Greg Moore wrote:Ok, ... a speculation type discussion ... how much new service Amtrak seems to be looking at. And it's quite impressive. Some seems more definite than others, but there seems to be a lot coming. ...
For example, the expanded Virginia service appears to be a definite.
And now we've got hints (only that) of a restored Montrealer.
And there's discussion of re-introducing the Sunset East.
And an additional Twin-Cities/Chicago train.
And I know there were plans (still stalled I think) for expanded service to the Quad Cities.
Oh and some talk about an expanded Heartland Flyer.
... trying to focus on routes that actually appear to have a chance ... immediate, likely improvements.
Isn't Vermont already spending money on extending the Ethan Allen from Rutland to Burlington, Vermont's 200,000-population big city? I expect they'll see that thru, because in passenger rail, Vermont gets it done. (Same applies to extending the Vermonter, and meanwhile the upgrades New Haven-Hartford-Springfield will kick in around the first of 2018.) Extending the Adirondack and the Vermonter will require Canada to invest in upgrading that bit of track from the border. So it's coming but never as soon as we would hope.
Virginia plans to have trains in Roanoke from October. Like Vermont, Virginia gets it done. A second frequency Norfolk-Richmond should come soon, too. Lots of money right now going into Acca yard and thereabouts to speed up all trains thru Richmond. (Also, a stretch of track near Quantico got a few million from the Stimulus for new bridges, triple or quad tracking, etc to save up to 10 minutes. Winners from a faster trip time will include the Autotrain, the Silver Star, the Silver Meteor, the Palmetto, and the Carolinian, as well as the Richmond and Tidewater trains.) Virginia has already lined up with CSX the Potomac Long Bridge slot for that second Norfolk train. In fact, Virginia holds still another new slot over the Potomac, probably for another frequency Lynchburg-D.C. Since we're being hard core realistic here, I'll admit I don't know where or when for sure.
The Piedmont Corridor is being upgraded to save some minutes, and a new early morning frequency each way Raleigh-Charlotte should be added next year. (Gaining more business riders helps ridership, but greatly helps the trains' political climate, as legislators consider business people more important than other riders.)
A new Gulf Coast train New Orleans-Orlando is liked by everyone but CSX. Mississippi Senators Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran will have to work on CSX to get real about it. I think they can do that.
CHI-Twin Cities is overdue and it's been studied to death. But speaking of death, the Minnesota legislature is now infested with haters. So good luck on that one.
Maybe the haters in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc will calm down now that passenger rail is no longer one of Obama's babies. Change in attitude may come after Illinois and Michigan start running their new Stimulus-funded 110-mph services, St Louis-Joliet (almost CHI) and Kalamazoo-Dearborn (almost Detroit) later this year. No added frequencies, and no higher-capacity bi-level cars, but service "about an hour" faster CHI-St Louis and "about 40 minutes faster" CHI-Detroit should sell a lot of tickets. Then we could see voters in neighboring states asking, Why can't we have fast trains like they do in Michigan and Illinois?
The Quad Cities line was much delayed by the Illinois budget impasse. With that resolved for now, construction can begin again. Pity is that each of the Midwest routes was supposed to support the others, so for example, the new Quad Cities route will some day feed passengers to cities on the Lincoln service, to stations on the Wolverines route, to Champaign and Carbondale, as well as to the Amtrak national system. Likewise the train from Dubuque and Rockford would feed other trains at CHI, but that's on nobody's hot list now.
In September, the Seattle-Portland trunk line of the Cascades route should go from 4 Talgos + the Starlight to 6 Talgos + the Starlight. This will allow an early morning departure arriving by 9:30 a.m., and late day return, in each direction between the end point cities, aiming to attract business day-trippers.
In June 2016 the San Joaquins added a 7th frequency; in October the Pacific Surfliner L.A.-San Diego added an umpteenth frequency. So Amtrak California will grow. If the spare Talgos from Wisconsin will work for the Pacific Surfliner, that would soon add another frequency L.A.-Santa Barbera-San Luis Obispo
Some good money was invested in many miles of new signals south of Albany, new tracks and platforms at Albany station, and double-track for about 17 miles west of Albany. Nobody has forecast any minutes cut from schedules, but simply melting away some padding could help one or more of the trains using this vital stretch: the Lake Shore Ltd., the Ethan Allen, the Adirondack, the Maple Leaf, the several Empire Corridor trains ...
So, yeah, it looks like a very good year coming up. Amtrak's Fiscal Year 2018 could easily have a half million, or even a million, more riders than this year will see.