The next few years

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neroden

Engineer
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
9,548
Location
Ithaca, NY
I assembled this just for my own interest but I thought others might find it interesting. Predicted dates for various upcoming improvements (and a few other things) from various sources. I've also mentioned some urban rail projects which should affect Amtrak, but only some.

Of course, all schedules may slip.

I've left out the NEC projects, the Piedmont projects, and the Pacific Surfliner projects mainly because I have no good grasp on their schedules. I haven't included California HSR or All Aboard Florida, deliberately, as their projected dates seem even flakier than usual. I'm probably missing some other stuff too.

2014

(April: SunRail opens in Florida)

May: St. Paul Union Depot gets Amtrak

(May: Amtrak's agreement not to ask UP for a daily Sunset Limited expires)

(June: St. Paul Union Depot gets urban rail line)

June: Grand Rapids new station opens

August: Dearborn new station opens

August: Blaine WA Customs Siding supposed to be finished

September: current (at-grade) Tower 55 project finishes in Ft. Worth

December: Englewood Flyover finishes

"winter": Mt Vernon siding in WA supposed to be finished

as soon as eminent domain proceedings finish: Troy MI station opens

December: Rochester station supposed to start construction

End of year: last chance for Raton Pass route

Viewliner IIs start delivery

NY major trackwork starts

MI major trackwork continues

Moline trackwork starts

Niagara Falls station supposed to start construction (if bids work out)

Metrolink expects to complete PTC implementation

(Chicago Central Loop BRT expected in front of Union Station)

2015

"first quarter": Vermonter reroute

December: Springfield MA Union Station

December: Moline service

"late": Rockford service

December 31: PTC deadline -- Amtrak, Metrolink, BNSF, SEPTA expected to meet deadline

Miami Central Station supposed to open

Bilevel corridor car deliveries supposed to start

ACS-64 deliveries supposed to finish

Schenectady station supposed to start construction

Point Defiance Bypass supposed to start construction

Tacoma Trestle supposed to start construction

Seattle King St. Station track improvements supposed to start construction

(Kansas City Streetcar opens connecting to KC Union Station)

(Expo Line Phase II opens in LA connecting Santa Monica to LA Union Station)

2016:

Probable early: SW Chief relocates to Transcon

"fall": 125 mph corridor diesel deliveries supposed to start

"fall": WA Toteff siding extension supposed to open

"end of": NH-H-S commuter rail in Connecticut supposed to open

Rochester station supposed to open

Niagara Falls station supposed to open

Viewliner deliveries supposed to finish

(Denver Union Station gets three more connecting urban rail lines)

(Sunrail Phase II opens and construction on those tracks finally finishes)

2017:

"mid": 125 mph corridor diesel deliveries supposed to finish

NY Trackwork supposed to be finished

MI Trackwork supposed to be finished

Schenectady station supposed to open

Point Defiance Bypass supposed to open

Tacoma Trestle replacement supposed to open

Seattle King St. Station track improvements supposed to open

WA "Kelso Martins Bluff new siding" and "Kelso to Longview Junction third main" supposed to open

Roanoke VA service supposed to start

Deadline for ARRA-funded improvements (such as a whole lot of Piedmont improvements as well as much of what's listed above)

2018:

Bilevel corridor car deliveries supposed to finish

Funded but AFAICT indefinitely postponed:

Waterloo IN new platform

West Detroit Junction work

relocation of Texas Eagle to Trinity Railway Express line

Not fully funded but likely to open in this timeframe:

"Western Corridor" from Rutland to Burlington VT

Raleigh Union Station

Supposedly these should already be built but I've heard nothing:

Indiana Gateway projects
 
What is the Blaine, Wa customs siding for? Canadian customs are done in Vancouver station. My guess would be this would be for customs entering US? I thought they did US customs before boarding the train in Vancouver. ( I have only arrived Vancoyver. )
 
Grand Rapids projected opening has been pushed back to at least July.

