Speeding Up the Hiawatha

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

This is from the front page of the 7/30/04 issue of The Business Journal of Milwaukee. It’s sorta lengthy, but I thought it rather interesting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Speeding up the Hiawatha: Ridership increase leads to call for more frequency, higher speed, Madison trips. By Rich Rovito.

The number of passengers riding Amtrak’s Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago has climbed to record levels, fueling talks of expanding the number of trips on the route and increasing the speed of the trains.

Also under consideration by state and federal officials is extending the Hiawatha service west to Madison.

A total of 453,611 passengers traveled on the Hiawatha line for the 12-month period ended June 30, an increase of 13 percent compared with the prior fiscal year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

In June, more than 41,000 passengers used the train, an increase of nearly 8 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

State and Amtrak officials are seeking funds for improvements to the rail line, owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, that would allow trains to travel at higher speeds.

Wisconsin Department of Transportation secretary Frank Busalacchi traveled to Washington, D.C., in late June to reiterate his support for Amtrak’s Corridors Initiative that would create high-speed rail service that would connect Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison.

Development of the Milwaukee-to-Madison corridor is one of the “Tier One” projects identified by Amtrak in the initiative, which is part of Amtrak’s 2005 strategic plan that establishes priorities for passenger rail routes with the greatest ridership and economic development potential.

Preliminary engineering and environmental work on the Milwaukee-to-Madison segment already has been completed.

2

After posting the above, I dug a bit deeper into the Business Journal archives, and found this article from 9/15/03.

On the road to records
Business passengers push Milwaukee-Chicago line ridership increase
Pete Millard

Amtrak’s Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago smashed passenger records for July and is on pace to set new ridership highs for the year.

In July, Amtrak’s 14 daily Hiawatha trains carried 40,124 passengers, an increase of 13.4 percent compared to the service’s previous high of 35,385 in July 2002.

Amtrak also set a new revenue record in July on the Hiawatha line without raising fares. Amtrak collected $647,027 in fares, a 10.5 percent increase over July 2002.

Thanks to increased ridership in April, May, June and July, Amtrak officials expect the Milwaukee-Chicago connection to post year-end passenger figures that are between 10 percent and 12 percent higher in 2003.

The Hiawatha corridor also has the highest on-time performance in the Amtrak system.

Hiawatha trains are on schedule 95.2 percent of the time, said Dan Stessel, an Amtrak spokesman. Out of 4,634 trains that ran between Chicago and Milwaukee over the last 11 months, 221 were late, said Stessel.

Nationally, Amtrak reported 2.2 million passengers in July, making it the best month for ridership in the railroad’s 32-year history. The record-setting month comes on the heels of Amtrak’s strongest April, May and June ridership ever when the railroad carried an average of 2.1 million people each month.

“Slowly, but surely we are making improvements and are beginning to see results,” said Amtrak president David Gunn.

Business drives figures
Amtrak attributes the increase in ridership along the Hiawatha line to an increase in the number of b

3

Also from the Business Journal:

Central Texans traveling to Dallas for the annual Red River Shootout football game between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma might be able to skip I-35 traffic.

Amtrak’s Texas Eagle will offer “Texas Victory Game Train” service between Austin and Dallas on the weekend of the game in October. For several years, Amtrak has offered a similar service to OU fans traveling from Oklahoma City to Dallas for the game.

Amtrak says the train will be bigger than the Oklahoma train and will be embellished with UT-inspired decorations. Amtrak will offer special on-board events for the UT fans and intends to provide a limited number of private rooms at no extra charge.

Round-trip train travel will cost UT fans about $60 each.

4

From the 1/19/04 Business Journal:

Rail station links Mitchell to Chicago fliers

Midwest Airlines hopes to lure Illinois travelers
Michael Muckian

Midwest Airlines and air travelers from Chicago’s northern suburbs are expected to be the major beneficiaries of an Amtrak station scheduled to break ground near General Mitchell International Airport this spring.

A deal between Midwest Air Group Inc., the Oak Creek airline’s holding company, and Amtrak, Washington, D.C., will allow passengers to board the Hiawatha line in downtown Chicago or the suburb of Glenview and take the train to a new station adjacent to Mitchell’s western boundary.

The project is being paid for with $6.5 million in federal funds delivered through the U.S. Department of Transportation. It will be augmented by $100,000 in design and engineering assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The station will be built on Milwaukee County land where existing Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks pass the airport at the west end of remote parking lot B, said Ron Adams, director of Wisconsin’s Bureau of Railroads & Harbors. The parcel also houses leased hangars for Midwest Airlines.

Midwest Airlines, a primary beneficiary, has no financial stake in the project, said Carol Skornicka, the airline’s senior vice president and chief counsel.

“We’re not building it, we’re not funding it, but we are encouraging it as a means to extend our market to encompass northern Illinois,” Skornicka said.

Currently, between 6 percent and 10 percent of Midwest Airlines’ frequent flyer program members are from Illinois, Skornicka said. The airline has not projected the amount those numbers may climb once rail service is initiated to Mitchell, she said.

Once the station is completed by late 2004, the trip from Glenview should take 45 minutes and cost $15 to $

5

The Milwaukee Road once made the trip from Chicago to Milwaukee, on jointed rail, quite possibly on friction bearing trucks, behind steam, and in an era of heavy and slow freight traffic and hooped-up orders – in 67 minutes.
The Hiawatha in the steam era had a standing direction for the junction at Rondout IL: “Reduce to 90.”
Dave Nelson

6

One wonders a little how often they really did reduce to 90 at Rondout…

Heavy slow freights, hooped-up orders indeed… but the Hiawathas were Kings on that line, just like the other great streamliners, and woe betide the poor SOB who somehow managed to slow them down!

And one wishes that even one of those incredible Atlantics or the streamlined Pacifics had been preserved… !