What would you like to see?

[lattasnip9]

Name a train/route that you would like to see in the future.

[oltmannd]

Personally?  A daylight Atlanta to NEC train.  It's one I would use.

[alphas]

A 2nd run from Pittsburgh to NYC, probably by extending one of the Harrisburg--NYC trains.   Unlike so much of what is proposed here, this one would stand a decent chance of not requiring too much subsidy and might not be resisted by NS once their Tidewater double-stacks don't have to travel this route anymore.

[Kevin C. Smith]

Close to home: Extend at least a few of the Hiawathas to Green Bay (and/or Madison), WI.

Big Picture: Something Chicago-Florida.

[Prairietype]

Kansas City to Denver, or, Kansas City to Omaha. It would be a modest but important regeneration of a passenger rail network. KC to Denver would run through a vast unserved area.

[CG9602]

Empire Builder re-routed through Madison, Wisconsin. I'd also enjoy seeing a Chicago - Florida service, and also St. Paul - Kansas City service. Barring those, it would be nice to see a doubling of the frequency of service over existing routes. I also think that service would be nice to be restored between Duluth, Minnesota, and Chicago, running as an additional frequency over the same route MSP - CHI as the builder through Wisconsin.

[inch53]

I would like to see passenger service again between Indy and St Louis, with stops in Terre Haute In and Effingham IL at least. I have heard talk about it before, but that seems to be as far as it goes. Maybe when gas hits $5.00 a gal, they'll get serous, but I don't it'll happen even then.

[tomikawaTT]

Serious rail service from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

The most recent proposal called for service from Las Vegas to a park-and-ride lot in Victorville.  Somebody has got to be kidding!

Chuck

[Los Angeles Rams Guy]

Here's the routes I'd like to see service restored to:

1.  Chicago - Dubuque - Waterloo - getting service back on the CN's former IC/ICG/CC Iowa Division.  I know that there's some study underway of getting service back between Chicago and Dubuque but this really needs to be extended to Waterloo.

2.  Twin Cities - Kansas City - Another corridor where there really should be service.  Of course, the UP's "Spine Line" mainline would be the ideal candidate here.

3."I-25 Corridor" - No matter where you have the northern point (Billings, Casper) there simply has GOT to be service between Denver and Pueblo.  I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs and Pueblo is simply a freaking nightmare right now.  For the life of me if there was ONE route Amtrak had to add to their system this would have to be it - hands down.

4.  Chicago - Omaha - Another option to the current BNSF route via either the UP's "Overland Route" mainline, the Iowa Interstate, or perhaps even on the CN's Iowa Division.  I think, ideally anyway, the former CNW portion of the "Overland Route" would have to be the first choice because of the towns and cities for stops (just speaking of Iowa; Clinton, Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown, Ames, Boone, Carroll) but UP seems adamant about keeping Amtrak off of its showcase mainline.  Next choice would then be IAIS' former Rock Island mainline which also serves some good population areas (Quad Cities, Iowa City, Des Moines).  The big problem here is that a BOATLOAD of work would have to be done to bring the IAIS main up to F.R.A. Class 4 or 5 status and I'm assuming that would have to include new signaling as well.  The 3rd choice in all this mess would be CN's Iowa Division mainline which does serve both Dubuque and Waterloo as well as Ft. Dodge.  Still, a somewhat longer route and there would have to be some work done; particularly from Tara (just west of Ft. Dodge) to Council Bluffs. 

5.  Iowa City - Cedar Rapids - Dubuque - La Crescent - Twin Cities - Okay, okay, I know this one has as much chance as a snowball in hell of seeing the light of day but I thought it would be cool to have service on "my mainline" (the current ICE mainline between River Jct. and Sabula) as well as on the CN's Cedar Rapids-Manchester secondary mainline.

  

 

[daniel3197]

Name a train/route that you would like to see in the future.

