Midwest Regional Rail Initiative

[afiggatt]

Originally Posted by k1052

I didn't think the money can be reassigned to projects that hadn't been submitted when the funding rounds were done. IIRC, the money has to be given to a project that was only partially or not funded in that round of applications. Someone feel free to clarify this if I'm wrong.

No, the $2.1 billion of returned Florida HSR grant funds were re-allocated by the FRA in response to a new round of applications submitted in April. IIRC. the FRA got about $8 billion in applications for the FL funds, although California HSR was the largest applicant. If the FRA had to, they could probably re-allocate much of the CA HSR funds to the applications that did not get selected or fully funded in the May announcements.

But I doubt if the FRA will do this. Too much is at stake in the CA HSR project to quit because it is running into headwinds. There is also the critical factor that any re-allocated ARRA stimulus grants must be obligated by September 2012. Any unobligated funds will go away. The ARRA funds have to be fully spent by end of FY2017. These rules do not apply to the FY2010 funds, some of which were granted to the CA HSR project.

OTOH, $1 to $1.5 billion for the Chicago to St. Louis 110 mph corridor would likely allow for double tracking of much of the route. Amtrak would also be happy to get funding for the $570 million Portal Bridge replacement, $299 million for the BWI station & platform rebuild & 9 miles of 4th track on the NEC, and enough funding to get started on engineering for the Gateway project to Penn Station in NYC.

What we really need for a Congress to provide $4 billion a year for higher speed and intercity passenger rail and sustained $1 to $1.5 billion capital funding to Amtrak to fix up the NEC, their facilities and buy new equipment. Petty cash by the standards of the Iraq war, really.

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by afiggatt

What we really need for a Congress to provide $4 billion a year for higher speed and intercity passenger rail and sustained $1 to $1.5 billion capital funding to Amtrak to fix up the NEC, their facilities and buy new equipment. Petty cash by the standards of interstate highway funding, really.

Fixed it for you.

[Standpoor]

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs

^ It seems to me that the Pere Marquette should have a stop in Berrien County. Especially now that New Buffalo is served by the Wolverine. The town of Bridgman is part of the vacation launching point for Chicagoan s. And as the SW Michigan shore becomes more integrated with the Chicago metropolis, we are bound to see more commuter activity.

To be fair the Pere Marquette does stop in Berrien County. St. Joseph/Benton Harbor is the most populous urban area in the county and only 12 miles from Bridgman. If there was going to be another stop, New Buffalo would be the logical place, maybe Union Pier or Lakeside but there is not that much around there.

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

I've wondered this too. I imagine it has something to do with equipment and crew availability and/or freight conflicts (i.e. the same reasons some of Metra's trip scheduling makes little sense from the passenger's standpoint) , but of course, these are things that can be worked out if there's the will or requirement to do so. Luckily the Wolverine's schedule (to Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, and Detroit) is pretty usable for discretionary roundtrip travel.

One of the main problems I have had with the Pere Marquette to St. Joseph vs. the Wolverine to New Buffalo is that the Pere Marquette is always way more expensive. I can usually get a ticket to New Buffalo for $9.50-13, the St. Joe ticket is almost always $28 by the time I look. I always refuse to pay $15 or more to go 20 some miles farther and make somebody pick me up.

But the wolverine is completely worthless if you want to vacation along the Lake Michigan shore north of say South Haven. I have said it many times over, the people who need to pay for a Pere Marquette extra trip, i.e. State government (Lansing/Detroit), do not care about this route and Berrien County in general. I have talked to Governors, Attorney Generals, lawmakers, etc in private conversations about this and two sentences into the conversation they start talking about GR-Lansing-Detroit rail (which I am sorry I think will ultimately fail). I do not think any extra runs will happen anytime soon.

Here is a question though. Since HSR will be solely focused on Chi-Det which would be better:
1. 1 extra Pere Marquette run (morning run from Chicago, evening return).
2. Extending the South Shore from just east of the shops along CSX track to Hiltop Ave in St. Joseph. It is something like 5 miles farther to get to St. Joseph than to go to South Bend. I know it would mean buying right of way from anti-passenger rail CSX but how much can building an extra track 27 miles actually cost. This could mean that stops could be added at New Buffalo, Union Pier, Lakeside and St. Joseph. There is enough room for a terminal station to house waiting trains and plenty of parking. The problem is of course it would require coordination and spending between three different States.

[jpIllInoIs]

Detroit to Chicago in less than 4 hours? 3 upgrades for Michigan passenger rail
By Mark Brush of Michigan NPR


Story Link


The 135 miles of rail line from Dearborn to Kalamazoo will be owned by the state of Michigan. The state is purchasing the line from Norfolk Southern Railway with the help of federal stimulus money. Once completed, the upgraded line will increase speeds.
MDOT


Throughout 2009-2011 most of the infrastructure work on the Midwest HrSR network has been done in Illinois on the Chic-St.L corridor. But Michigan is now making significant gains in actual steel structure, stations and ROW acquisitions. Fortunately Michigan has escaped the demagoguery of the current politics to move forward with infrastructure improvement. Lead by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and a GOP statehouse they have taken full advantage of the Presidents rail initiatives. Turns out Snyder recognizes the importance of rail after spending some formidable years commuting on the METRA system in Chicago form his home in Barrington to the Loop.

Congrats to Michigan on raising above the muck to advance a shared goal to improve the system as a whole.

[ardecila]

Snyder lived in Barrington? WTF? The name sounds familiar, but I don't remember the guy specifically.

When all 281 miles between Detroit and Chicago can handle accelerated service, travel time between the two cities will drop from six hours to less than four.

