The routes in IL, WI, VA, MD and MI required effort to get funding to expand or even start. There are lessons there for other states/regions to emulate.
Still not clear from your reply where that half trillion $ number came from, Amtrak or your own estimate.
charlie hebdoYou might want to be careful about overgeneralizing the TX and WI unfortunate experiences to other regions. Some states (IL, MI, VA and even WI have done fairly well with improving and/or expanding services.
Right so IL, MI and WI are currently existing corridors being upgraded with the recent money since 2008, in my view that is not as difficult to accomplish because there is ridership and Amtrak trains on those routes already. I am referring to the recent promises of entirely new trains that do not currently exist on new routes.
charlie hebdoYou also mentioned a half trillion dollar number, when the article mentioned $50 billion. Are you referring to some estimates of total costs? Likely much higher than that to get a modern network. Add Quote to your Post
I was referring to all Amtrak's dreams nationwide of implementing Amtrak Connect US - patching up the National LD network and starting new services one train a day as a corridor starter like the the new Chicago - Twin Cities train, without much route improvement.
Not necessarily a national corridor network which my read on that is not only new corridor services but new corridor services with train frequency of 5 trains or more and 79+ mph or higher speeds along with rehabbed routes.
Amtrak only has 83 trainsets on order and my interpretation of that order was it is going to replace Amfleet I. Not sure it was intended for Amfleet II or Bombaridier. However, I have my doubts they are going to keep Amfleet I as spare equipment after the new trainsets come in. Pretty sure they will be sold or scrapped.
CMStPnP 54light15 I'm thinking that a lot of those ideas will turn into this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihiSqO4jnA Hey thats palgarism (heh). The best part is I just got a FB post about how Amtrak is going to restart the North Coast Hiawatha across three to four states. Apparently not only do people think the states it would run across have a money tree somewhere but also an Amtrak LD equipment tree.......where you can just pluck off locomotives and passenger cars at random when you want to start new service in a year or two (10-15 years average - realistically). It's getting ridiculous and a lot of people are wasting the grant money handed out on a lot of nonsense plans. I would love to be more positive and optimistic about this but my past experience on adding new trains (Texas and Wisconsin) it's not done in a few years and as I posted before it takes a strong grass roots effort and the states also have to backstop with money.
54light15 I'm thinking that a lot of those ideas will turn into this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihiSqO4jnA
I'm thinking that a lot of those ideas will turn into this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihiSqO4jnA
Hey thats palgarism (heh). The best part is I just got a FB post about how Amtrak is going to restart the North Coast Hiawatha across three to four states. Apparently not only do people think the states it would run across have a money tree somewhere but also an Amtrak LD equipment tree.......where you can just pluck off locomotives and passenger cars at random when you want to start new service in a year or two (10-15 years average - realistically). It's getting ridiculous and a lot of people are wasting the grant money handed out on a lot of nonsense plans.
I would love to be more positive and optimistic about this but my past experience on adding new trains (Texas and Wisconsin) it's not done in a few years and as I posted before it takes a strong grass roots effort and the states also have to backstop with money.
The NCH.
https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/12/11/old-north-coast-hiawatha-rail-route-takes-giant-step-towards-reinstatement/?fbclid=IwAR1aBpYbiYBaZl47rLI4Z9DXvQlcVOFeWk1RAxkFq0XMXK1EYFCVZMkLLCs
You might want to be careful about overgeneralizing the TX and WI unfortunate experiences to other regions. Some states (IL, MI, VA and even WI have done fairly well with improving and/or expanding services.
You also mentioned a half trillion dollar number, when the article mentioned $50 billion. Are you referring to some estimates of total costs? Likely much higher than that to get a modern network.
Amtrak and the Feds are boosting expectation well above what they will probably execute on here. I seen numerous press releases on Facebook from all over the country about how Amtrak is going to start this corridor here and over there. They announced two new corridors in Wisconsin alone. Milwaukee - Madison - Twin Cities and Milwaukee - Green Bay, Minnesota they announced Twin Cities to Duluth..........In Arizona they announced Phoenix to Tucson.......and the list goes on and on. Everytime I read one of the FB posts on this shower of small amounts of Federal money all across the country for studies...........this plays in my head over and over again.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz1syhcU39U
We are what $33 Trillion in Debt. Which I am in a small minority of people that still thinks we are already overcomming that with past inflation as well as the comming tech boom with AI.........even so it is a ridiculously high number and I don't see the country spending another half to full trillion just on Corridor rail projects across the country. So in my view the complete lack of selectivity here is a waste of money.