Ok now that you asked here are a few key NEW PASSENGER routes that I would like to see begin soon.   This list of course favors California because that is where I live:

1. Bakersfield thru LA to San Diego Amtrak California passenger service.   In the interim this service would need to run via the current freight railroads via Tehachapi--Mojave--Palmdale--Newhall--Burbank--LA.  Unfortunately this would require a 5 hour plus run time from Bakersfield to LA (LAUPT).  My Timelog from the PRESIDENTUAL special run by former Amtrak president David Gunn shows what todays SHORTEST travel times would look like:  http://www.trainweb.com/travelogues/2006/danmonroe1.html

This Bakersfield to LA service should be operated ULTIMATLEY as SOON as possible via a new conventional world class "Super Railroad" over the Tehachapis.   A new California state "Grapevine Rail Authority" should be formed to close this key transportation gap.  At a minimum this should be constructed as a 6 Track railroad giving 3 passenger and 3 freight lines over 2 nearby mountain passes.   This new railroad needs to run roughly parallel to the 5 Freeway over the Grapevine - Tejon Pass.   That new Grapevine Rail Line needs to be TIME competitive with other modes to ensure its success.   This new service needs SOME thru trains to continue onward down the Surfliner Corridor toward San Diego CA.   In order to lower crowding some SHORT trains should be operated that TURNBACK in Los Angeles.   That way Bakersfield to Orange County or San Diego passengers would not likely to be crowded out over the KEY Tehachapi Mountains segment. This San Joaquin Valley to San Diego service should operate an overnight service.   This overnight train should be a very popular service .  This LONG route could perhaps originate in Sacramento and serve Stockton--Modesto--Fresno--Hanford and on to Socal.   An ULTRA LONG California Corridor could operate from Redding to San Diego.  That Redding to San Diego train would of course require sleeper cars and be very popular with far Northern California as the way to connect to the rest of California.   After thinking about all these potential corridors it looks like Amtrak California should have ordered a fleet of sleeper cars for the Amtrak California system.

 

2. San Francisco to LA and San Diego.  The new Coast Daylight Corridor would operate via Palo Alto--San Jose--Gilroy--Salinas--San Luis Obispo--Santa Barbara thru LA to San Diego.  This should also offer SOME direct trains thru central Los Angeles so that Orange County passengers are NOT forced to transfer in LA.   The Caltrain JPB has already OKed the use of a "Baby Bullet" Express time slot to operate this train from SF to SJ.   That way there will NOT be any additional traffic created on the very busy Peninsula Commute Line.   This is the same way that LA area Metrolink allowed Amtrak to add the currenly operating Surfliner trains 798 and 799.   Trains 798 and 799 are the midday Surfliner roundtrip serving San Luis Obispo CA.   Here is a RAILPAC Rail Advocacy meeting report that talks about this Coast Daylight issue on the Caltrain rail line:   http://archive.railpac.org/reports/2006/20061028.html

 

3 Amtrak Capitol Corridor service running thru SAN FRANCISCO and down Caltrain to San Jose.  This should SOMEHOW operate over a new STANDARD RAIl Bay Bridge.   This should run from Roseville--Sacramento thru Oakland and SF onward down Caltrain to San Jose.   I know this would take a massive amount of construction however the mobilty payoff for the SF Bay Area would be huge as well.   Currently Capitol Corridor passengers enroute to/from the SF Peninsula must either backhaul south to San Jose or head north thru vew busy San Francisco and transfer at least 2 times if not more.  This is why I am ranking this as my 3rd priority statewide choice.   A Caltrain Baby Bullet express slot would be a must for any future Capitol Corridor  trains running via SF.  In the interim (short-term) this route could operate south from San Franciso thru Redwood City via Dumbarton thru Newark--Fremont and turn north and join the EXISTING Capitol Corridor toward Oakland and Sacramento.  This route could use the rebuilt Dumbarton Rail Bridge Project that San Mateo County is working on.   Here is the OFFICAL website for the new Dumbarton Rail Project that is supposed to open in the year 2012:  http://www.smcta.com/Dumbarton_Rail/information.asp

 

4  San Francisco thru Redwood City to Stockton Am Cal serivice via Altamont Pass.    This would of course operate via the former SP Dumbarton Bridge line that has been closed to freight traffic since 1982.   This would be a key connection to the San Joaquin Valley from the mid peninsula (SF Peninsula) .  A San Jose service should operate north via Milpitas to the Niles (Fremont) connection with the former WP now UP Oakland Subdivision.  Adding this service to the existing ACE Commuter trains would require some major expansion (double and triple traking)  of the current railroad  (Fremont--Pleasanton--Livermore--Tracy--Lathrop--Stockton).

