Philly Amtrak Fan
Engineer
They once discussed in the Cardinal PRIIA (http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/536/878/PRIIA-210-Cardinal-PIP.pdf) about a split train at Indianapolis or Cincinnati with through cars to St. Louis. They did not recommend it at the time but said they would consider revisiting it in the future.
I think it would be a great idea as it would introduce service from the NEC to St. Louis without going through Chicago. Considering the train currently arrives in Indy around 5:20am from the east and leaves going east at 11:59pm, the train might even be able to continue into Kansas City and arrive at a reasonable hour and mimic the old National Limited but going through West Virginia and Cincinnati instead of Columbus and Pittsburgh. Maybe the train can connect in St. Louis to the Texas Eagle (8:00pm) and in Kansas City to the Southwest Chief (10:45pm) giving NEC passengers another option to transfer west.
Obviously the feasibility depends on the route from Indy to St. Louis. What is it and how feasible would the extension be? Could the train go through Champaign/Urbana (my old school)? Imagine if you can travel directly from Champaign/Urbana to the NEC?
A 1979 Amtrak National Limited Schedule (Timetables.org):
http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19790429&item=0033
Indy to St. Louis: 240 miles, 11:25am ET to 4:10pm CT (5 hr, 45 min)
Current St. Louis to Kansas City: 283 miles, 4:00pm to 9:40pm (5 hr, 40 min, Train 313)
Adding time for maintenance and more clogged tracks, I would say around noon into STL and 6pm into KCY going west would be reasonable if a suitable track can be found.
Another idea that wasn't suggested but I thought of: What about a split branch at Charlottesville to Greensboro and Charlotte along the Crescent route? This would give Chicago to North Carolina direct access. It is roughly 5.5 hours from Charlottesville to Charlotte along the Crescent (8:52pm to 2:20am). So if the Cardinal leaves/arrives Charlottesville 1:57pm west and 3:10pm east, you could have a train leave Charlotte around 8am for Chicago and arrive back in Charlotte around 9pm. The Greensboro times would be around 10am to Chicago and 7pm from Chicago. The times in Atlanta would be horrible and of course you'd have the problem with storing the trains in Atlanta. The big question is can Charlottesville handle a split like Albany or San Antonio?
Currently to get to Charlotte from Chicago you would have to transfer to the Crescent at either Charlottesville from the Cardinal or at Washington from the Capitol Limited and arrive in Charlotte at 2:20am. The trip to Chicago leaves Charlotte at 1:46am. The Carolinian cannot connect with the Capitol in WAS.
I think either the western extension or southern extension would help add ridership to the Cardinal. Right now, I feel the Cardinal is a longer Capitol Limited/Lake Shore Limited from CHI to WAS/NYP. But add a branch to either STL/KCY or North Carolina and that would give the Cardinal more unique city pairs separating them from the CL/LSL. Chicago/Florida service is still a pipe dream but Chicago/Carolina service would give new Eastern markets direct access to Chicago.
Another "improvement" if you don't extend the train would be to reschedule the times to better serve Cincinnati. Have the train leave Cincinnati early in the morning for Chicago and then arrive in Cincinnati before midnight. Using the current schedules, you could shift the westbound train up four hours (11:17/11:27pm in CIN) and the eastbound train back five hours (6:36/6:46am). This also improves the Indianapolis times. The problem is it prevents the Cardinal from being able to connect west of CHI. But if anyone from CIN wanted to go west of CHI they'd have to board/leave in the middle of the night and I doubt any East Coast passengers going west of CHI would use the Cardinal . If the arrival/departure times for CIN were better, maybe more people would travel from CIN to CHI or to the East Coast (and the train would leave later in the day from the East and arrive earlier in the East from CIN). Maybe the same happens in IND. If you shift the Cardinal and add a St. Louis leg, the train would still arrive in STL around 5pm which could still allow connections to the TE. I feel if the Cardinal leaves/arrives CIN at better times that can help the train.
I think it would be a great idea as it would introduce service from the NEC to St. Louis without going through Chicago. Considering the train currently arrives in Indy around 5:20am from the east and leaves going east at 11:59pm, the train might even be able to continue into Kansas City and arrive at a reasonable hour and mimic the old National Limited but going through West Virginia and Cincinnati instead of Columbus and Pittsburgh. Maybe the train can connect in St. Louis to the Texas Eagle (8:00pm) and in Kansas City to the Southwest Chief (10:45pm) giving NEC passengers another option to transfer west.
Obviously the feasibility depends on the route from Indy to St. Louis. What is it and how feasible would the extension be? Could the train go through Champaign/Urbana (my old school)? Imagine if you can travel directly from Champaign/Urbana to the NEC?
A 1979 Amtrak National Limited Schedule (Timetables.org):
http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19790429&item=0033
Indy to St. Louis: 240 miles, 11:25am ET to 4:10pm CT (5 hr, 45 min)
Current St. Louis to Kansas City: 283 miles, 4:00pm to 9:40pm (5 hr, 40 min, Train 313)
Adding time for maintenance and more clogged tracks, I would say around noon into STL and 6pm into KCY going west would be reasonable if a suitable track can be found.
Another idea that wasn't suggested but I thought of: What about a split branch at Charlottesville to Greensboro and Charlotte along the Crescent route? This would give Chicago to North Carolina direct access. It is roughly 5.5 hours from Charlottesville to Charlotte along the Crescent (8:52pm to 2:20am). So if the Cardinal leaves/arrives Charlottesville 1:57pm west and 3:10pm east, you could have a train leave Charlotte around 8am for Chicago and arrive back in Charlotte around 9pm. The Greensboro times would be around 10am to Chicago and 7pm from Chicago. The times in Atlanta would be horrible and of course you'd have the problem with storing the trains in Atlanta. The big question is can Charlottesville handle a split like Albany or San Antonio?
Currently to get to Charlotte from Chicago you would have to transfer to the Crescent at either Charlottesville from the Cardinal or at Washington from the Capitol Limited and arrive in Charlotte at 2:20am. The trip to Chicago leaves Charlotte at 1:46am. The Carolinian cannot connect with the Capitol in WAS.
I think either the western extension or southern extension would help add ridership to the Cardinal. Right now, I feel the Cardinal is a longer Capitol Limited/Lake Shore Limited from CHI to WAS/NYP. But add a branch to either STL/KCY or North Carolina and that would give the Cardinal more unique city pairs separating them from the CL/LSL. Chicago/Florida service is still a pipe dream but Chicago/Carolina service would give new Eastern markets direct access to Chicago.
Another "improvement" if you don't extend the train would be to reschedule the times to better serve Cincinnati. Have the train leave Cincinnati early in the morning for Chicago and then arrive in Cincinnati before midnight. Using the current schedules, you could shift the westbound train up four hours (11:17/11:27pm in CIN) and the eastbound train back five hours (6:36/6:46am). This also improves the Indianapolis times. The problem is it prevents the Cardinal from being able to connect west of CHI. But if anyone from CIN wanted to go west of CHI they'd have to board/leave in the middle of the night and I doubt any East Coast passengers going west of CHI would use the Cardinal . If the arrival/departure times for CIN were better, maybe more people would travel from CIN to CHI or to the East Coast (and the train would leave later in the day from the East and arrive earlier in the East from CIN). Maybe the same happens in IND. If you shift the Cardinal and add a St. Louis leg, the train would still arrive in STL around 5pm which could still allow connections to the TE. I feel if the Cardinal leaves/arrives CIN at better times that can help the train.