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/president-biden-announces-82-billion-new-grants-high-speed-rail-and-pipeline-projects
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President Biden Announces $8.2 Billion in New Grants for High-Speed Rail and Pipeline of Projects Nationwide
Friday, December 8, 2023
Announcement includes 10 projects in 9 states ready for construction and 69 corridors across 44 states identified for future development through two grant programs funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced that it has awarded $8.2 billion for 10 passenger rail projects across the country while announcing corridor planning activities that will impact every region nationwide. This unprecedented investment in America’s nationwide intercity passenger rail network builds on a $16.4 billion investment announced last month for 25 projects of national significance along America’s busiest rail corridor. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced nearly $30 billion in investments for our nation’s rail system.
Projects announced through the Federal State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (Fed-State National) Program will advance two high-speed rail corridors and fund improvements to existing rail corridors for expanded service and performance. These investments will:
Help deliver high-speed rail service in California's Central Valley
Create a brand-new high-speed rail corridor between Las Vegas, Nevada, and southern California, serving an estimated 11 million passengers annually
Make major upgrades to existing conventional rail corridors to better connect Northern Virginia and the Southeast with the Northeast Corridor
Expand and add frequencies to the Pennsylvania Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
Extend the Piedmont Corridor in North Carolina north, as part of a higher-speed connection between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia
Invest in Chicago Union Station, as an initial step toward future improvements to the critical Midwest corridors hub
Improve service in Maine, Montana, and Alaska
“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration takes another historic step to deliver the passenger rail system that Americans have been calling for – with $8.2 billion for faster, more reliable, expanded train service across the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With this funding, we’ll deliver America’s first high-speed rail on a route between Southern California and Las Vegas, complete major upgrades for riders in Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maine, Montana, and Alaska, and announce a comprehensive plan that makes it easier to expand passenger rail lines in 44 states.”
At the same time, FRA is announcing 69 corridor selections across 44 states through the Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) Program, which will drive future passenger rail expansion.
Corridor ID, a new planning program made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help guide intercity passenger rail development throughout the country. This inaugural round of selections aims to upgrade 15 existing rail routes, add or extend service on 47 new routes, and advance 7 new high-speed rail projects, creating a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects ready for implementation and future investment. FRA will work closely with states, transportation agencies, host and operating railroads, and local governments to develop and build passenger rail projects faster than ever before.
“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law gave us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to think smart and think big about the future of rail in America, and we are taking full advantage of the resources we have to advance world-class passenger rail services nationwide,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “Today’s announcement is another step forward as we advance transformative projects that will carry Americans for decades to come and provide them with convenient, climate-friendly alternatives to congested roads and airports. We’re thinking about the future too with comprehensive and systematic planning efforts to transform the U.S. intercity passenger rail network now and in the years to come.”
Examples of planning and development activities selected through the Corridor ID program include:
New high-speed rail service in the Cascadia High-Speed Rail Corridor between Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
New high-speed rail service between Dallas and Houston
New and upgraded Midwest Chicago hub corridors:
Daily, multi-frequency service from Chicago to Indianapolis
Increased frequencies from Chicago to Milwaukee to the Twin Cities, with an extension to Madison, Wisconsin
Improved service and increased frequencies from Chicago to Detroit, with an extension to Windsor, providing a direct connection to Canada’s high-speed rail network
A comprehensive plan for the Chicago terminal and service chokepoints south of Lake Michigan benefiting all corridors and long-distance trains south and east of Chicago
New service between the Twin Cities and Duluth, Minnesota
New service from Fort Collins to Pueblo, Colorado, with intermediate stops at Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs
New service between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, with multiple daily frequencies
New service connecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana
New connections between the Northeast Corridor and Northern Delaware and Reading and Scranton, Pennsylvania
Expanded connections and increased frequencies within California’s extensive conventional rail network
Expanded connections and service in Florida’s intercity rail network between the key travel markets of Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami
New service between Atlanta and Savanah, and from Atlanta to Nashville and Memphis via Chattanooga
Restoration of service between Chicago and Seattle, Washington, through multiple rural communities in North Dakota and Montana that are currently not served by passenger rail.
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