How anyone could oppose this is way beyond me but the people on the Railroad.net board have exposed themselves yet again
https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/a-two-amtrak-concept/?RAchannel=passengerSiemens Cars: Brightline vs Amtrak & Via equipment vs State-Supported Venture Cars
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,5396069,nodelay=1When discussing Siemens equipment, please keep in mind, it is all not created equal! Sure, it may look the same on the surfaces that most people can see, but open up the equipment boxes or even look at some of the material used, and you can spot differences.Brightline basically told Siemens “we want RailJet equipment” with customized interiors. Siemens built and maintains the Brightline equipment. If a train does not make pull out or fails in service, Siemens pay penalties.
Amtrak and VIA have Technical Support, Spare Supply Agreements with Siemens, which basically ensure there is a Siemens technician available to help Amtrak or VIA diagnose and repair the equipment. The agreement also gaurantees parts avalability and delivery to the failed equipment within a specified time. If for some reason, parts or technicians are not available, or can not resolve the issues in a predetermined amount of time, Siemens pays a penalty. For ACS64, Siemens has paid more penalties than cost of TSSSA contract in the first 5 years!
The State owned equipment was not able to leverage a TSSSA agreement from the start. This is because of the some of services the States already pay Amtrak for would be duplicated in the TSSSA costs. The States each have their own unique and kwirky accounting requirements, which has been a major nightmare to try and execute any sort of TSSSA.
Explains a lot with the Venture Cars vs Brightline as in why the former in the Midwest keep having issues
Diaspora is shutting down the diasp.org server at the end of the month, so I'm republishing my best posts from that server here.
Thinking Beyond Commuter Rail
...but
the funny thing is it isn't against Brightline given the bad blood at the
height of the pandemic. Instead, it's back in Sir Branson's native UK against
Eurostar. Given that the UK is renationalizing its rail network and that Virgin
also exited the domestic market on acrimonious terms, the continental European
market is the only option. I thought for sure that Branson would be determined
to prove Brightline wrong by piggybacking off another private U.S. operator
but that’s not the case.
Scoop: Amtrak, MDOT eye Michigan Central for new Detroit train, bus station - Axios Detroit
A pleasant surprise is in the making because it looked as though the Motor City was going to have two non-connecting train stations. If MDOT or the city wants another station in Detroit, it could build it somewhere other than the New Center location. In the meantime, with Ford having restored MCS to its former glory, curve out a space for the station to actually serve trains.
Site selected for future Palmer train station along West-East Rail line
MassDOT Chooses “Site B” As Its Plan A to Locate Palmer’s Rail Stop…
Meanwhile in the Bay State, I just don't get this decision. The Steaming Tender Restaurant was there for the taking--not to mention, a perfect symmetry with New England Central's planned Central Corridor and potential connections galore. The platform for Amtrak could have been raised. Instead, the best-case scenario is now that the town will end up with two tiny stations and passengers would have to use rideshares or local buses if they want to change trains. So much for connectivity.
This also brings me to another point: The New England coordination has been all out of whack over the last decade and a half. Massachusetts has been receptive to restoring passenger service to the Berkshires- Pittsfield route via Housatonic Railroad but cool to the Central Corridor (it even dismissed the notion of the New London-Palmer-Brattleboro route in 2017). Meanwhile, Connecticut has welcomed the idea of Housatonic operating service while having very mixed opinions on the Central Corridor. The leaders in both states need to overcome their aversion to track-owning railroads operating intercity service. If Herzog can operate the Hartford Line, then, there's no reason that Housatonic and New England Central can't.
It's official: Amtrak is staying put at the Hialeah location. It took eight years, but I told ya so! Amtrak management has had a history of standing up communities that built new stations so this isn't anything new. Previously, Salt Lake City was the largest city to receive the cold shoulder. Now, Miami has gotten the same treatment.
