KCRag Forum

FangKC wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:39 am https://www.instagram.com/p/C19wpnyMZ2P ... _copy_link

Exactly. Sitting on the Eurostar from Antwerp to Amsterdam right now. Took trains all over Belgium. There is a 100mph train from Kortrijk to Antwerp that leaves every hour. No reason Missouri couldn't have a train service comparable to Belgium. We don't need high-speed rail, just rail that doesn't share with freight. BTW, it's all-electric, so it's pretty quiet.

The problem is every politician wants a stop but not one that costs any money.

MoDOT got $500K from FTA to study a new line from KC to St Joe. Didnt see this posted before was announced in december

https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot ... Map-r1.pdf

I assume this is a clever way to study rail to the airport? I am admittedly not fully in the loop these days, but when this was announced it was the first I'd heard of any interest in reconnecting St. Joe to KC.

smh wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 11:05 am I assume this is a clever way to study rail to the airport? I am admittedly not fully in the loop these days, but when this was announced it was the first I'd heard of any interest in reconnecting St. Joe to KC.

Could overlap but this is really about St Joe and Omaha service (MSP later). MoDot had been taking about this for a few years now.

langosta wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:54 pm

smh wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 11:05 am I assume this is a clever way to study rail to the airport? I am admittedly not fully in the loop these days, but when this was announced it was the first I'd heard of any interest in reconnecting St. Joe to KC.

Could overlap but this is really about St Joe and Omaha service (MSP later). MoDot had been taking about this for a few years now.

Oh that's cool--is it interesting that the service wouldn't run through Des Moines? Or is Iowa too much of a political wildcard right now?

Also, have you seen anything in writing from MoDOT about this corridor (outside of the Corridor ID application?) Would like to know more about what they're thinking, if anything.

smh wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 10:32 am

langosta wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:54 pm

smh wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 11:05 am I assume this is a clever way to study rail to the airport? I am admittedly not fully in the loop these days, but when this was announced it was the first I'd heard of any interest in reconnecting St. Joe to KC.

Could overlap but this is really about St Joe and Omaha service (MSP later). MoDot had been taking about this for a few years now.

Oh that's cool--is it interesting that the service wouldn't run through Des Moines? Or is Iowa too much of a political wildcard right now?

Also, have you seen anything in writing from MoDOT about this corridor (outside of the Corridor ID application?) Would like to know more about what they're thinking, if anything.

From what I’ve heard from folks in other DOTS in surrounding states, Iowa has less than zero interest in engaging in any type of Amtrak service anytime soon.

In terms of long distance trains, the FRA proposed last week to connect KC on two different long distance routes to MSP. One Via OMA and one via DES, on the other end these routes would end at Phoenix and San Antonio.

A KC-OMA route would be using existing rail right? That would go pretty close to the airport, but not quite get you there. They would need new rail to get there. I guess they could do a stop in Leavenworth and shuttle the last 10 miles. Probably not much of an improvement over the existing shuttles.

There's a neat site called OpenRailwayMap that makes it easy to visualize our railway infrastructure. It even has max speeds for some - the suggested route looks painfully slow (like 29mph in some places), but hopefully that's something FRA can upgrade or get BNSF to improve.

OpenRailwayMap: https://www.openrailwaymap.org

Have any of you wanting this to the airport ever been on Amtrak before?

WoodDraw wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 2:25 pm Have any of you wanting this to the airport ever been on Amtrak before?

In my ideal world, KCMO / MoDot build down I29 to KCI and then MoDot / Amtrak build past to St Joe or Omaha.

KCI service will need new tracks built anyway and BNSF is historically not open to passenger on the Parkville to Omaha line iirc

I remember when there was passenger service between Kansas City and Omaha in the late 1960s. It stopped in my small hometown (365 people) daily. I rode it from my hometown to St. Joseph and back as a child. When St. Joseph still had a lot of retail downtown, people from my area took the train there to go shopping.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe wanted to do two tracks from Kansas City to Omaha a few years back but there were questions about getting right-of-way in some places.

I assume we are imagining a separate service than the Amtrak route right? Or is everyone here imagining that the (destined to be abysmal) frequency on a KC-Omaha line will somehow draw airport ridership?

My proposal was always like an expensive bus that had like 4 stops. For awhile they were looking into it

WoodDraw wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:46 am My proposal was always like an expensive bus that had like 4 stops. For awhile they were looking into it

Same here. I would gladly pay $9.75-$11 for a trip to/from the airport on a coach bus that makes a couple of stops. I don't know how the demand would shape up from KCI, but have always thought the LAX FlyAway bus is the model.

smh wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:30 am I assume we are imagining a separate service than the Amtrak route right? Or is everyone here imagining that the (destined to be abysmal) frequency on a KC-Omaha line will somehow draw airport ridership?

KCMO, KCATA, MODOT, and FRA are all different studies at this point

langosta wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 8:40 am

smh wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:30 am I assume we are imagining a separate service than the Amtrak route right? Or is everyone here imagining that the (destined to be abysmal) frequency on a KC-Omaha line will somehow draw airport ridership?

KCMO, KCATA, MODOT, and FRA are all different studies at this point

Classic!

smh wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:23 am

langosta wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 8:40 am

smh wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:30 am I assume we are imagining a separate service than the Amtrak route right? Or is everyone here imagining that the (destined to be abysmal) frequency on a KC-Omaha line will somehow draw airport ridership?

KCMO, KCATA, MODOT, and FRA are all different studies at this point

Classic!

to be fair, KCMO, MODOT, and FRA are all studying different things.

KCMO is studying micro on KC-Airport, Modot is taking a birs eye view of KC-St Joe, and FRA is taking a satellite view of Pheonix to MSP via KC and Omaha

KCATA and KCMO are the ones that truly overlap