If You Could Initiate One New Amtrak Route..........

[Notelvis]

Here's Mine -

A new train operating on Norfolk Southern trackage Asheville, NC - Salisbury, NC - Charlotte, NC - Columbia, SC connecting to/from the Silver Star for Florida....... and yes, in my dreams this train would carry a through sleeping car.

Why? It's a train that I would use two or three times a year. Make the family trip to visit the mother-in-law in greater Orlando more palatable.

Yes - I'm aware that back in the glory days Southern's Skyland Special performed this function via Saluda Mountain and Spartanburg, SC..... I don't propose that routing as the Saluda Mountain route is railbanked out-of-service. Besides though, the more circuitous route would provide overnight service between Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city and Florida.

OK........ that's the route from my wish list..... What others are out there.

 

[NY Penn]

The usual suggestions are the Pioneer, Desert Wind, Floridian, or Midwest Auto Train.

Not that any of those are very practical.

 

[Notelvis]

The usual suggestions are the Pioneer, Desert Wind, Floridian, or Midwest Auto Train.

Not that any of those are very practical.

Of these, my 'one that got away' was the Desert Wind. Managed to ride the others including the Midwest Auto Train if you count my trip on the Floridian in the 1970's when it was combined with the original Auto-Train between Louisville and Sanford!

 

[Tumbleweed]

The old Northern Pacific North Coast Limited......nostalgia...

 

[Tracktwentynine]

With a system so starved of routes, it's hard to narrow it down to just one.

For the purposes of network connectivity, I'd prioritize these routes:

1. Sunset East: New Orleans - Mobile - Jacksonville
2. Chicago - Nashville - Atlanta - Florida
3. Pioneer: Seattle - Portland - Boise - Ogden - Cheyenne - Denver
4. Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Salt Lake City

 

[JayPea]

The old Northern Pacific North Coast Limited......nostalgia...

I agree with this choice, especially if it were scheduled so that it served Spokane during daylight hours. Who cares if it then wouldn't make practical connections in Seattle or Chicago??? I'm selfish!!!!!

 

[WICT106]

With a system so starved of routes, it's hard to narrow it down to just one.

Concur. I would add the Varsity, or the Winnipeg Limited, or perhaps the Duluth-Superior Limited. I would also vote for a Chicago - Florida train, perhaps the Royal Palm, (or whatever the train service was that went between Chicago & Florida via Cincinnati ).

These choices are because these would be the routes I would be most likely to use. Any service through Madison, WI, would be an improvement over what we have right now. We have no service, and it is tough to advocate for service when the overwhelming majority of the population has never been aboard a train, and sees no value to train service.

 

[afigg]

Here's Mine -

A new train operating on Norfolk Southern trackage Asheville, NC - Salisbury, NC - Charlotte, NC - Columbia, SC connecting to/from the Silver Star for Florida....... and yes, in my dreams this train would carry a through sleeping car.

If there was a viable Charlotte NC to Columbia SC passenger rail connection, Amtrak would likely re-route the Silver Star along the entire Piedmont route to Charlotte and then south to Columbia. This was briefly discussed in last year's Product Improvement Plan report for the Silver Star, but the report states that "there is no direct connection between NSs Charlotte-to-Columbia rail line over which the train would be rerouted and the CSX rail line that serves Amtraks Columbia station, and significant investments would be required for equipment and other capital costs."

If SC were to get behind a Columbia to Charlotte passenger rail service and fund the track work, such a re-route would be possible. But I get the impression that out all of the southern states, SC - at the state level - may be the last to get serious about passenger rail.

However, the plans for the new Raleigh train station include a 800' long high level platform between 2 tracks, both side tracks out of the way of freight traffic. When NC expands to 4 daily Piedmonts, that should provide the flexibility to schedule Piedmonts to meet up with the Star going to and coming from Florida with a cross-platform transfer both ways. The Silver Star schedule times in Raleigh work pretty well for this. Or people could connect in Cary if they wanted to wait in the station. Would not provide service to Florida from Asheville, but it would from Charlotte and Salisbury.

