KCRag Forum

You know this could be a good thing, instead of Amtrak worrying about service across the country with old nostalgic routes, why don't they focus on frequency between places and expand out from that. I would love to be able to take the Train to St Louis or Chicago more but the times are not always great for me. This would never probably happen but it would be nice to have multiple frequencies from Union Station to Lawrence or Lees Summit, maybe people would just take the train into KC from Lees Summit and Lawrence but the times don't allow it.

Hmm why doesn't Amtrak just partner with small and mid size cities to share ROW and even trains? It would help reenergize Amtrak and help small and mid size cities connect and compete with larger markets. It's a win-win situation. A Lawrence-KC-Lees Summit route would improve ridership for Amtrak and help give the metro more public commuting options.

What ROW? The idea is good, but you're talking about billions of dollars in land purchases

The ROW that Amtrak currently uses should suffice right? How much of the track is owned by private railroads and how much is owned by Amtrak/the Feds?

brewcrew1000 wrote:You know this could be a good thing, instead of Amtrak worrying about service across the country with old nostalgic routes, why don't they focus on frequency between places and expand out from that. I would love to be able to take the Train to St Louis or Chicago more but the times are not always great for me. This would never probably happen but it would be nice to have multiple frequencies from Union Station to Lawrence or Lees Summit, maybe people would just take the train into KC from Lees Summit and Lawrence but the times don't allow it.

Google the Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act of 2008.

JBmidtown wrote:The ROW that Amtrak currently uses should suffice right? How much of the track is owned by private railroads and how much is owned by Amtrak/the Feds?

If wikipedia is accurate is owns 3.3% of the track it uses and about half that would be on the NE corridor. 730 miles of 22030

Which isn't too far off of this page
https://www.amtrak.com/national-facts

The row Amtrak uses is partly overlapping the same row the county couldn't get agreement to use without adding a fourth mainline, the terminal railroad.

just got back from a RT to st.louis. I don't think "less funding" is the answer they are needing.

new locomotive captured on a test run in missouri:

saw that guy rolling by on tuesday. what are the chances they will update the cars anytime soon?

shinatoo wrote:saw that guy rolling by on tuesday. what are the chances they will update the cars anytime soon?

haven't heard anything really recent, but the last news wasn't good: http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... pon-latest

110 more layoffs at the Rochelle plant. Management included this time.

http://www.saukvalley.com/2017/05/08/ni ... e/a57es6g/

Stick a fork in this project. It's done.

Just watched the NOVA on the increased train safety standards since the Chatsworts collision in 2008. I can't imagine how hard it would be to design a double deck car that lives up to the standard.

Inversely, the best car they could design would be better than what we have now. Scraping this program is a disservice to the safety of everyone who rides Amtrak.

Sources on another forum state that the bi-level contract is in the process of being cancelled and IF they can get an extension on the funding, the project will be re-bid but for SINGLE level cars.

Very possible we could end up with the Siemens Brightline car design.

http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents ... mens-2.pdf

T_Wero wrote:Sources on another forum state that the bi-level contract is in the process of being cancelled and IF they can get an extension on the funding, the project will be re-bid but for SINGLE level cars.

Very possible we could end up with the Siemens Brightline car design.

http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents ... mens-2.pdf

that would be wonderful!

T_Wero wrote:Sources on another forum state that the bi-level contract is in the process of being cancelled and IF they can get an extension on the funding, the project will be re-bid but for SINGLE level cars.

Very possible we could end up with the Siemens Brightline car design.

http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents ... mens-2.pdf

Fine with me. I'm not sure i understand what problem is being solved with the bi level car that can't be solved by adding more single level cars. Lower level seating on the bi-levels suck anyway, the extra bathrooms are nice, i guess.

Amtrak is running an observation route Friday from OKC through Wichita to KC in order to review improvements needed for future passenger service.

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article154971739.html

I like that they are exploring the idea of this route, i just don't see this route as being a success. These places are all pretty much very conservative, pro car/ pro interstate kind of people that live in these area. They would rather drive a huge truck from OKC to KC over riding a train.

A route that I would like to see and would probably be more popular but is probably not possibly, is a northern route from KC to Minneapolis, stopping in Omaha or Des Moines then Minneapolis. I think this is a route people would take.

I think KC-Wichita and KC-Dallas would definitely be popular routes depending on how long they would take. I would love to see a connection to Omaha so we can get there and, more importantly, to Denver.

Wichita isn't too super car crazy really. Huge biking community.

Follow up Amtrak article: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article155387129.html Quite a crowd! The Union Station is kind of an awkward building too, but it currently being renovated. The trackside is a level up from the road next to it, and most of the former platform area is a parking lot that goes unused because you can only access it from a point two blocks south.

new locomotives coming soon! https://www.globalrailnews.com/2017/08/ ... ger-train/

word was awhile back that the bi-level coach order is dead and may be replaced by a single-level coach order that would be tacked on to the "brightline" equipment also being built by siemens.