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Empire Builder connections severed through August
Join the discussion on the following article:
Empire Builder connections severed through August
The Aug 3rd arrival time of 4:21am doesn’t make sense. Either that train was really early or the day is incorrect (as in the train arrived the morning of Aug 4th at 4am). A 4:21am arrival on Aug 3rd would make sense if the Aug 2nd train ran very late (not that 9:04pm can be considered on time).
Can you please clarify?
Maybe its time for the BNSF to double track the northern transcom. There is a lot of single track across North Dakota and Montana with passing sidings here and there.
The existing route is not the only way to Seattle. Come on Amtrak, show some spine and get away from that non populous northern route.
A sad state for the once proud empire builder
How much time would they save using t
How
Let me try this on a real computer instead of a cell phone. Wouldn’t it make sense to go over the New Rockford cutoff, at least until the track work on the Devil’s Lake line is completed? It’s significantly faster.
If NASA is right that this summer’s weather is a harbinger of global warming Amtrak is going to have to have separate summer schedules to reflect heat orders.
Why is this train still running when it has been shown that a private sector bus company in competition with another bus company, and another, can do a better job of being on time? Plus it is much easier to reroute a bus when something happens on the road. Long distance passenger trains are dinosaurs on government life support or welfare based tourist trains, depending on your perspective.
Perhaps Amtrak needs to charge what it really costs to operate the train. And people really needing to get from Seattle to New York MIGHT stand a better change of getting there on time via an airline flight. That’s if airlines (like (Chicago’s home-based carrier) don’t miss THEIR connections by being late or flights canceled because they weren’t booked full enough (I know, they will come up with some other vague equipment issue as a cover story). Since we subsidize air traffic control and airport construction, there goes the argument about “welfare-funded tourist services.”
Jeffery, Jeffery, Jeffery…
Jeffery, Jeffery, Jeffery…
Isn’t there some alternative routing that the EB can use to avoid the 'problem" areas ? Or are the BNSF dispatchers playing games with this train ? I would suggest that Warren Buffett lease a business car for a trip, both ways, on the EB and then check on the dispatching and adherance to the printed time schedule. Naturally, no advance word on who will be on the business car, just infromagtion that one will be added to the consist.
Here we go again. BNSF was once the good guy in dealing with Amtrak, but now that’s not the case. Add these delays–which are partly due to “freight congestion”–to the proposal to reroute the Southwest Chief, and Warren’s railroad isn’t being such a good citizen.
There is always Hope… Back in 2006 I took the entire Seattle route east bound, pulling into Union station 1 min early. Of all the class 1’s, BNSF is by far the best one for AMTK to deal with. and Jeffrey: This train serves towns in Montana and ND that have no other means of Long distance transportaion. I guess you never had a flat-iron steak on the Builder either. Or Rail road French toast.