 I am eager to learn what new lines other people here would like to see.

--- Daniel 

[hf1001]

An extended route on the Heartland Flyer to Newton, Kansas

[conrailman]

Bring back the 35&36 Desert Wind from Chicago to Lax and the 40 &41 Broadway Limited or Three  Rivers again from New York City to Chicago.

[Prairietype]

An extended route on the Heartland Flyer to Newton, Kansas

 

What time would you like to see it run?

Also, how would you react to a new additional training leaving OKC in at 7:00 am in the morning for Kansas City, and a Kansas City southbound train arriving OKC midday and return? 

If you like this idea, what would you call it? 

 

[hf1001]

You know, I believe that going to KC is a lot better than just to Newton. Maybe, now this will probably never happen, but a service going from KC to NEW to OKC to FTW still called the Heartland Flyer trains 821 (from kc) and 822 (from ftw) but then an additional train called the Tulsa Flyer from KC to TLS to OKC. I have no idea what train numbers they could be.

What do ya'll think?(Oklahoma accent by the way)

[Ulrich]

Montreal, PQ to Jacksonville/Miami FL. Lots of Quebeckers flock to Florida every winter and increasingly through the spring and summer. These folks are 50+....go for extended time frames... a train would be ideal for them. This well defined market might even prove to be profitable.

[MILW205]

I'm with Kevin (above): extend at least some of the Hiawathas to Green Bay

[oltmannd]

Montreal, PQ to Jacksonville/Miami FL. Lots of Quebeckers flock to Florida every winter and increasingly through the spring and summer. These folks are 50+....go for extended time frames... a train would be ideal for them. This well defined market might even prove to be profitable.

You can book Montreal to Miami as a multi-city trip.  You have to find your own lodging in NYC for the night, tho'.  You'd think Amtrak could provide seamless service by partnering with a hotel....

[jeaton]

Twice daily Chicago-Cincinnati service making an average speed of, oh say 50 MPH.  Just a tad improvment over the tri-weekly service now carded to make 37.53 MPH.  (That is for my personal convenience, so it really ought to be number one on the list.).

Since such service is headed in the right direction, might as well have the service extended to Florida and other major intermediate points in the Southeast.

[aricat]

 We really need a second Chicago-Twin Cities train which should also include service to Duluth. Anoka county Minnesota seems to be very receptive to the restoration of service. Both I-35 and Minnesota highway 65 have seen dramatic increases in their traffic volume in the last decade. Service should be both commuter( Hinckley-Minneapolis/ St Paul) and through service to Duluth.DMU's not locomotive hauled trains would work best. They could be operated with a two person crew. I'm talking about more than one train a day. Stations except for Hinckley would be unmanned. Vending machines work quite nicely. Hinckley has a casino which could generate a lot of traffic.There is significant potential for good load factors. We need to think outside the box when it comes to train service. Yes there will have to be some subsidy,just how long are we going to subsidize our highways and the trucking industry.I noticed on a trip to Britain in 2006 that trains are being well patronised and there is talk about expanding service on lines that were abandoned in the short sighted Beeching cutbacks in 1965. The Twenty First century will give us a chance to break our dependency on cars and choked highways. Trains are part of the future not part of the problem

[terry.hall51]

I would like to see an AMTRAK route that runs from Oklahoma City to Kansas City via Tulsa.

[hf1001]

Same as me like I posted earlier. OKC is getting more popularity now with all of the new structures being built. The should definately be thinking about a nicer depot in OKC. The main lobby is closed for parties and private events. Who Knows?

[RoyPBower]

I would like to  see the Dixie Flyer route from Chicago to Miami restored via Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon, Jacksonville, and Florida east coast. Many hefty population centers can be served.

