the NCDOT is working on this using its dividend payments from the NCRR) but the Wilmington connection would be a popular one if it can be done in around 2 hours.

For this to work well we would need:
1) A new, downtown, Charlotte station. One has been proposed and sketches developed but funding is a longggg way off.
2) A Charlotte 485 station which would connect to an unplanned and discussed extension of the Blue Line LRT from UNCC to the new intercity station at 485 (the station could have a large park and ride)
3) A Charlotte Douglass airport station (its in NS territory). If you are going to get this far you may as well go to Belmont and Gastonia too.
4) Transit improvements and continued downtown employment growth in Greensboro
5) Transit plans in Raleigh (they are really dragging their feet on transit in Wake county)
6) A downtown station in Winston (not the station they currently have their eye on) and a new junction in Lexington to connect the WSSB and NCRR. Plus the downtown-PTRP streetcar circulator that is often discussed in Winston.
7) a hydrofoil ferry system on the Cape Fear river from Southport and Carolina Beach to downtown Wilmington with a dock adjacent to the Wilmington intercity rail terminal

While Asheville would be nice, I don't think there is any way to get up the mountain fast enough to ever compete with cars thus connections to SC might have more payoff (state politics aside).
 #1298827  by mtuandrew
 
Bob Roberts wrote:mine is easy (yes, that is sarcastic) and occasionally discussed. Connect up the North Carolina urban system.

2) An extension from Charlotte to Columbia SC and Greenville SC. These would both be on heavily used NS tracks and unlikely to have a warm reception from the host RR. In addition there are serious station issues in both SC terminal locations.
Serious station issues like the fact that they're in South Carolina, a state that has proved only slightly more interested than Ohio in funding passenger rail? :wink:

Good one though. Let's keep 'em coming, and in this thread.


Here's a wildly, wildly unrealistic proposal: dig a tunnel from Philadelphia Market East to (roundly) Market Street and I-676 in Camden. Nothing fancy, just one track, same clearances as the existing CCCT. Build a 4-track vault station in Camden, roundly under PATCO City Hall. Electrify the tunnel, RIVERline, and ACL (but again, nothing fancy - nowhere near NEC standards), connect the RIVERline back into Trenton Penn Station, and run using the next-gen Arrow directly into the three center city stations.

Then, set up streetcar service on the stub Camden and Trenton street trackage. NJ still owns those ex-TCRT PCCs, don't they?
 #1321129  by Jmark
 
I'll jump in on this one

Albany NY area:
Re(activate) the following:

West Shore Line:
Alb-Rens - Albany Union (renamed albany downtown), Down the port sub via selkirk yard (bypass track perhaps?), Ravena, Coeymans, Coxsackie, Athens, Catskill, Saugerties, Ulster, Kingston
Clifton Park Express:
Albany Union, Menands, Watervliet, Cohoes, Waterford, Clifton Park (skip twin bridges traffic and the mess on alt 7) (via D&H), Local service to Malta, Halfmoon, Saratoga.
Western Route:
Alb-Rens - Albany Union, Colonie, Pine Bush, Niskyauna, Schenectady, Rotterdam, Rotterdam Jct, Amsterdam. (Via Amtrak/ Ex NYC)
Troy Branch:
Alb-Rens -- Troy (Light rail) (Ex NYC), continuing up to lansingburg

Vorheesville Light Rail:
Albany Union -- Voorheesville via old Albany main, terminating near CP-VO

Schenectady to Troy Light rail:
Connect with the troy light rail, start off at Schnectady, go up over the former Troy and Schnectday, re-route near union college, then continue west through latham, etc, down the hill into watervliet, up into green island, then over the river into troy, terminating in lansingburg, this covers union college, the route 7 corridor, and the colleges in troy.

I think you'd knock a TON of traffic off the roads if you did something like that and had good connecting bus service to/from the terminal areas into the big working areas of downtown albany and Colonie areas. Yes, i know this would require re-construction of the maiden lane bridge, or a tunnel under the hudson river. Most of the track otherwise, is still there.

I'd electrify the Clifton Park, Light Rail, and the Western Branches, Run Diesel on everything else and leave Amtrak service at it's current. Maybe a cross-river shuttle to albany union, but that's it.
 #1321132  by Jmark
 
I'd also do one more:

Kingston NY area:

Re-activate kingston union station, now that Kingston would have commuter rail in my plan.

No heavy rail however other than commuter or freight, i'd do the following:
Light rail on the Former U&D corridor as far as West Hurley/Glenford, and down to the strand.
Light rail up into the town of ulster, terminating around the northernmost end of the old IBM plant
Light Rail down the old O&W main as far as Suny Ulster in Stone Ridge, serving Hurley and Marbletown
All DMU in this case.
 #1322313  by fauxcelt
 
"Pueblo - Denver -Cheyenne"? In July 1995, I drove north on I-25 from Trinidad, Colorado all of the way to Cheyenne, Wyoming during the day. For most of this drive, I wouldn't say that I-25 was crowded and congested but there did seem to be a lot of traffic on the highway. Maybe a commuter rail line would help relieve some of the traffic congestion?

Laurence