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Forum to discuss Southwest Chief, passenger service in Colorado
A lot of hand wringing will be done, but unless the states come together and offer money to fix up that line, they might as well save their breath and move the train to the southern transcon line.
Hopefully the discussion will go beyond the Southwest Chief, as the article indicates. I firmly believe that north-south passenger rail between Trinidad and Fort Collins would tend to pay for itself when the removal of traffic from I-25 is factored in. I also think it would be a wise investment to extend the line north through Cheyenne to Casper and to use the existing AMTRAK line over Raton Pass down to Alberquerque. If this idea would gain favor, then retaining the Chief on the route east from Trinidad would be a no-brainer.
With regard to the comment regarding BNSF benefitting from the line being maintained, I believe the states could find ways to prevent this. The ultimate way would be to take the line via eminent domain and charge BNSF trackage fees.
If Amtrak reroutes the Southwest Chief where will they get the money to open any stations on the route? Or will Amtrak just run thru.
None of the options have any funding including re-routing.
Estimates show the cost to keep the present route versus re-routing are about a wash.
This is all new ground for state funding of a multi-state Amtrak train.
Stay tuned…
Ira Schreiber
Past President
Colorado Rail Passenger Association
Amarillo would come out a winner too.
I question the use of Raton Pass for a corridor service between Denver and Alberquerque because it is slow. Maybe Talgos could speed it up. I know of a couple that may be available.
I like that idea edmond. Freight railroads including the one i work for are making record profits so they need to pay for those upgrades themselves. Having the state pay for it claiming the line is not profitable and then once the millions of dollars of work is done and then start using said line again is just wrong.
Would be ashame to see it go away. But does it make sence to dump a bunch of TAX payer money into this line that bnsf has pretty much abandoned? And as with the empire builder, will the southwest chief have to deal with increased freight traffic after track upgrades are complete? Looks like BNSF sold the state of north dakota a bill of goods to get that line upgraded.
AS a couple of Posters have indicated here. The major stumbling block is State Funding to upgrade the track speeds west of Newton, Kansas. I recently read where Colorado was prepared to fund some of the monies needed in their State, I think New Mexico is leaning that way. The holdup is Gov Brownback of Kansas. Who on this issue, and that of the extension of the Heartland Flyer North from Ok City to points in Kansas; Gov. Brownback is not wanting to fund any rail in his State. He is " slow-walking the ‘Flyer’ extension and being very negative on SW Chief issues. The only real winner in the mix is the City of Wichita, which will gain the service of the SW CHief if they push it to the BNSF Southern Transcon.
the states should purchase the line from Newton west through New Mexico then if the BNSF wants to run trains across this line once it is upgraded then it should cost them per ton mile. this would reimburse the public for the cost to upgrade plus provide a catchall for any future upgrades as needed.
Not ‘my problema’, but didn’t the Raton line be a 90-mph one, with ATS? Lack of freight traffic is the problem, methinks. Amtrak, alone, can’t support the line. I’m more interested in restoring the North Coast Limited/Hiawatha service in Montana, serving our largest cities. The traffic awaits!
Tim has a good point. But all we have to do to see how this works is look at the former BNSF main between okc and tulsa. Okla bought that line when the bnsf merger happened and now they trying to buy it back. The increase in oil and sand traffic is the driving forse behind this move i assume.
The only way this line will survive as an Amtrak route is if the states involved cough up the money to get it out of the mud. Needless to say, that’s a whole lotta dough for two trains a day. But, if the states do not step up to the plate, pretty soon the Southwest Chief will be ambling along at maybe 25 mph or less for several hundred miles…
Most of the ideas/thoughts made on this topic discuss passenger service. The first item of importance to creating new routes is “Where is the freight coming from?”
Paying passengers will not support more trackage and equipment. Too many railroads were built in the past to haul cargo, which didn’t appear. They are now abandoned.
Any additional routes should include ANY state that could profit from rail service for its businesses/industries if rail was added. Otherwise it is interesting discussion and hope, and nothing else.
I wish I could be there to throw in my two cents.
Reroute the following: Chief via Wichita and utilize the wye south of the Albuquerque Station in order to continue service; Sunset Limited at San Antonio to go via Oklahoma City and end in Wichita (I don’t believe Kansas City has the capacity for more than two trains); Texas Eagle via Corsicana to end in Galveston.
Extend: Crescent to end in San Antonio
Move: Heartland Flyer equipment to Newton to do a state-run service to Denver via Pueblo, just like Colorado wants.
Charge the BNSF trackage fees?The BNSF has no use for the
line. The lack of any development North of Las Vegas is pretty
incredible, the population is shrinking and there is a total lack
of any supporting industry. The line East of La Junta is in poor
shape, needs ties, rail and surfacing, it’s already beset with a
number of slow orders. This would be a good spot for the states
to really consider this and come to some expedient decision.
I ride the Chief a couple times a year from Chicago to LA. KC to Amarillo to Clovis to ABQ. Get off the 30 mph track, fit in with the frieights and serve much larger cities. If those that disagree want a train so bad, have a bilevel self propelled car ABQ to Trinidad to KC train, but leave the Chief out of it.
Everyone seems to think that the line west of Newton has no freight traffic. There is still freight between Newton and La Junta, it’s from La Junta to ABQ that is the problem. I think BNSF is looking for the states to pay for the upgrade to the entire line, claiming that the line is only handling the 2 Amtrak trains a day when this is not true. After the states pony up tax payers money for the rebuild they will suddenly decide that the line is needed for overflow traffic off the transcon and the on line freight service is too valuable to lose, then they will keep running it. The only losers will be us, the tax payers. I’m all for keeping the Chief on this route, but BNSF needs to come clean about their real intentions.
I’m opposed to the reroute for the most part, especially if the SW Chief will bypass ABQ through Belen. However, Brining the SW Chief through Pueblo could present other problems. These would include later westbound and earlier eastbound times south and west of the CO/NM state line, breaking its connection with the Coast Starlight at Los Angeles and unfavorable hours at Flagstaff. The only real way to get service to Pueblo would require a full restoration and upgrade of the tracks through KS, CO, and NM back to the level it once was long before the BNSF merger. Certainly the route within NM would be ideal for ABQ’s Railrunner commuter service.
The upcoming elections this year in NM could be a key factor, too. If Gov. Martinez does not have a change of heart, let’s hope NM voters will want a change in the governor’s chair.
We’ve got a huge new tax surplus out here created by the dem’s, approved by the voters, but now our illustrious leaders are unsure what to with the new windfall from “recreational pot”, so they’re creating programs to teach youth about the dangers of pot. Did you get that? Maybe some could be put to better use, like rebuilding the infrastructure… ie Raton line.