David Benton wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 6:49 pmBingo. Rocky Mountaineer does this so well and makes money at it. Forget Amtrak at all. Rocky Mountaineer on a two-day SLC-DEN service with layover in Glenwood, which is also right by Vail, a tourist haven. Then the CZ can be a fast overnight CHI-OMA-DEN service with no worries about handoffs between UP and BN. If Rocky's parent isn't interested, maybe Vail is.
SlC- Denver has so much potential , scenery wise , for a tourist train. But its a lonngggggggggg day. Some have suggested breaking the journey overnite at Grand Junction. I would think that would be better operated by a private operator, tacking cars onto the Zephyr, .
Arborwayfan wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 11:05 pm Salt Lake Valley is an island. There's almost no one to support, need, or justify corridor-length routes in any direction.They already have a very viable corridor in the Front Runner, a 38-mile commuter train between the biggest cities for hundreds of miles around. No other significant population centers exist in the state, thus your statement is otherwise correct.
electricron wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 7:51 pm Houston with a MSA of 6,997,384 million is only served with 6 trains a week, Salt Lake City with a MSA of 1,222,540 million...Agreed. Neither city is served well by Amtrak because we have the pretend network of often late UP-hosted 3-day long trains, one 3x/week. We have to cut the crap. SLC should have a Rocky train and a beefed up Front Runner. HOU should have 3x/day corridor to NOLA and DFW. The LD trains to either SLC our HOU are a joke and useless for travelers in any need of timeliness or predictability. As a NOLA resident I just can't make the Sunset work, it's 8 hours to cover a 5 hour drive on some days, not on other days. It's useless.
I will never feel sorry for SLC’s poor service as long as Amtrak provides Houston with far worse service.
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.