Random thoughts #15

1. This is what happens when you have the largest city in the nation without passenger train service for the last 26 years and a state DOT that has been passive at best towards intercity rail. Leaders in Arizona are letting a golden opportunity slip by their fingers.
2. Connects US is proof that Amtrak President Stephen Gardner is the anti-matrix theory guy.

3. As I said almost a decade ago, Amtrak doesn’t have a funding problem, it has a management problem, and nothing emphasizes this more than the various equipment and mechanical issues that passengers have experience over the past year and a half.

4. Also, the way management handled the long-distance trains throughout this entire pandemic is way beyond appalling.

5. The gist of Disney's about face last month is that the organization is acting like a petulant child because how dare Brightline serve Mickey Mouse's competitors when the Disney organization only wanted the operator to cater to them

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Service could be returning to BC

Service on Vancouver Island has been inactive for months due to bad tracks.

Take: Given Via's recent moves, letting the new owner operate the route is not a bad idea at all.

Oh, Wanderu

The startup company has enlisted former Greyhound and Priceline executives as advisers.
Take: The bus thing is fine but they should wait until there are more rail operators because the only state where this idea would work is New York in interlining Amtrak with Saratoga & North Creek at Saratoga Springs.

Virgin Trains to operate West Coast Line until 2014

A new deal was just inked.

Take: Even more evidence that the British government messed up the allocation of this route big time.

Tucson’s airport wants in on the action

The airport is really adamant about being included in the state's plan.
Take: As an era of modal cooperation takes hold, rail-airport links will become more vital than ever.

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Iowa releases study on Quad Cities-Omaha route
The state decided to blend two existing routes--the ex-Rock Island route with the route that the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr and the Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg routes currently use. 


Take: Other than the Hawkeye State's blinking on providing train service right away the way their eastern neighbor plans to, the thing that irks me the most about the plan is a lack of creativity by both Des Moines and Springfield. The latter must have told the former that Amtrak would automatically be tapped to run the entire Chicago-Quad Cities-Omaha route. 


The thing about that is that if someone had shown enough creativity, the state governments could have selected another operator to run the brand new service. They should have used the ARRA provisions to produce the new Iowa service. As for Iowa's issues with the former Rock Island route not serving Union Station, it should have worked out something with its eastern neighbor to provide a guaranteed transfer between LaSalle Street Station and Union Station rather than having Illinois resort to building a new track just to move the train from one route to the other.


Moynihan Station poised to become a grand gateway
Take: Wake me up when there is real progress on this project.


U.S. pressures legislators on bullet train funds
Take: This is more of a threat than some movement to put this back on the ballot as part of an effort to repeal CAHSR.

ADOT studies 6 rail routes for Tucson-to-Phoenix line

Take: It is a bit of a start. I just hope the state gets around to implementing the service soon.


Comparing and contrasting

First up, the Class II and III railroads' mouthpiece:

At the ASLRRA dinner gathering itself, I shared some time with Vermont Rail System's Ed Fitzgerald and Brent Brewer, and while we recapped numerous freight-related topics, the talk turned once more to passenger rail on short lines and regionals, which in Ed and Brent's view was one more business facet, since Vermont Railway hosts Amtrak's Ethan Allen, linking Rutland, Vt., and New York via Albany, N.Y. The business angle? Hopes and plans to extend the Ethan Allen to Burlington, Vermont Rail System's headquarters city.
I don't claim such interest or discussion began only this year. Last year, Reading & Northern President Wayne Michel made it clear "passenger rail" were not dirty words to him or his staff when it came to future business prospects; indeed, the Railway Age 2011 Regional Railroad of the Year operates its own passenger excursions as a marketing tool, and as a goodwill gesture, to its clientele and surrounding communities. It was more than willing to host a regional ("commuter") or intercity rail service, if the opportunity arose and the fiscal numbers fit.
And maybe that's the key. Passenger rail is, at long last, once again a business option, a business proposition, for the rail industry—as my colleague Editor-in-Chief Bill Vantuono likes to say, we are one industry

Next, the face of the Class I railroads:

He also repeated the official stance of the railroads that the accepted operator of intercity passenger trains is Amtrak. He neither explained nor elaborated on this.
Many will take solace in the notion that the AAR has given its seeming endorsement to Amtrak as the sole operator of non-commuter trains in the country. As the conference wore on, however, it was clear that not all shared this opinion. 

Take: There has been a lot of talk about private operation and the Class Is' willingness--or lack thereof--to reenter the game. The regional and shortline railroads get it while the bulk of the major railroads are still stuck on the status quo like the Luddites they are slowly revealing themselves to be. We are supposed to see competitive bidding, but all we get is the AAR stalling to keep things the way they are without even recognizing the business aspects of even running one or two routes in regards to Section 214 of PRIIA. 


If the Forbes article from March has any merit to it, the Big Seven have to realize that they'll be on the hook for all of Amtrak's routes should they play a role in Amtrak's demise and then turn around and keep Virgin and AIPRO members off U.S. tracks.

