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Amtrak projects on ice

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  • Member since
    December 2012
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Posted by A McIntosh on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 8:41 PM

Regarding FEC, if the AAF venture is a success, and they extend to JAX, maybe they could agree to connect with Amtrak, past statements to the contrary notwithstanding. There was a thread somewhere where Amtrak could return to the old Jacksonville Terminal area.

  • Member since
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Posted by Buslist on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 11:56 AM

CMStPnP

 

In regards to Chicago to St. Louis they have not upgraded the entire line to 110 mph.    Once they do I do not see them allowing Amtrak LD trains to increase their speed beyond the current limits of 79 mph as that would entail a modification to the speed limit governance in the locomotive that they might not want to do as it would open up issues in non-110 mph territory or necessitate a locomotive switch at the end of the 110 mph territory..........so I do not see the Texas Eagle speeding up on that route much if at all.     

 

 

That totally ignores the fact that the locomotives must be PTC equipped which will serve as a variable speed governer on what ever route they are operating on.

  • Member since
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  • From: Dallas, TX
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Posted by CMStPnP on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 11:46 AM

Well first I am going to speculate on the FEC routing.    FEC now has a firm business case for rejecting that routing if they have entered the passenger business themselves and see Amtrak as a competitor.......though I think even with Amtrak on the Jacksonville to Miami route.......FEC could easily out compete them, if it decided to extend ALL ABOARD FLORIDA in that direction.   I think the shift of Amtrak to that line is probably questionable now.    I would be really surprised if FEC allowed Amtrak to move over now given it's ALL ABOARD FLORIDA endevor.

In regards to Chicago to St. Louis they have not upgraded the entire line to 110 mph.    Once they do I do not see them allowing Amtrak LD trains to increase their speed beyond the current limits of 79 mph as that would entail a modification to the speed limit governance in the locomotive that they might not want to do as it would open up issues in non-110 mph territory or necessitate a locomotive switch at the end of the 110 mph territory..........so I do not see the Texas Eagle speeding up on that route much if at all.     As for the corridor services I think they were waiting on construction to complete, new equipment and the testing of the new equipment before they opt for a regular speed up beyond special trains.     I thought the entire route had to have quad gates installed for one and I am not sure they are done with that expensive proposition yet.

Another interesting issue with Chicago-St. Louis was at one time they were talking about replacing the massive bridge over the Mississippi waterway with something more efficient for passenger trains and in which they could traverse a lot faster.    Can't tell if that was just a dream or if it was something we might see in the next 5-10 years.   Will they stick to passenger train only or allow freights on it.    Two different price tags I believe as frieghts require a longer and more gradual approach to the incline prior to the bridge.

BTW, my feeling on LD trains covering a corridor is they should eliminate stops for the LD train operating across the corridor instead of turning the LD train into another corridor frequency.    Transfer the LD passengers to the corridor trains at the end points and speed up the LD train.    Amtrak shares part of that logic as I have seen them not replicate stops on the Empire Builder.........Chicago to Milwaukee at least.

  • Member since
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Amtrak projects on ice
Posted by Mario_v on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 9:32 AM

Hello all ;

After looking to a present day Amtrak network map, some questions arise in my mind concerning some projects it might have 'on ice', to wich I would like to get some more info if anybody has it, of course. These are some of those I remember  :

- Extending NEC service to Roanoke (there's an entry in today's Trains Newswire about this proposed service being extended to Bristol, Va) ;

- Using the FEC south of JAX (on another post by yours trully here, there's some info about it, and judging by what's presented over there, some work was done. Also the travel tiimes were indicated, and that was 6 hours something, better than FEC in the 50's, in wich a crack train such as the 'Champion' would take 7hours 10) ;

- Faster timings in Chicago to St Louis. Judjging by schedules, it seems that trains are still limited to 79 Mph.

If anyone rebembers any more of these projects, or has some info, it would be nice to know it

 

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