2014’s biggest US passenger train developments

Revised January 6, 2015 at 12:00 Noon

As 2014 winds to a close, let’s take a look back at some of the year’s big stories in the world of American passenger trains. This is not an exhaustive list, but it shows that overall, this has been a year of progress, but only the tepid, very gradual kind that American train supporters have become accustomed to. Much more is needed before the US can approach the level of passenger train development seen in most of the industrialized world.

Nation’s first world-class high-speed rail line breaks ground: The California High Speed Rail Authority began construction in June on the first 29 miles of a system that will link Northern and Southern California with modern trains operating at top speeds of 220 mph. A formal groundbreaking will take place Jan. 6 in Fresno. The Authority and its supporters overcame a series of legal and political obstacles to the project, strident criticism continues, and the preliminary stages have not been without management miscues. But thanks to the persistence of Gov. Jerry Brown and other backers, the USA appears closer to joining most of the developed world with high-speed trains. Meanwhile, a private effort to build a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston appears to be gaining grassroots support.

All Aboard Florida moves towards groundbreaking: Engineering and environmental reviews and ridership studies are complete, rolling stock has been ordered, all necessary properties have been acquired, and stations are near ready to break ground. Construction on this privately-owned and operated intra-state passenger train corridor, which promises hourly departures between Miami and West Palm Beach, eventually connecting to Orlando International Airport, should begin early in 2015.

Amtrak’s fifth consecutive year of record revenue growth, and another new ridership record: The national passenger carrier provided transportation to 30.9 million riders in fiscal 2014 and earned $3.2 billion in revenue. Its cost-recovery ratio (percentage of operating costs covered by revenues) rose to 93%, but this counts state operating support (which has increased as Section 209 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 was implemented) as revenue, as well as all other income sources other than federal operating grants.

Amtrak receives new equipment, with a little more either ordered or under construction: February saw the first ACS-64 electric locomotive, built by Siemens in Sacramento, CA from 2012 to 2013, enter revenue service on the Northeast Corridor. By October, 23 of them were in revenue service. And 20 baggage cars made by CAF USA in Elmira, NY were delivered to Amtrak for pre-revenue testing in December, after the first baggage car delivered in May, and the first diner and sleeper in July, for testing. All but the baggage car were returned to Elmira for modifications.

This is a mere tip of the iceberg in terms of the national carrier’s equipment needs, but it’s more new intercity passenger train equipment than America has seen in over a decade. Meanwhile, production of a new fleet of bilevel intercity corridor coaches continues at Nippon Sharyo’s Rochelle, IL plant, while locomotives for the same fleet are being made by Siemens in Sacramento, CA. These will be owned by a consortium of six states (five in the Midwest, plus California), which will use them on their state-supported trains. Also worth noting: Amtrak in July issued an RFP to potential suppliers of new high(er)-speed trainsets to replace and augment the Acela fleet.

Five new stations open: Dearborn and Troy, MI, cut the ribbon on state-of-the-art intermodal hubs serving Amtrak along with local and intercity buses in October and December, respectively, continuing Michigan’s leadership amongst states in passenger train investment. These follow on the heels of the state’s assumption of ownership and maintenance of the former Norfolk Southern line between Kalamazoo and Dearborn, resulting in the majority of the Chicago-Detroit corridor being under ownership other than a freight railroad (Amtrak owns the Porter, IN to Kalamazoo section). And in California, the impressive modern Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) opened in November, serving Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners and regional and intercity buses, and intended as a future terminus for California High Speed Rail trains.

In addition, thanks to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ investments, two new stations —- Northampton and Greenfield, MA — opened to coincide with the rerouting of Amtrak’s state-supported Vermonter over the Connecticut River Line, effective Dec. 28, avoiding the time-consuming reverse move at Palmer, MA. This will allow for the overall schedule to be shortened soon, after other infrastructure work is completed. A third station, Holyoke, will open in the spring.

Empire Builder woes and schedule changes: With the rapid growth of freight traffic on BNSF’s Hi-Line serving the Bakken oil shale boom consuming much of the railroad’s capacity, Amtrak’s Chicago-Seattle/Portland train couldn’t catch a break most of the year, routinely arriving at each endpoint many hours late. Luckily, Amtrak managed equipment and achieved turns efficiently enough to allow for the next day’s initial departure to be mostly on-time. Now, the Builder’s performance is starting to improve as BNSF brings new capacity on line and schedule adjustments were made to manage traffic flow across eastern North Dakota.

Issues emerge with Hoosier State competition experiment: As I wrote in early October, the Indiana Department of Transportation did not properly handle the competitive bidding process to contract out operation of the Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier State to a company other than Amtrak. While there is speculation that Iowa Pacific Holdings may be able to deliver for the state what Corridor Capital could not, the best chance for preserving the train in the immediate future lies in the state and on-line municipalities coming up with enough funds to renew the contract with Amtrak for at least a few months beyond Jan. 31, when the current contract expires. 

Keolis wins MBTA contract: In a milestone for the growth of the private passenger rail operating and maintenance industry in the US, an international public transportation contracting company took over these services for a large, legacy East Coast commuter rail system, starting contract operations and maintenance for Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in July. Keolis, a Paris-based firm majority owned by SNCF, the French national railway, now carries more daily commuters than any other contract operator (excluding systems like Metro-North and New Jersey Transit that are operated in-house). Keolis has also been operating the Virginia Railway Express since 2009. Another private company (actually a joint venture), Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail, had the MBTA commuter rail contract from 2003 to 2014.

Streetcar lines open in Tucson & Atlanta; major transit extensions open in Washington DC area, new transit system in Honolulu begins construction. America’s rail transit resurgence continues, including in some car-dependent Southern and Western cities.

Arguments heard in momentous Supreme Court case: I have written extensively about the potential implications of this case, in which the high court is being asked to decide whether a lower court was right to strike down a provision of the 2008 law giving Amtrak joint authority with the Federal Railroad Administration to write metrics and standards for its trains’ on-time performance. The suit was first brought by the Association of American Railroads, the freight carriers’ trade group. At issue is whether Amtrak should be considered a private company or part of the government for the purpose of exercising regulatory authority, and whether the government has the power to affect the performance of trains over privately-owned railroads.

Trains continue to be a vehicle for travel with a purpose: In August, I was fortunate to cover the second-annual cross-country journey of the Millennial Trains Project as Trains’ special correspondent. The Project uses these journeys as vehicles for inspiring entrepreneurship and social innovation in young adults by giving them a trans-regional perspective of the current state of the country and the possibilities inherent in it. Also, in September, a coalition of environmental groups organized the People’s Climate Train, a mobile gathering of those concerned about climate change aboard the California Zephyr and Lake Shore Limited to coincide with the People’s Climate Rally in New York City. Trains are an ideal venue for this kind of mobile dialogue that brings Americans together across the vastness of the continent, while giving us a sense of its many landscapes that other travel modes cannot match. Let’s hope 2015 brings even more of these kinds of expeditions.

Long-time observers of American passenger railroading are often cynical and skeptical of efforts to truly modernize our network. But I can’t help but be optimistic, especially about my generation’s turning away from auto-oriented lifestyles and embracing train travel and public transportation. I’m sure 2015 will bring even more exciting stories, and I look forward to sharing my take on them with you here at trains.com. A happy and healthy New Year to you all!