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CSX files to increase operations over Indiana short line
As much as we would love a Florida - Chicago route, CSX is not Amtrak friendly. They more or less just tolerate Amtrak. Mike Ward has made it clear that freight routes just have no place for passenger trains.
Maybe this will give Amtrak a Chicago to Florida route.
This makes no sense. I assume it would cost less than $90 million to update the former B&O line from Seymour to Vincennes. After that its a straight shot to St Louis interchange. If they follow through with this, then they will either abandon the Seymour/Vincennes route or spin it off to IRR. There is still online business between Vincennes and Mitchell. This is weird as the B&O route is a straight shot from STL to the Atlantic ports.
The old L&N route through La Grange between Louisville and Cincinnati is single track with some cool but slow street running. This is a rare plus for the Hoosier state.
This has little to do with St. Louis traffic and instead with traffic between the Great Lakes and the South bypassing Cincinnati in favor of Louisville and Nashville.
I doubt that the Louisville to cinci trains will stop useing the b&o. csx is currently upgrading between Seymour and cinci
Wouldn’t it have been cheaper and more efficient to use the Monon trackage the Indiana Railroad just abandoned?
This is about congestion issues on the LCL Sub between Cincinnati and Louisville. The LCL cannot be upgraded easily to accommodate more trains due to it’s geography. The plan envisions trains doing what they do now-using the L&I to access the Indiana Sub (ex-B&O) to Cincinnati.
CSX closed the old Monon (Hoosier Sub) in 2009 and its future is bleak. And CSX can send trains to St. Louis from Louisville via the LH&STL Sub (Or even the L&I at Seymour) if they want to.
I believe 60 MPH is FRA class 4 track, good for 60 MPH (freight) and 80 MPH (passenger). Maybe this will create an opportunity for Amtrak to finally provide a time-competitive passenger service to Louisville!
As for restoring Amtrak service between Chicago and Florida on this route, Indiana historically has been a trouble state for finding suitable routes. Upgrading the L&I would help, as the Kentucky Cardinal ran this way, but unfortunately the train had low ridership. One time I rode it from Louisville to Indianapolis, it had more locomotives on the train than coaches departing Louisville. Passengers barely outnumbered the train crew. I sensed this train was doomed when the mail contracts ended.
If only CSX kept the Monon intact for the entirety, they wouldn’t have these issues…and if they haven’t torn up the L&N to St.Louis they could steal a little bit of NS’s traffic on there Louisville line. I would love to see Amtrak come back to the Bluegrass. Particularly on the NS and CSX, the CNO&TP while congested can easily handle a few passenger trains, Lexington and other towns would be greatly affected. It going via CSX would eventually get to Florida.