When I read their proposal, I got that their plan is to build a high capacity, grade seperated railroad with very limited or even no sidings. Just forwarding of large blocks of cars. They were'nt going to service any business thus taking nothing away from the big guys. Perhaps I misunderstood.
Like narig, I think if they modified their business model from connecting quickly to include lots of surge storage, they might find a few more takers.
Just a thought.
If I were to build this one thing I would do is build in a lot of "holding areas" for trains. IE someplace where if things got stacked up on the connecting railroad one could hold many trains.
The problems I remember reading about were because tracks were full of trains that the receiving carrier could not move railroads had to stack up trains on the main lines.
BaltACD Getting traffic through Chicago is more nuanced than the transit time, individual carrier volumes between carriers enter into the equation and that is where it begins to get complex. To my mind Great Lakes Basin is a solution that is in search of a problem. The existing carriers over the past two decades have worked with each other to develop blocking/run through/interchange plans that work for the traffic each carrier has. CSX doesn't have a full train that can be operated to the West Coast of either of the Western carriers - they may have a full train that could be operated to a Western carrier terminal to be reswitched/blocked to go further into the Western carrier's network. The same issues affect all the carriers that terminate in Chicago. On top of this each carrier serving Chicago have local customers that are serviced by each carrier and also connecting carriers. Chicago is complicated, who knew?
Getting traffic through Chicago is more nuanced than the transit time, individual carrier volumes between carriers enter into the equation and that is where it begins to get complex.
To my mind Great Lakes Basin is a solution that is in search of a problem.
The existing carriers over the past two decades have worked with each other to develop blocking/run through/interchange plans that work for the traffic each carrier has. CSX doesn't have a full train that can be operated to the West Coast of either of the Western carriers - they may have a full train that could be operated to a Western carrier terminal to be reswitched/blocked to go further into the Western carrier's network. The same issues affect all the carriers that terminate in Chicago. On top of this each carrier serving Chicago have local customers that are serviced by each carrier and also connecting carriers.
Chicago is complicated, who knew?
It is a statement that has been around for as long as train traffic has tried to get, through Chicago.
My question is " How accurate is it in these days; after this problem has been 'worked on' for years" ?
Is the actual car transit time, still a problem? Has it improved, or gotten worse?
BaltACD further stated:"...To my mind Great Lakes Basin is a solution that is in search of a problem..."
At one time I had worked with some highway engineers and designers, it seemed to be a constant with them that Interstate Highways, ( and their Urban Bypasses) would, at first, clear up heavy traffic conditions. Then, as their users became more familiar with their new routes, Interstate useage cycle grew heavier, and heavier as people adapted to their use. The 'fix' was to limit distances between the Entrances/Exits which would force trip length to resolve the issue of short trip 'On and Off' uses,and force traffic to move to longer trip distances, which was the point of the Interstates, to begin with.
So it would seem to beg the question: " Does a railroad Bypass (proposed GLBR) around Chicago really solve this problem of congestion, and transit time? Or does it simply create a high level of use as it 'draws' traffic out of the existing cross-city newtwork, thus brings with it the congestion, it sought to aleviate?"
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
you have to give them credit for perseverence. A hoard of nimbys and non participation by its targeted customers didn't deter their enthusiasm.
WASHINGTON — A group that wants to build the Great Lakes Basin Railroad, a new belt line around Chicago, filed their application on Monday with the Surface Transportation Board. The much-anticipated and widely opposed railroad's application w...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/05/02-great-lakes-basin
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
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