WASHINGTON — An amendment offered by two U.S. senators, pressuring Amtrak for its effort to add conditions to its pledge of funding for work on the route of the Southwest Chief, has advanced in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A Friday news…
Isn’t amazing that when you threaten some ones station agents, hot meals or passenger train, the politicans come out and finally supports thier service.
Amtrak’s new CEO will soon find out it was far easier to discontinue flights than it will to kill the Southwest Chief.
The Amendment has to pass first. New Mexico and Kansas are two impoverished states that have problems balancing their state budgets. CEO of Amtrak is right to be concerned about the very shaky agreement Boardman setup because neither NM or KS has really a strong constituency for being able to afford or support passenger train service. In NM it’s a miracle they got the RoadRunner built but even now there is talk of dismantling it as something they can not afford and if you talk to folks that live in NM, it is pointed to as a money pit.
I think if they could bring in Colorado and Missouri to the agreement, it would help alleviate some of the Amtrak CEO’s concerns about sustainability. Even then though the agreement is kind of shakey. Best would be a multi-state rail compact created legally between the states that established a more permanent funding and contracting vehicle. Like the Midwest has (which Amtrak is comfortable with).
Glad Trains believes talk of railroads can be apolitical.
Gee, we’ve never seen THAT before! [;)]
Just gotta horse-trade at the state level… Trade Kansas in the middle of the night for a second KC - Chicago train and throw in Thruway bus connections across the gap meeting both trains. Everyone wins! Might need a barrel of cash for BNSF, too…
Wouldn’t also make sense since Amtrak and the states are paying for this isolated line with limited traffic to possibly reroute the California Zephyr to run Chicago to KC first then over the state maintained line…then up the joint line to Denver? How much additional time would that take vs the potential speed improvement? Colorado would get the Pueblo stop without rerouting the SW Chief.
Maybe install ATS on the line after KC all the way to Colorado and increase speed again?
The joint line is congested, Stops west of Raton would be missed.
You’d have to bring a dump truck full of money!
Often stated in the Trains Forums but never with any real evidence, that it is really a unsurmountable obstacle.
There was evidence a while back. An observer noting stationary trains waiting for track space.
For your information, the states of KS, CO & NM joined the BNSF and Amtrak to fund the needed track improvements.
But Airline Anderson, in his infinite “wisdom,” decided to renege on Amtrak’s pledge to financially support the route.
Now, this feckless leader is running around like a chicken without its head, acting like Amtrak isn’t getting any funding and ordering the ending of this great (and successful) route.
The SW Chief is one of Amtrak’s Top 5 long distance trains in revenue and ridership. There’s no reason to discontinue it and turn it into a BUS ROUTE.
Time for Airline Anderson to go.
[quote user=“CMStPnP”]
ROBERT WILLISON
Isn’t amazing that when you threaten some ones station agents, hot meals or passenger train, the politicans come out and finally supports thier service.
Amtrak’s new CEO will soon find out it was far easier to discontinue flights than it will to kill the Southwest Chief.
The Amendment has to pass first. New Mexico and Kansas are two impoverished states that have problems balancing their state budgets. CEO of Amtrak is right to be concerned about the very shaky agreement Boardman setup because neither NM or KS has really a strong constituency for being able to afford or support passenger train service. In NM it’s a miracle they got the RoadRunner built but even now there is talk of dismantling it as something they can not afford and if you talk to folks that live in NM, it is pointed to as a money pit.
I think if they could bring in Colorado and Missouri to the agreement, it would help alleviate some of the Amtrak CEO’s concerns about sustainability. Even then though the
So what’s the latest on this topic?
A couple of people have posted to the congestion on the joint line. Buslist had a lot of information on it, unfortunately he is no longer with us.
If you don’t have access to NewsWire, Amtrak’s Anderson said that they did not intend to run trains on a “sole use segment” such as the Raton Rass to Albuquerque area. There might be a bus connection between LaJunta and Albuquerque, to join the truncated trains from CHI and LAX
That is becuase they have to pay the full cost of maintaining such line segments. In plain language, “If we cant get a free ride, we aint gona’ run no stinking train.”
This makes little sense. The direct CHI-DEN route is popular. Going through KS & southern CO, which already has a train, isn’t necessary and would eliminate service to IA and NE, which also, like other areas, deserve passenger service.
Never wise to cannibalize one successful service for another.
Amtrak would only have had to pay a small part of of it. Other federal grants, the states, and even BNSF were willing to pay its upkeep. The fact that BNSF was willing to contribute tells me that they were not willing to let Raton go yet, or maybe they just wanted to keep the SWC off the southern Transcon.
For BNSF, a bit of both. I approve of this ammendment. I think it is just plain nuts to think a permanent bus bridge can replace the Raton Pass route, might as well just drop the train competely. I used the train(s?) six or seven times, (Super Chief, El Capitan, Southwestern Chief) before and after 1 May 1971, but would certainly have picked a different route if there had been a bus bridge in the middle. (Most frequent routing used the D&RGW one or anoher way each side, and the only "bus bridge"encountered was the occasional van or taxi or clients car to or from Ogden, when real rail service was not availablel Salt Lake - Ogden and the SP used west of Ogden.)
Or they were willing to pay blackmail money to not be seen locally as the big bad railroad that killed the poor little passenger train.
I stopped in @ the Amtrak office in Newton and had a talk w/Michelle concerning possible service changes. Agency offices in Ft. Madison, Topeka, Garden City, La Junta and Lamy have already closed or will soon be closing. This leaves Newton as the only open agency between Kan City and Abluquerque. The only thing keeping Newton open is the bus connection to/from Oklcit. I am approaching this w/an open mind. As Train Wire reported, a possible reformat could find a daytime/evening Chief from either LaJunt or Dodge to Chicago. I would take that over the nonsense overnight dead of night train stops in Newton.