As for one new Amtrak route, I don't have a single one to pick. There are so many holes in Amtrak national coverage or routes with slow and poor service, where does one begin? If there was funding to establish one new route, it should be one that provides the best chance for additional growth and expansion beyond the initial new route. A priority ranking guideline might be service to cities that are adding local rail transit systems.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

D)ZZZ) All of the above

 

[CHamilton]

1346186477[/url]' post='390181']As for one new Amtrak route, I don't have a single one to pick. There are so many holes in Amtrak national coverage or routes with slow and poor service, where does one begin?

afigg is so right. Until we have a Federal government that invests in a truly national rail system like this one, Amtrak will never really serve the United States. If a (____) administration hadn't created the Interstate Highway System, our roads today would be as scanty as our passenger rail network. So although it's important to lobby our state and local governments to provide rail service, a real national network won't happen until it becomes a national priority.

 

[guest]

Newport News - Richmond - Charlottesville - Lynchburg - Roanoke - Knoxville - Nashville - Memphis

 

[Gratt]

With a system so starved of routes, it's hard to narrow it down to just one.

For the purposes of network connectivity, I'd prioritize these routes:

1. Sunset East: New Orleans - Mobile - Jacksonville
2. Chicago - Nashville - Atlanta - Florida
3. Pioneer: Seattle - Portland - Boise - Ogden - Cheyenne - Denver
4. Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Salt Lake City

I would also add a route that would run north/South connecting Denver with Texas allowing connections between the CZ SWC and TE that are not on the west coast or Chicago.

 

[me_little_me]

With a system so starved of routes, it's hard to narrow it down to just one.

For the purposes of network connectivity, I'd prioritize these routes:

1. Sunset East: New Orleans - Mobile - Jacksonville
2. Chicago - Nashville - Atlanta - Florida
3. Pioneer: Seattle - Portland - Boise - Ogden - Cheyenne - Denver
4. Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Salt Lake City

I'd vote #2 as #1 and if it could be combined with an auto-train, that would be better yet.

 

[cirdan]

I'd be for an extension of the Heartland Flyer down to Houston and maybe on to Galveston, and also Northwards at the other end.

 

[Acela150]

Spirit of St. Louis/National Limited or the River Cities..

Both equally good routes. My Dad always tells me stories about them.

 

[John Bredin]

A daytime multi-train corridor service Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland, splitting there to serve Buffalo and Pittsburgh. However, realizing that would probably require a pro-rail state government in Ohio:

A daytime multi-train corridor service Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison-Twin Cities. It could even use the Hiawatha name and CHI-MKE schedule slots. :lol: Yes, I realize that would also require state support, but IMHO the prospect of Minnesota and Illinois ponying up for increased CHI-MSP service (and ignoring or working around Wisconsin's almost-certain non-contribution) is somewhat more likely than Ohio doing so. :blink:

Yes, I live just outside of Chicago, how did you guess? :giggle:

 

[TimePeace]

With a system so starved of routes, it's hard to narrow it down to just one.

For the purposes of network connectivity, I'd prioritize these routes:

1. Sunset East: New Orleans - Mobile - Jacksonville
2. Chicago - Nashville - Atlanta - Florida
3. Pioneer: Seattle - Portland - Boise - Ogden - Cheyenne - Denver
4. Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Salt Lake City

I'd vote #2 as #1 and if it could be combined with an auto-train, that would be better yet.

I have no objection to the existing auto-train - but I'd hate to see another LD train available only to people who were transporting their car someplace. To me, the whole point of train travel is to avoid using a car.

Now, if they'd have a passenger train with coach seats and roomettes, I would not mind if they had car carriers as well...

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The first one is easy, the other ones are not. But since you ask for only one, I would say the New Royal Palm CHI-IND-CIN-ATL-JAX-ORL-MIA.

 

[Ziv]

I think that the Pioneer: Seattle - Portland - Boise - Ogden - Cheyenne - Denver plus going through to Houston via Colorado Springs, Amarillo, Lubbock, Killeen and College Station would cover the most territory, and would bring in cities (that either had never had Amtrak service or lost that service) with a total population of more than 2,000,000, plus all the surrounding countryside. I am not sure that the tracks are in place to add College Station, but a Pioneer that covered nearly 2500 miles in two days covering the US in SE/NW direction that is so lacking... Well it would be a world class train for scenery! A good mix of mountains, desert, plains and everything in between.

