Tackling the Headlines 48

Possible Ethan Allen rerouting a likely detriment to eastern New York

There's trouble in paradise because the state of Vermont is leaning towards rerouting the Ethan Allen Express via Mechanicville, skipping Saratoga Springs in the process.

Take: This would be an egregious example of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Saratoga & North Creek's service would take a big hit as it would only connect to the Adirondack. Assuming that Vermont opts for an Ethan Allen reroute over a brand new train route to Rutland, the state of New York has to step up to extend one or two Empire Service roundtrips to Saratoga Springs to maintain and maximize ridership. My solution is for Amtrak to extend Trains #236 or #238 and #235 (the train that currently runs on #290's schedule would become an Albany-NYP only train while the extended trains in question become daily if they are not already so and #239 would add Friday service).

All Aboard Florida announces new station location

Florida East Coast's passenger entity cleared a major hurdle in South Florida as it got the go ahead to build a new station on Evernia Street. 

Take: Now, they need to resolve the Cocoa-Orlando Airport conflict with the Mormon Church.

More delays with the Amtrak-FEC route

Speaking of the FEC, this story is pretty self-explanatory.

Take: Florida did everything it could, Amtrak wants this service, but the feds' refusal to fund the route in the midst of Fast Train Fever three years ago is the real culprit. As a result, my open bet is still out there.

Lawsuit against CAHSR tossed out

This stretched back to about five years ago where the issues were centered over whether the HSR route should even be along the Caltrain route north of San Jose as well as the routing between the Central and Silicon Valleys.

Take: Hopefully, all of the other lawsuits will meet the same fate.