Unless it is cut back to a Washington DC turn, Amtrak has been on record at times, claiming that it will require 4 consists to operate a reliable daily service, given the relatively short turning time in New York. Three consists will just get us 5 days. Just something to keep in mind. Also, it will be remarkably wasteful deployment of equipment since a consist will sit idle in New York more than 24 hours regularly. Maybe it could be used to operate something else (a six hours out and six hours back service to somewhere else, with enhanced service, to put it to good use on the day it sits idle in New York.
The NARP folks working on the daily Cardinal project do not want to do that cutback at the present time. They seem to be quite unconcerned with the wasteful equipment deployment.So
bottom line is there are a few kinks to work out yet, and I don't think people have taken full account of the equipment cost or availability.
But I do support finding a good compromise to operate the train daily and efficiently.
Amtrak has been on record at times, that it will require 4 consists to operate a reliable daily service, given the relatively short turning time in New York. Three consists will just get us 5 days. ...
But I do support finding a good compromise to operate the train daily and efficiently.
I'd try to shorten the run time to lengthen the turn time.
A study for the Indiana Dept of Highways proposed running at one or better two Hoosier State corridor trains, supplementing a daily Cardinal. Their examination of the trackage within the state led them to conclude that for less than $250 million in assorted upgrades, the in-state run time could be cut by 29 minutes. The same study indicated that further time savings could come from another C.R.E.A.T.E. project, slicing time off the Illinois segment of the run. The study did not offer a figure for how much time could be wrung out of the Illinois trackage; I'll say 11 minutes for purpose of discussion. So by upgrading the Hoosier State corridor, we could get 40 minutes out of each run, (or a total of 1 hr 20 min per round trip).
In the other direction, Virginia has spent (and budgeted still more?) to upgrade the Buckingham Branch thru Charlottesville with passing sidings etc to handle a daily train. And it will probably also slice minutes from the run time. Let's say another 10 minutes saved each way, or 20 minutes round trip (for a total of 1 hr 40 min per round trip).
Meanwhile Virginia and D.C. have plans to fix the Potomac Long Bridge, and I'll venture another 5 minutes each way there. And another 5 minutes from the bridge to the turn onto the Breckenridge Branch. That part done mostly to speed up the Lynchburger and the Roanoker. So together 10 minutes each way, 20 minutes per round trip (for a total of 2 hrs per round trip).
Let's expect that CSX will want some upgrades to its rails thru West Virginia and Kentucky. We could shave off 5 minutes each way, 10 minutes per round trip (for a total of 2 hrs 10 min per round trip).
Upgrading the segment Cincinnati-Indianapolis to 110 mph top speed could easily cut an hour or two each way. The upgrades on the NEC (the BWI station, the Baltimore Tunnel, the new Susquehanna Bridge, new catenary, signals, curve straightening etc. taken altogether could allow the Acela II/Avelia a 20 minute faster run time NY-D.C., with the Regionals and LD trains saving about 15 minutes. That could mean another half an hour to turn the train in NYC.
I'm not gonna include either a 110-mph corridor Cincy-Indy or any saved time from the NEC in my running total, tho, because they are both a few years and some Billions in the future. Still, without counting them, we're up to potentially more than 2 hours faster run times.
Again, for purposes of argument, let's use 60 minutes of that time to arrive Penn Station at 8:58 p.m., effectively 9 p.m. instead of at 10 p.m. on the current schedule. Now let's use another 60 minutes of our saved time to leave Penn Station at 7:45 a.m. instead of 6:45 a.m. on the current schedule. More comfortable arrivals and departures in New York, and a shorter end-to-end run time.
Obviously the schedule would have to deal with commuter train rush hours. But it could be tweaked to make slightly better times in Indianapolis (the WB arrival is 11:50 p.m., while the EB arrival is 5:15 a.m.) or perhaps elsewhere. But no matter what, the Cincinnati times remain the worst.
My only question is whether adding 2 hours to the turn-around time in New York would be enuff to allow operating the
Cardinal with only three sets of equipment.