As usual, the current stats for July are first, with last month’s (June 07) results in parentheses.
Here are the numbers:
Train 73: RGH - CLT
Scheduled Running Time: 3:09
Average Running Time: 3:17 (3:08)
Median Running Time: 3:07 (3:07)
Minimum Running Time: 3:02 (2:58)
Maximum Running Time: 6:11 (3:17)
St Deviation (in minutes): 34 (05)
90th Percentile Running Time: 3:25 (3:14)
Amtrak On-Time Standard Percentage: 83% (97%)
Train 74: CLT - RGH
Scheduled Running Time: 3:10
Average Running Time: 3:18 (3:18)
Median Running Time: 3:13 (3:10)
Minimum Running Time: 3:01 (3:05)
Maximum Running Time: 4:14 (3:58)
St Deviation (in minutes): 19 (14)
90th Percentile Running Time: 3:39 (3:39)
Amtrak On-Time Standard Percentage: 72% (70%)
If I look at the last 30 months, anyone riding 73 has a 90% chance of being less than 15 minutes late, and anyone riding 74 has a 90% chance of being less than 30 minutes late. Considering the train runs during rush hour periods through the state, end to end, the train probably beats driving most of the time.
In mildly exciting news, I caught something new today on the NCDOT Rail Divison website that I hadn't seen before.
If you look on the
Track Improvements Status Chart page, you'll see several projects that have been up there for awhile, including the double-tracking between Cox/Hoskins control points from Greensboro to High Point, the under-construction East Durham siding, and the GRO-CLT superelevation project.
The new (to me, at least) items that stand out are a superelevation/grade crossing project from Raleigh to Selma which would add another 25 miles of 79 mph MAS running for the Carolinian, and then two new double-track projects between Greensboro and Charlotte scheduled in the 2012-2013 timeframe. Assuming these projects are completed along with the Cox/Hoskins and Bowers/Lake double-tracking projects, and even throwing in a 2-year lag for kicks, the entire GRO-CLT mainline could potentially be double-tracked by 2015.
Of course, if Congress would get its act together on Amtrak and fund a Federal match for rail investment, we could do this even faster.
The final item to note on the track improvements page is that most of the improvements in the current round for the RGH-GRO section are complete, barring 1:30 worth of improvements from one siding and a signal project that are not yet completed.
This being the case, I expect the RGH-GRO travel time to remain at 1:28 for several years, barring the arrival of tilt trains (unlikely). The GRO-CLT corridor is where the time savings will begin to accrue in the next 5-7 years.
Exciting, but gosh, I wish this stuff could happen faster.