"Amarillo by Morning" (George Strait): Federal Railroad Commission studying potential for Amtrak

MyHighPlains

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – While Amarillo is known today as the centermost city along Historic Route 66, its history as an iconic connection point for the different regions of the United States didn’t begin with the numbered highway system. Instead, it started with the railroad – and the Federal Railroad Administration is looking to bring passenger rail service back into the Center City’s center stage.

According to its website, the FRA is conducting a study on Amtrak’s daily long-distance service, “to evaluate the restoration of daily long-distance intercity rail passenger service and the potential for new Amtrak long-distance routes.” As noted by the FRA, this means the study could identify capital projects and funding needed to once again connect Amarillo by rail to the rest of the country, making passenger train service from the area to cities such as Chicago or Los Angeles available.
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"Amarillo by Morning" (Alan Jackson): Federal Railroad Commission studying potential for Amtrak pass

Guess you're not into country music. That would be George Strait, not Alan Jackson.

You’re right. Oops.

At tke same time I-27 has been approved that would connect Denver with Texas thru Amarillo. I-27 would be a north/south route from near Raton to West Texas .

You can try and direct "the Reverend" around by Amarillo but where he wants to get off is Tucumcari

Jeez where would this train go? I drive through Amarillo a few times per year on the way from Santa Fe back east and there is nothing for hours on either side.

And who would ride this train? Amarillo is not huge, and the folks there love their trucks. If you're in a hurry, you fly to Dallas on either American or Southwest, both of which have major hubs.

This is so misplaced and out of order when we don't have reliable 5x/day Houston-DFW-San Antonio-Austin. That's the 4th, 5th, 24th, and 27th largest metro areas in the US. Plus Fort Hood and any number of major universities.

If you look at the density map below, it becomes obvious where the people are and where they aren't.

Geez, where did the FRA get all this loot from to do what NARP should be doing out of their member's dues?

Tadman wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 7:56 am Jeez where would this train go? I drive through Amarillo a few times per year on the way from Santa Fe back east and there is nothing for hours on either side.

If you look at the track maybe this could reroute the Chief on the Belen Cutoff from New Mexico to Kansas City. AFAIK BNSF has rebuilt this part of the line.

Since this is a study maybe consider what is left of FW&D to have a train to Fort Worth & Dallas. Your choice back to Denver or California.

I can't find any suggestion that there is any study to route passenger trains through Amarillo except a local paper's mention of a national study.

RandallW wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 6:09 am I can't find any suggestion that there is any study to route passenger trains through Amarillo except a local paper's mention of a national study.

The "national study" in question is the Federal Railway Administration's Amtrak Daily Long Distance Service Study, further discussed in the FRA Enhanced Long Distance Network Map thread.

The "Central Working Group Meeting 2" presentation gives a hint as to where Amarillo came into the picture; pages 9 and 10 show how travel flows between Dallas/Fort Worth, Amarillo and Denver suggested a new segment connecting those points, while pages 18 and 19 show how an Albuquerque-Amarillo-Newton segment adds rural accessibility to underserved areas.

EdSchweppe wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 7:41 pm The "national study" in question is the Federal Railway Administration's Amtrak Daily Long Distance Service Study, further discussed in the FRA Enhanced Long Distance Network Map thread.

The "Central Working Group Meeting 2" presentation gives a hint as to where Amarillo came into the picture; pages 9 and 10 show how travel flows between Dallas/Fort Worth, Amarillo and Denver suggested a new segment connecting those points, while pages 18 and 19 show how an Albuquerque-Amarillo-Newton segment adds rural accessibility to underserved areas.

I keep finding it weird that the routing is something I was doing for my first book. Dallas-Fort Worth-Amarillo...

Wait... where's the abandoned station...

Oh, I routed through Abilene, not Amarillo. The visitor center and Everman Park used to be a station. From Fort Worth it's the UP Baird Subdivision, Lampasas Subdivision, BNSF Slaton Subdivision, then the Clovis subdivison to Belen and then Albuquerque. Granted, off Slaton you can switch to Plainview subdiv at Lubbock, and then onto the Hereford Subdiv up to Amarillo.

That said, I'd use my routing and then from Albuquerque go north up to Denver and Cheyenne, or even Billings.