Having a re-furbed Budd Car to connect Ogden to Salt Lake City would be like getting biscuits with your beer! I imagine Amtrak would use buses since they may be cheaper in the short term, though. Or is there commuter rail already on that stretch?

 

[henryj]

The most obvious missing link is Texas to Colorado, the most visited state by Texans. Houston, DFW, Amarillo, up the front range to Denver. Other than that all of the above including extending the Heartland Flyer south to Houston and North to Kansas City and MSP.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The most obvious missing link is Texas to Colorado, the most visited state by Texans. Houston, DFW, Amarillo, up the front range to Denver. Other than that all of the above including extending the Heartland Flyer south to Houston and North to Kansas City and MSP.

See, that's where things get hard. I can't choose between PDX-SLC, LAX-SLC, DEN-HOU, and DEN-ABQ for my second place.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I think that the Pioneer: Seattle - Portland - Boise - Ogden - Cheyenne - Denver plus going through to Houston via Colorado Springs, Amarillo, Lubbock, Killeen and College Station would cover the most territory, and would bring in cities (that either had never had Amtrak service or lost that service) with a total population of more than 2,000,000, plus all the surrounding countryside. I am not sure that the tracks are in place to add College Station, but a Pioneer that covered nearly 2500 miles in two days covering the US in SE/NW direction that is so lacking... Well it would be a world class train for scenery! A good mix of mountains, desert, plains and everything in between.

Having a re-furbed Budd Car to connect Ogden to Salt Lake City would be like getting biscuits with your beer! I imagine Amtrak would use buses since they may be cheaper in the short term, though. Or is there commuter rail already on that stretch?

Yep mine is very similar. For connectivity purposes, and because I would love the scenery that currently can't be viewed, I would choose a route that goes Seattle-Spokane-Missoula-Helena-Laurel (motorcoach for Billings) - Wind River Canyon - Cheyenne - Denver - Trinidad - Amarillo - Wichita Falls - Fort Worth - Dallas - Houston - New Orleans - Mobile - Jacksonville - Miami (either FEC or Orlando, I don't have a preference). I would go past just to allow the benefit of Sunset East.

 

[Amtrak George]

I would reinstate New Orleans to Orlando, but not as part of the Sunset: a separate train overnight between these cities (route is too slow for an all-day train).

It could connect with the City of New Orleans but several hours should be allowed in New Orleans for this connection to avoid affecting either train's on time performance. This extra cushion for connections would be especially important on the east/northbound direction so that the CONO doesn't start its journey running late.

The new train could be called the Gulf Wind in honor of the old L&N/SAL train on this route.

 

[Amtrak George]

Oops, I meant the cushion to describe the WESTBOUND/Northbound connection

 

[Palmland]

Notelvis, your selection certainly has appeal to me as a resident of SC, near Columbia. A train from Asheville to FL might be a stretch, but I think it could really be two trains: one that NC DOT is trying to get going - from Asheville to Charlotte via Salisbury; and a second one from Charlotte to FL that could well be a rerouted Silver Star. It baffles me why Amtrak doesn't pursue this. Certainly ridership from Charlotte to FL would be much greater than via the metropolises of Southern Pines, Hamlet, and my Camden.

I think the issue is not so much the trackage in Columbia, as it is the station. There is a very good head on signaled connection between the NS and CSX in downtown Columbia. While it is true that getting to the current station would require a backup move of a mile or two (less than Tampa), it is on an active mainline. So maybe the answer is move the station. As it happens the former Southern station is ideally located for that and is adjacent to the Univ. of SC and its 30,000 students and a couple blocks from the statehouse and nearby hotels/restaurants.

The station still stands and is beautifully restored - as an excellent California Dreamin' restaurant. But it is a 3 story building on a hill with the entrance on the second floor. Perhaps the portion of the building on the ground floor and trackside could be converted into a station. If not, there appears to be vacant land north of the station.

This route certainly has my vote (along with a through sleeper from Asheville).