OBS on the Pere Marquette said to me back in November that a second train (372, 373) was planned to be added in conjunction to the GRR station opening, however I have heard nothing since.
 
Believe me, All Aboard Florida is not a "flaky" project. A lot of money is being invested. Because its being funded privately, it is not necessary to reveal the day to day happenings so the press and others so they can speculate about something they have no in depth knowledge of.
 
Summer 2014 - Construction/rehabilitation of MKE trainshed/concourse should begin

Winter 2015-2016 - construction finished
 
Good topic. There are a lot of improvement projects that should be completed over the next 3-4 years that people overlook when getting uptight about the future of Amtrak and passenger rail. The stimulus funded HSIPR projects are scheduled to be completed by June, 2017 because of the September 30, 2017 deadline for spending the money imposed by Congress. If it was not for that deadline, I think some of the projects would get dragged out even long by the bureaucratic and legal processes.

Besides the federal funding, some states have stepped up with substantial funding for intercity passenger rail improvement projects. CA, IL, VA are the higher profile ones. PA as a result of the gas tax increase is now able to fund stalled eastern Keystone station projects. With the state transportation bill, MA has funding for South Station expansion, WOR-SPG upgrades, completing the SPG station project.

NEC by 2016 to 2017

2016(maybe): completion of constant catenary modernization for New Haven Line in CT

NYP - West End Concourse expansion

Harold Interlocking Bypass for East Side Access project

NJ High Speed Rail project

Kingston RI station high level platforms and 3rd track

Ragan to Yard interlocking 3rd track south of WIL station

Newark DE new station with HLP (had a 2016 completion date at one time)

NEPA/PE studies for B&P Tunnel Replacement, Susquehanna Bridge replacement

2015?: NEC Future PEIS for the entire NEC

Oct 2014: start of new capital funding arrangements for the NEC with the states kicking in.

Eastern Keystone

late 2014: last of the grade crossings on the 105 mile corridor closed.

2016: Exton PA high level platforms

2016?: State interlocking improvements on Harrisburg end completed.

completion dates not clear, but Middletown, Coatesville, Downingtown station projects should advance to construction now that PennDOT has the funds.

2017?: Ethan Allen to Burlington

TBD but could happen by 2017: Customs facility in Montreal for the Adirondack, then Vermonter extended to Montreal.

Virginia: Cherry Hill 3rd track (11 miles) for RF&P line: status unknown.

Piedmont Corridor

There is a long list of separate projects for the $528 million in stimulus funding with various 2015, 2016, early-mid 2017 completion

dates.

By mid to late 2017: should see 2 additional daily Piedmonts, new station at Raleigh with high level platform.

Midwest (adding to Nerodon's list)

West Detroit Connection Track - construction to start spring 2014 (found SEMCOG status page stating this)

Indiana Gateway - think construction work on this will finally start in 2014.

CHI to STL: over 1 hour cut from the trip times by 2017 for the Lincoln service trains.

California

With the passage of the state funding bill last year for the HSR project, there were also considerable amount of funds provided for LOSSAN corridor projects included run through tracks at LA Union Station, Caltrain electrification. Coast Daylight is on the agenda and CalTrans now has the money for it & a corridor bi-level production line from which to order additional equipment; just has to hammer out an agreement with UP on how much the state will pay for track improvements.

Also, LA has a bunch of rail transit projects under construction that by 2020 will nicely expand the reach of the LA rail transit system from LA Union Station.
 
Believe me, All Aboard Florida is not a "flaky" project.
I didn't say the project was flaky, I said the schedules were flaky. They predicted that they would open in 2013. Then they predicted that they would open in 2014. Now they're predicting that they'll open in 2015... yeah, right.
I've been trying to only include projects where the proposed schedule looks like something other than wild speculation. There are a number of projects (such as the West Detroit Connection Track and the Montreal preclearance project) where I'm actually pretty certain the project will get built, but the delays seem to just keep adding up (and no actual construction has started), so I'm not at all sure it'll get built by 2017. Frankly, AAF is like that too.