As  for the Quebecois, run a through sleeper from Montreal allowing passengers the night in New York aboard the sleeper before hitching the sleeper to Silver Service the following morning..

Also, Jacksonville - Miami via St Augustine.

[John WR]

Robbie,  

Since you are generous enough to ask what I would like to see I vote for the New England Limited, an all pullman train that ran in the 19th century.  It was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling:  

Without a jar, or roll, or antic,

Without a stop to Willimantic,

The New England Limited takes its way

At three o'clock each day,

Maids and Matrons, daintily dimited,

Ride everyday on the New England Limited;

Rain nor snow ne'er stops its flight,

It makes New York at nine each night,

One half the glories have not been told

Of that wonderful train of white and gold

Which leaves each day for New York at three

Over the N.Y. & N.E.

[Dixie Flyer]

My vote would be for Midwest to Florida service fed by corridor trains from St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburg to Cincinnati and a long distance train from there to Florida.

[schlimm]

Dixie Flyer

My vote would be for Midwest to Florida service fed by corridor trains from St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburg to Cincinnati and a long distance train from there to Florida.

That sounds like it might be a draw, if we already had those corridors.  But the trackage rights might not be too good.  My call would be developing a CHI-IND-Columbus-Pitt corridor over time.  Also, extend the Illinois Blackhawk service to Madison.

[I C Rider]

How about something from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alalbama, and Louisiansa, to Florida

[Anonymous]

Five trains a day between Fort Worth and San Antonio, with intermediate stops in Cleburne, Waco, Round Rock, Austin, and San Marcos. Eventually extend through service to Dallas, but rely on Trinity Railway Express for connecting services in the interim. 

Upgrade route for eventual top speed of 125 mph.  Shoot for an average running speed of 88 mph, which would mean approximately three hours from Fort Worth to San Antonio.

Push/pull operation. No dinning car!  No sleeping car! No checked bagage. Business class and coach class only. Crew = one engineer, one conductor, one bistro car attendant. 

Control access to stations ala BART. Sell 90 per cent of tickets on-line or through automatic ticketing machines at the station, as well as at banks, grocery stores, high volume convenience stores, etc. Charge a 10 per cent penalty for purchasing tickets from a station agent. Shoot for 100 per cent on-line or ticket machine sales in five years. Contract for on-line reservation, ticketing, etc. systems. Don't use government agencies to provide any services. 

Provide ample parking and connections with local transit at aforementioned stations. Upgrade station, i.e. heating and air conditioning, restrooms, appearance, etc.

Contract for construction and operations; accept bids from lowest effective cost bidder. Require operation to recover operating costs within three years and capital costs within five to seven years.  

The I-35 corridor between Dallas/Fort Worth is one of the most congested corridors outside of the NEC and California. This is where the focus should be.  Not the restoration of long distance trains that will never cover their costs!  Eliminate the long distance trains and use the savings to develop corridors similar to the I-35 in Texas as well as others.

[AMTRAKKER]

I agree with everyone who has suggested Chicago to Florida service. (long overdue...)

I would also like to see the return of service on the Pioneer route as I would ride the train frequently to Portland.

Perhaps consider some type of direct service out of Chicago serving Las Vegas, and some type of service from Chicago to the San Diego area.

[dakotafred]

Daylight service between Cleveland and Chicago! ... plus overnights with convenient departures at both ends, as in the old days. This used to be a terrific market, and I have to think it could be again. If the former NYC is too busy, run over the old Nickel Plate. The latter misses some decent intermediate stops, but that might actually help by speeding up the schedule to the big end markets.

I can blue-sky with the best!

[passengerfan]

I would like to see the Pioneer return with a couple of changes. Route the train Seattle - Portland - Boise - Pocatello - Ogden - Laramie - Denver - Pueblo - Fort Worth - Houston. This would provide the most service to the most people with connections to other trains in Denver - Fort Worth - Houston. Everytime I ever rode the Pioneer it was full in coach and sleeper I was really sorry when it got the axe. And if Amtrak ever runs the Sunset through to Florida again maybe a through sleeper from Seattle to Miami.