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  #1281  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2017, 11:03 PM
Car(e)-Free LA Car(e)-Free LA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford View Post
Has anyone taken Amtrak between Portland and Seattle? Is it a decent route, without too many delays?
Yes, and they're building a bypass that will open this year, cutting travel time by 10 minutes, improving reliability, and running 18 trains per day (9 in each direction, one every 2 hours.)
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  #1282  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2017, 12:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Centropolis View Post
anyone know what the status of chicago - st. louis high speed rail is? i've been watching trackwork in illinois progress, but the entire project seems behind and progress under-reported. the entire project was supposed to be done this year.
I'll have to look back to verify, but I recall that IDOT was working towards a September, 2017 date for the current phase of work.

Whether the Chicago-Joliet segment, Springfield/10th Street Consolidation, and the Granite City-St. Louis segment ever get done is anybody's guess. Last I knew, Rauner pulled funding for the Tier 2 EIS work.

Joliet, Pontiac, Bloomington, Lincoln, Carlinville, and Alton are all in the process of building new stations or improving current stations. A new station in Dwight opened last year.

The first Siemens Charger engines have finally arrived in Chicago, but have yet to see service locally. And the new bi-level order is a disaster, as Nippon Sharyo's design failed its crush test, with no date for a new design on the horizon.
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  #1283  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2017, 1:20 AM
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^ I went by the Siemens plant in Sacramento today and there were several tarpped over Chargers in the plant yard as well as a couple of freshly painted ones right off the assembly line (they seem to be cranking them out). Btw I've got some family members who live near Joliet and one of my cousins told me they are beginning to do a lot of track work from Joliet towards Chicago-putting down new concrete ties and new rail in several spots.
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  #1284  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2017, 12:09 AM
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As Alton prepares to open new train station, high-speed rail poised to start in the fall

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ALTON, IL (KTVI) - Plans are on track for a new high-speed rail travel on Amtrak.

The upgraded system will run from St. Louis to Chicago. Starting in the fall of 2017 people will be able to get on the Amtrak in St. Louis and it will take about 4.5 hours to get to Chicago instead of current 5.5-hour trip.

Illinois Department of Transportation started work on a new high speed rail train in 2010.

The goal of the project is to update the 260 miles of tracks between St. Louis and Chicago. By doing so trains will be able to run at 110 mph, instead of current 79 mph.

An IDOT spokesperson said they have replaced old wooden ties with concrete ones and are finishing up building a brand-new Amtrak station in Alton.

With higher speeds IDOT is also upping their safety protocols. The spokesperson said they are installing new crossing gates that are four wide instead of two so no vehicles can drive around them. Also, they are building fencing along the tracks so people can’t walk onto them.

The spokesperson said the price of an Amtrak ticket to Chicago should not change when the high-speed system goes into effect.
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  #1285  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2017, 1:13 AM
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  #1286  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2017, 1:13 PM
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Lightbulb

A little bit of math should be done for a honest evaluation of worth of the projects. First some facts; 260 miles, 5.5 hours, 4.5 hours, total costs $1.96 Billion.
The math follows.
$1.96 billion / 260 miles = $7.54 million / mile
$1.96 billion / 60 minutes saved = $32.67 million / minute saved
260 miles / 4.5 hours = 57.7 mph average
260 miles - 5.5 hours = 47.2 mph average
110 mph / 79 mph = 39% max speed increase
57.7 mph / 47.2 mph = 22% average speed increase
$1.96 billion / 22 = $89 million / % average speed increase.

It's too early to quantify $ spent per increase passenger due to the speed increase. Maybe by some time next year we can?
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  #1287  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 12:44 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Uptempo View Post
The first Siemens Charger engines have finally arrived in Chicago, but have yet to see service locally. And the new bi-level order is a disaster, as Nippon Sharyo's design failed its crush test, with no date for a new design on the horizon.
Have they arrived? I didn't find anything with a quick Google search. Any idea what the livery will be?
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  #1288  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 2:08 AM
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  #1289  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 11:59 AM
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I wonder what the trip time would be for an express without the stops at Bloomington, Springfield etc?
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  #1290  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 3:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Busy Bee View Post
I thought this was just the promotional livery for the testing. Cascades are getting their own regional paint scheme, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_denizen View Post
I wonder what the trip time would be for an express without the stops at Bloomington, Springfield etc?
Wouldn't save much time, I don't think. The urban segments in Bloomington-Normal and Springfield are still slow zones due to closely-spaced grade crossings, so you wouldn't save much time skipping the station stop. Plus, the university traffic to B-N and the state government traffic to Springfield contribute much of the ridership along the corridor. There's maybe a stronger case for skipping the other stations, which have very low traffic.
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  #1291  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 4:35 PM
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What would it take to get the trip time to three hours?

Quote:
Originally Posted by electricron View Post
A little bit of math should be done for a honest evaluation of worth of the projects. First some facts; 260 miles, 5.5 hours, 4.5 hours, total costs $1.96 Billion.
The math follows.
$1.96 billion / 260 miles = $7.54 million / mile
$1.96 billion / 60 minutes saved = $32.67 million / minute saved
260 miles / 4.5 hours = 57.7 mph average
260 miles - 5.5 hours = 47.2 mph average
110 mph / 79 mph = 39% max speed increase
57.7 mph / 47.2 mph = 22% average speed increase
$1.96 billion / 22 = $89 million / % average speed increase.

