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BNSF derailment in New Mexico delays Amtrak
If Amtrak is going to keep co-existing with the freight railroads, both parties are going to have to negotiate a viable contingency plan that will allow Amtrak to keep to its schedule. I’ve ridden this route several times and delays are costly to both Amtrak and its passengers. Missed meetings and events usually can’t be repeated or sufficiently compensated. If Amtrak is going to continue and become a viable transportation vehicle, reliability is mandatory.
Delays on the Southwest Chief will only get worse because the BNSF has downgraded the route between Newton and Albuquerque. The train could be eliminated in the future the was Amtrak is handling this particular train.
Amtrak would like to shift the Chief to the BNSF transcon through Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle and they probablly will if they get their way. I don’t think the Chief will be eliminated as Robert mentioned.
This is another example of the need for separate freight and passenger lines in this country. Passenger trains are needlessly heavy due to the crash requirements imposed by operating on heavy freight lines. Also I have never heard what rail weight is required for only higher speed passenger rail anything higher than 135 mph. I also understand that BNSF wants to abandon the Raton Pass route now that the double track through Abo Canyon in eastern NM is complete. This would give the Southwest Chief clear passage over the Raton and still go through NM’s capital city,
Trying to separate passenger and freight trackage through the vast spaces of the central and western USA will be economically disasterous. Delays caused by derailments are basically unavoidable and cost the freight railroad as much or more than Amtrak loses.