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From the CAHSR Blog

Take: It was not that long ago that DesertXpress officials were crowing about how they were going to build the route without any federal money. Two and a half years later, they are singing a different tune. Unlike the skeptics, I have never had any problem with the train terminating in Victorville because I've been under the impression that the train would be extended to Los Angeles via Palmdale since DX officials have always cited environmental concerns. Rather, I am upset that the company has been unable to keep its pledge to fund the service entirely because the request falls into the hands of HSR opponents who do nothing but yell "boondoggle."

State examines a rail alternative to the I-10

Take: Arizona is a state that gets it--population growth that shows no sign of slowing down requires alternatives to widening interstate highways when gas will be even costlier in the years to come. As one of the things discussed in the state's rail plan, reestablishing direct Tucson-Phoenix route should be the first line of business. The report talks about the lack of ticket machines and decent amenities at the stations along the Southwest Chief's route. The solution is simple to me: Hire special employees to work at certain stations assuming that Amtrak operates an intrastate Arizona system. These workers would sell tickets for anyone using intrastate trains but anyone traveling via the Chief or the Sunset would have to use the Quik-Trak machines.


On high speed rail, it can be planned but I'd let the various private companies currently planning routes handle most of the work.

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Second Vancouver, BC Cascades roundtrip to continue indefinitely
This is pretty much breaking news.


Take: It is really nice to see the Canadian government actually care about cross-border train service for once. Transit advocates should keep the pressure on them and U.S. Customs to make cross-border travel less of a hassle.


Arizona rail plan under attack
An editorial expresses skepticism about a rail plan the AZ Transportation Board approved in March.


Take: The newspaper is right to be skeptical about most of the routes being built on a separate right of way rather than on existing rails but the state needs to have a working rail system in place. For starters, the state needs to take possession of the dormant SP line that traverses through Phoenix for service to L.A. Then, it needs to provide intercity rail service to the rest of the state.


Can someone give Florida a wake-up call?
The Sunshine State's Transportation Vision plan is...just lacking.


Take: Other than throwing a bone to Tri-Rail, there is nothing that even pertains to rail. It is truly highway-centric. I just hope a more forward-thinking official is in power in Tallahassee four years from now. Maybe by then, FL will have a real vision plan that provides Floridians a rail option.

Addendum: Amtrak and PPP routes

This is the follow-up to my September 27 article. The graphics cover the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle combination that Amtrak is proposing and two new southern transcontinental routes operated under a public-private partnership.

The eastbound routes

	Amtrak Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited	New Amtrak Route	Rail Consortium Transcontinental Desert Limited	Rail Consortium Central Gulf Wind
Los Angeles	23:30		7:02
Phoenix@			14:28a
			14:43a
Maricopa	8:19
	8:29
Tucson	10:17		16:50
	10:37		17:10
El Paso	16:41		23:17
	17:25		0:01
San Antonio	6:50		13:05
	Route continues to Chicago at 7:40	7:50	13:50
Houston		11:58	17:55
		12:10	18:10	6:10
Baton Rouge			1:45	13:45
New Orleans		21:00	3:15	15:15
			4:15	16:15
Mobile			7:40	19:40
Pensacola			10:19	22:19
Tallahassee			15:59	3:59
Jacksonville-Union Terminal			20:08	8:08
			20:38	8:38
Orlando-LYNX Station			22:53	10:45
			23:08	11:00
Tampa-Union Station			1:10	13:10

Now, for the westbound routes

	Rail Consortium Central Gulf Wind	Rail Consortium Transcontinental Desert Limited	New Amtrak Route	Amtrak Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited
Tampa-Union Station	19:25	7:25		Route arrives from Chicago at 22:30
Orlando-LYNX Station	21:35	9:35
	21:45	9:45
Jacksonville-Union Terminal	0:20	12:20
	0:50	12:50
Tallahassee	3:42	15:42
Pensacola	8:41	20:41
Mobile	11:23	23:15
New Orleans	15:21	3:21
	16:21	4:21	9:45
Baton Rouge	17:51	5:51
Houston	1:16	13:16	18:25
		13:31	18:35
San Antonio		17:30	23:00
		18:05		1:10
El Paso		5:46		11:51
		6:30		12:35
Tucson		12:44		18:49
		13:15		19:20
Maricopa				20:47
				20:57
Phoenix@		16:45b
		17:00b
Los Angeles		0:35		5:05

Important notes

^@ At first, the Desert Limited will call Union Station home. In the future, long-distance trains will relocate to Sky Harbor International Airport

a-Times will be 10 minutes later upon Phoenix station relocation

b-Times will be 10 minutes earlier upon Phoenix station relocation

Phoenix will serve as the temporary western terminus until the Southern Pacific tracks are restored. Once that happens, the Desert Limited will be extended to Los Angeles

Shortly after the launch of the Desert Limited, the eastern terminus will be moved from Orlando to Tampa