Cut service to / from NY state to Erie, Cleveland, Elyria, Sandusky, Toledo, to add Detroit ? No way. Granted Detroit thruway not best but don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
That's the way to serve the folks ... with a sealed train. And to double down on the usefulness, run it through Canada.
Others on here have had bright ideas about how to make the Lake Shore useful transportation for U.S. citizens. This, Zaleski's, idea should be bounced off, maybe, VIA. Although I doubt they'd be interested, either.
zaleski: Challenging the status quo doesn't get a good reception here. Neither does HSR or other frequent, convenient, modern passenger services. New baggage cars and diners are well-received, however.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
About a month a go, I wrote about a new route for the Lake Shore: high speed line Chicago to Detroit; Windsor tunnel CPR/CN to Buffalo. It would be a sealed train with no stops in Ontario and thereby removing custom delays on entering at Windsor and Niagra Falls. Running time Chicago to Buffalo would be in the range of 9 hours. The train would add the major metro area of Ann Arbor/Detroit as well as other cities in Michigan. There would be little loss of existing traffic as South Bend's station would be Niles; Toledo could be served by throughway bus as Detroit is now. Cleveland would continue have the Capitol Limited.
What exists now is late service due to conjestion on the NS in Northern Indiana. Last summer I tried to use the Capitol until I discovered is was running 10 hours late. This is not service most passengers will use. That's why the New York train is called the "Late Shore Limited." Amtrak would directly serve cities with metro areas approaching 6 million, and far surpassing the current route. And on time scheduling using the new dedicated and high speed line would give Amtrak standing.
Some responces to my idea are just strange: running a non-stop across southern Ontario hardly reaches the level of Bolshevic sealed trains. Responding to ideas expressed in our forum with "NO WAY, Forget IT" does remind me at bit of the Bolshevics. If you need to take a deep breath, do so.
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