If Amtrak was to open a new passenger service where would you have the new train go. Or what new passenger service would you re open.
I would open a Chicago-miami route or reopen the Desert Wind Chicago-LA via los vegas. And also a Septa route from Philadelphia to Reading,PA
The line I miss the most is LA to Oakland via Tehachapi and the Central Valley.
With Unlimited Problems running things now this will never happen [:(!][:(].
A restoration of what the Carter administarion ordered cut in 1979 - where do able - would be a good start.
Namely, these routes…
Make the tri-WEAKLIES daily (Sunset, Carindal).
A section of the Southwest Chief splitting at Newton, Kan., for Fort Worth and Houston.
This restores the LONE STAR, a train that was the 7th most ridden LD train when it was politically cut.
This is placed above No. 3 since it would be easier to do, to fill a 150-200 mile sorely needed gap.
Reorient Texas Eagle/ Sunset service.
Split Eagle at Longview for separate trains (like Empire Bulider at Spokane and Calif. Zephyr formerly did at SLC for LA and SEA) to Houston, Austin & San Antonio and Dallas and Fort Worth.
In future, Dallas section would continue to El Paso via Baird Sub to connect to a recheduled Sunset or be a separate train, attracting Dallas-LA passengers that now must endure a roundabout and pokey 9-hour trip (5 hours on Interstate) from Dallas to SAS.
Extend Heartland Flyer south to San Antonio and north to at least Newton, Kan., and on to KC, STL/ and or Omaha or CHI.
CHI-FL - The KY Cardinal should have been continued and expanded to Nashville and Birminham. Very shortsighted thinking on Amtrak’s part not to do No. 2 and 3.
Salt Lake - Portland; Salt Lake - Vegas - LA or some version thereof (via WY or LA-SEA via SLC). Also improve EB CZ’s departure from SLC from 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., at least.
Denver- Texas service. This is the most requested service out of Dallas. Could connect with the above recommendation.
A section of the Cardinal splitting at INDIANAPOLIS for St. Louis and on to Kansas City and in the future, Denver or Omaha. This along with a train from INDY to Cleveland and beyond (perhaps Boston) would allow faster Texas and Midwest access to East Coast points instead of the CHI layover.
Southern Montana route -
Amtrak service to Asheville, NC. I hear it’s Amtrak’s most requested destination that isn’t served. It’s been proposed by the state of North Carolina, but planning is pending due to budget deficits and other financial woes.
The first two I would restore are the Desert Wind Pioneer connections from Salt Lake city to LA & the pacific northwest.
Perhaps the Heartland Flyer could become a new Texas Chief, with connections in Kansas City for St Louis trains.
St Louis needs a connection to the Cardinal.
A new route would restore the Hummingbird & Georgian.
The Hummingbird would make eastern connections in Ohio, from Cleveland to Cincinatti, run thru Nashville on it’s way to New Orleans & the gulf.
The Georgian would begin in Chicago, run thru Indy & Nashville to Atlanta. Maybe even run thru to Jacksonville, FL
In Nashville, all trains would meet with our new commuter system,
the Music City Star. For a mere $8mil. construction can begin this year for the first of 5 planned legs that will go about 35 miles to Lebanon TN for $4.00 fare.
At least this one has a fair chance of happening! When it does, y’all come ride!
Atlanta - Macon - Savannah or to the unknowing: The Right Way (Central of Georgia) or Nancy’s path, served by the Nancy Hanks II daily between Atlanta and Savannah.
[#ditto]I like the way you think.
[:(][:(][:(][sigh] Without a doubt, I miss the old Soo Line/ WC Shawano Sub mixed train/caboose trips. With the tracks ripped up north of Thornton all the way to Crandon there will never be a way to even run a passenger excursion up there again. [sigh][:(][:(][:(]
Chcago North Shore and Milwakee RR
Randy
Just for kicks- bring back the Augusta to Atlanta Georgia Railroad mixed trains. With all the MHC and other cargo cars Amtrak used until recently this could have been done rather easily. And every car in the mixed train would have Amtrak reporting marks.
Jay
I miss the old C&O passenger connection between Holland and Muskegon, via Grand Haven. It lasted until Amtrak Day, and a second round trip was still on at least until 1969 (mostly for mail). I just might be more of an Amtrak rider if I could get back “home” this way. Of course, I might be the only one riding it (as I was often enough before the plug was pulled).
Another vote for the Desert Wind-daily.
Also as another poster said…increase Sunset and Cardinal to daily service.
A daytime train that leaves Washington DC heading south earlier than the Carolinian.
How about restoring the old CITY OF MIAMI route via IC to Birmingham. This route always garnered the most passengers between Chicago and Miami could never understand why they chose the FLORIDIAN route? Politics perhaps!
How about a Houston - Dallas - Denver route that made connections to a PIONEER to Boise-Portland - Seattle.
Or since we are only speculating how about a west coast Auto Train running daily between Portland and Orange County. Recent articles in newspapers throughout the west have talked about I-5 being at the saturation point for most of its length. Passengers could drive from Vancouver, B.C. Seattle, Tacoma or Spokane to Portland where the cars could be loaded right at Union Station and the train depart from their. The train could then operate down the central valley of California via Sacramento, Bakersfield over Tehachapi and down to Orange county bypassing LA altogether. Like Florida a great deal of the California attractions that bring visitors are close to Orange County. This would certainly relieve some of the growing traffic problems on I-5. Possibly the train could start in the early AM from Vancouver and pick up additional already loaded passenger and tr-level cars at Seattle, East Olympia, Portland with a connecting service from Spokane. Anyone who has driven this route in the winter months knows how unpredictable the weather can be, and the year round traffic congestion along I-5 has taken any driving pleasure away. The route would not have to promote scenery so it would be able to operate along the faster valley route in California rather than the coast route of the COAST STARLIGHT.
I miss the route between Columbus, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pa., defunct since 1978. I didn’t understand at the time why trains 30/31 were eliminated since they appeared to run full most of the time. Several years later when Conrail downgraded line it all made sense.
Chicago - Twin Cities improvement. O’Hare is out of capacity. Put on two more departures a day, including an overnight.
I miss the routes that I would use the most: MSP - Madison, WI, and Chicago - Florida.
When we moved to Wausau, WI in 1974 we had missed the Milwaukee Road service from Portage to Wausau (and beyond?) by just a few years and really wished I could have seen an F unit or Baldwin with a few heavywight cars traveling the “Valley Line” between Portage (where it met with the Twin Cities Hiawatha trains) to Wausau. The Milw. Road station was still in Wausau and other towns along the route but sadly the service was long gone.
Revive the Twin Cities Hiawatha service between Chicago and the Twin Cities. Oh yeah- untie their hands and let those trains get rolling at 100 mph again, like they did in 1939, and then you’ll see business travelers get on the trains again, anywhere. It’s sad that what they did with steamers 60 years ago is not seen on modern US railroads, freight or passenger- that is GO FAST!