I have no doubt whatsoever that AAF will open and operate: it certainly will. But I think their projected dates seem to be wild speculation rather than based on a Gantt chart.

I basically wrote this to keep track of "when should I expect stuff", and I'm not expecting AAF at any particular time -- I'll be happily surprised by the announcement.
 
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2017:

MI Trackwork supposed to be finished
Three years? Wow. Did Kzoo to Porter take that long? I can't remember. I just remember various service alerts during 2012.
I think they may finish earlier. I believe they don't want to "overpromise". Something similar may be going on in New York, which also is claiming trackwork completion in 2017. In both cases, when I try to figure out how long this stuff should take, it seems like it should all be able to be done in two construction seasons (2014 and 2015), so I'd hope for 2016 openings.

In fact, Kzoo to Porter took *longer* than three years from the first constructed improvement to completion, but that was because it was done using little dribs and drabs of funding.
 
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Believe me, All Aboard Florida is not a "flaky" project. A lot of money is being invested. Because its being funded privately, it is not necessary to reveal the day to day happenings so the press and others so they can speculate about something they have no in depth knowledge of.
However, major orders bing placed (such as equipment or construction work) are usually reported in the press. Similarly major urban planning and construction activities. You can't do very much of that behind closed doors, regardless of whose money it is.
 
Chicago Central Loop BRT expected in front of Union Station
Forgive my lack of TMA... what's "BRT"?
Bus Rapid Transit? I.e. a form of fake rapid transit in most cases where separate restricted ROW is not used.

The Silver Line in Boston is an example, which is also colloquially called the Silver Lie (oops a missing n) :)
 
Believe me, All Aboard Florida is not a "flaky" project. A lot of money is being invested. Because its being funded privately, it is not necessary to reveal the day to day happenings so the press and others so they can speculate about something they have no in depth knowledge of.
However, major orders bing placed (such as equipment or construction work) are usually reported in the press. Similarly major urban planning and construction activities. You can't do very much of that behind closed doors, regardless of whose money it is.
In my experience I don't find AAF to be any more flaky or opaque than your typical Amtrak project (PIPs anyone? ;) ).

On the other hand, almost any project involving Las Vegas, that is an entirely different matter :lol:
 
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There's quite a lot of double tracking on LOSSAN finishing up within the next few years. Anaheim's new train station is supposed to open up this October as well. San Joaquins have a few projects finishing up 2015 which will allow a seventh daily round trip (Oakland-Bakersfield) and is working on getting the funding for some additional projects for an eighth train and mid corridor starts. Two are funded (Merced-Legrand Segment 1 and Stockton-Escalon Segment) and should be completed around 2017.
 
In July 2014 the Great Hall of Denver Union Station will re-open to replace the current temporary waiting area. At the same time, the Crawford Hotel will open in the upper floors of the building, as well as three restaurants, a couple of cocktail bars, and shops. This will greatly enhance the experience for those waiting to board the Zephyr.

Also, the Tukwila WA station is currently being re-built with new platforms and parking lot. I think it should be finished this year.
 
What about it? It will most certainly not be completed in the next three years. Hopefully some shovel in the ground activity will start on it by the end of the three year period starting now. But one can never be sure.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
[SIZE=11pt]What do you make of?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Gateway Program Cost Estimates [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The current five year plan call for $1.8 billion in spending, $0.2 billion to be funded through a grant via the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the remaining through the annual General Capital and Debt grants. The $1.8 billion includes the majority of work to complete the North Portal Bridge, finish the remaining portion of the tunnel box from Penn Station to the Hudson River and complete all studies for the Gateway program. The bulk of the expected project work and spending will take place after FY2018 which includes the two Hudson River Tunnels, new tracks, station expansions, and the South Portal Bridge. Current estimate for all work is expected to exceed $15 billion. [/SIZE]
 
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