It's too early to quantify $ spent per increase passenger due to the speed increase. Maybe by some time next year we can?
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  #1292  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 5:10 PM
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That pic of those Siemens Chargers by Busy Bee is at Denver's Union Station-too bad that Colorado's DOT goofs can't seem to get their crap in order to develop higher-speed rail from Pueblo to Fort Collins-similar in scope to Illinios Chicago to St Louis corridor..
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  #1293  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 5:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias View Post
What would it take to get the trip time to three hours?
260 miles / 3 hours = 86.67 mph average speeds.
That's almost 30 mph average speed increase over existing planned improvements.
FYI, Acela averages 77.1 mph between NYC and D.C. - with the trains reaching maximum speeds of 135 mph and taking 2 hours and 55 minutes to travel 225 miles.
Therefore, I suggest maximum speeds of at least 150 mph for trains to travel between Chicago and St. Louis within 3 hours...

That means building a dedicated high speed rail double track corridor, or one with freight trains operations in the corridor time separated from fast passenger trains. A dedicated high speed rail corridor will have to be grade separated from all other traffic. They will probably need another $10-$20 billion over and above the $2 billion they have already spent in the corridor.
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  #1294  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 8:35 PM
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Originally Posted by emathias View Post
What would it take to get the trip time to three hours?
I don't know, but just building dedicated Amtrak tracks through the metro areas of Chicago and St. Louis could probably reduce travel time to 4 hours, like this:

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  #1295  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2017, 8:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias View Post
What would it take to get the trip time to three hours?
Cutting out various station stops, speeding up the St. Louis to Alton section of the track (the trains crawl to and from Alton half the time), having a dedicate track, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Car(e)-Free LA View Post
I don't know, but just building dedicated Amtrak tracks through the metro areas of Chicago and St. Louis could probably reduce travel time to 4 hours, like this:
Dedicated track the entire way would frankly be needed. Every time I've ridden the train between Chicago and St. Louis there's a bare minimum of two stops where the train has had to wait for another Amtrak train or a freight train to pass. The tracks are owned by the freight companies, so their trains get the right of way.
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  #1296  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2017, 12:56 AM
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Tier I Record of decision released for the NECFuture project.
http://www.necfuture.com/tier1_eis/rod/
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  #1297  
Old Posted Aug 22, 2017, 11:23 PM
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Originally Posted by scalziand View Post
Tier I Record of decision released for the NECFuture project.
http://www.necfuture.com/tier1_eis/rod/
I'd expect something more modern for that kinda outlay. Over 100 Billion and the time remains around 3 hours from Boston to NYC, and 2 hours 10 minutes from DC to NYC. That doesn't even match French trains from the 1970's. Very disappointing that they didn't go ahead with a dedicated HSR right of way. Pretty crappy that in 2040 the NEC will still have rather slow trains in comparison to California/Texas not to mention what Europe, China, India and Japan probably will be running. I actually hope they throw out this plan.

Last edited by aquablue; Aug 23, 2017 at 6:07 AM.
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  #1298  
Old Posted Aug 24, 2017, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by aquablue View Post
I'd expect something more modern for that kinda outlay. Over 100 Billion and the time remains around 3 hours from Boston to NYC, and 2 hours 10 minutes from DC to NYC. That doesn't even match French trains from the 1970's. Very disappointing that they didn't go ahead with a dedicated HSR right of way. Pretty crappy that in 2040 the NEC will still have rather slow trains in comparison to California/Texas not to mention what Europe, China, India and Japan probably will be running. I actually hope they throw out this plan.
Bears repeating: It's just a roadmap/baseline to get all stakeholders in-line regarding highlighted improvements.

It's like saying you want to build a bridge from a tree in your backyard to one in your neighbor's. You put aside $10 a month to come up with the money to have it complete in 10 years' time (which obviously means it'll cost more, in current dollars, than if you both funded it upfront). You need a framework to make sure any improvements you/your neighbor build in your respective yards line up and interface properly.

This is what NECFuture is...the media just has this bee in its bonnet that it's some "Federal Government HSR Plan;" it's not. It's why they've deliberated with local communities and have taken their time: if MBTA decides to undertake some improvement already studied here, they'll have quite fewer hurdles to jump through to get it done. That's the point here.

The FRA is just taking the reigns from stakeholders along the NEC to get some kind of concrete 'capital' program for necessary improvements and set attainable, minimum, targets for service reliability in anticipation of meeting anticipated growth.

25 years to reach state-of-good-repair is the main idea, the targets for service are more 'fungible' and depend more upon what demand/funding for those services will be than upon the infrastructure, itself.

Again, this plan isn't the obligatory manner in which all improvements will happen; rather, it highlights what improvements, at a minimum, need to happen and how they all [should/will] relate to each other, regionally.
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  #1299  
Old Posted Sep 1, 2017, 11:42 AM
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Randomly walking home last evening and caught a new Charger locomotive on the tail end of a Hiawatha Service train pulling into Union Station.

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  #1300  
Old Posted Sep 8, 2017, 5:58 PM
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Penn Station upgrades

This is welcome news but, ewwww, plan accordingly....

Next Repair at Penn Station: Fixing Those ‘Disgusting’ Bathrooms

“Mr. Moorman said that Amtrak had hired a contractor and was drawing up a plan for the work, which is complicated by the paucity of alternatives. He said the railroad would have to bring in temporary toilets, similar to the ones used at sporting events and festivals, commonly known as port-a-potties, which also quickly become quite rancid. Among the questions Amtrak executives were still pondering, he said, was whether to start on the men’s room or the ladies’ room first.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/n...m-repairs.html
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