Okay, but that's an impossible scenario. "We have x miles of track, and if we could do the entire trip at 110mph, it would take less than four hours!" Yeah, but the train needs to make station stops, and the infrastructure required to allow 110mph service through Chicago and Detroit city/suburbia won't be installed for years, if ever. That means the average speed of the line will be significantly less than 110mph.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by ardecila

"We have x miles of track, and if we could do the entire trip at 110mph, it would take less than four hours!" Yeah, but the train needs to make station stops, and the infrastructure required to allow 110mph service through Chicago and Detroit city/suburbia won't be installed for years, if ever. That means the average speed of the line will be significantly less than 110mph.

281 miles / 110 mph = 2.55 hours
281 miles / 100 mph = 2.81 hours
281 miles / 90 mph = 3.12 hours
281 miles / 80 mph = 3.51 hours
281 miles / 70 mph = 4.01 hours

The trains don't have to average 110 mph to go 281 miles in 4 hours, they only have to average slightly more than 70 mph. And trains speeding up to 110 mph can achieve that goal, even with station stops along the way. The key is to minimize stoppages for other trains because of track congestion.

[ardecila]

That shouldn't be too much of an issue, considering that the entire line from Porter to Dearborn will be effectively controlled by Amtrak.

[Beta_Magellan]

From what I understand, Porter (and maybe other places in northern Indiana) is still a big issue, and one that likely won’t be addressed until Congress gets in the habit of funding intercity rail again.

[afiggatt]

Originally Posted by Beta_Magellan

From what I understand, Porter (and maybe other places in northern Indiana) is still a big issue, and one that likely won’t be addressed until Congress gets in the habit of funding intercity rail again.

There is $71.3 million awarded to the Indiana gateway corridor project for construction of 8 independent improvement projects in Indiana. The funding is still there, it just has not been obligated yet. The reports were that the FRA was holding off on finalizing the funding until after the Englewood Flyover and Michigan track purchase and track improvement projects were signed off on and obligated. The Indiana Gateway project is one of the few remaining major projects to be obligated from the $8 billion of HSIPR stimulus funding. May also be getting held up by having to get EIS studies and documents completed first.

The application documents that I have seen for the Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac corridor indicate that they are expecting to achieve trip times in the 4-1/2 hour range with the improvements that have been funded. In order to get to 4 hours or under, my understanding is that there will have to be much more significant upgrades in the Chicago to Porter segment. But improvements on that section will also provide the foundation for extending higher speed service to Indiana and Ohio, if/when they become interested.

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Snyder lived in Barrington? WTF? The name sounds familiar, but I don't remember the guy specifically.

Snyder story link


Oct 31, 6:01 PM EDT

Snyder says rail service 'vital' to Mich.'s future

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
Associated Press


LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday that a rail system connecting Michigan's largest city with its flagship university is long overdue and should be the centerpiece of a long-discussed push to make the state's public transit system faster and more expansive.

Speaking to several people at the Michigan Rail Summit at the Lansing Center, Snyder said he often sees southbound traffic on U.S. 23 at a standstill as a state trooper drives him from his Ann Arbor-area home to his Lansing office each morning.

"It's hard to be a more congested road than U.S. 23 at the wrong time of day," he said. "Either you have to something with U.S. 23 or you need a commuter rail."

The governor wants to see faster and expanded rail service throughout the state but especially in southeast Michigan. It's the largest metropolitan area in America that doesn't have a high capacity rapid transit service in place or under development

The businessman-turned-governor told the crowd that he used to commute by rail every day from his home in the Chicago suburb of Barrington to his accounting job in the Chicago Loop. Michigan not only needs a commuter rail system, but it needs to tie it to local transportation so people can get from the train station to their destinations, he said......more in story ink

[jpIllInoIs]

It may not be sexy and it may not be grand plans but the MWRRI continues to stitch together small projects that will make the whole system better. The overall strategy and vision for the MW network is based upon the "incremental improvement approach". While Cali and FLA put forth true HSR projects, neither of those systems has stuck a shovel in the ground. and FLA has cancelled their project and returned the Fed money.

Meanwhile the MWHrSR and Intercity rail upgrade had dozens of projects that have been funded and are under construction and some are completed. The corridors of Chi-Det and Chi-St.L-KC have by far made the most of the Federal emphasis on rail infrastructure.

Only Wash State and NC-VA, Empire Corridor and NE network have had any success implementing the Federal dollars into systems upgrades. But In my estimation the MWHrS network has made the most progress. The MWRRI plan was formalized sometime around 1996 but was being planned as early as 1992.

LINK


MoDOT receives federal grant for St. Louis area corridor
Friday, November 11, 2011

Federal Railroad Administration awarded the Missouri Department of Transportation $3.6 million to construct a third main track on the St. Louis Grand Avenue-to-Gratiot Street rail corridor, which is one of the busiest rail corridors in the metropolitan St. Louis area.

The project will allow the existing track located nearest the Gateway Intermodal Station to be used primarily for Amtrak train access to the Gateway Station. The improvements will reduce delays to Amtrak trains and improve the on-time performance of this busy rail corridor in downtown St. Louis.

[ardecila]

In fairness, California has been self-funding, and using Federal funds, to build upgrades to the Amtrak California lines for nearly 20 years.

[LMich]

Not really new news, just formality:

U.S. OKs $150M for Chicago-Detroit high-speed rail

Associated Press

November 22, 2011

Kalamazoo— U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he's awarded $150 million to Michigan to buy a rail line for high-speed passenger service between Chicago and Detroit.

LaHood said in a news release Tuesday the project "will increase the safety and reliability of Amtrak's Wolverine and Blue Water services" and create 800 jobs this spring.

The money enables the Michigan Department of Transportation to buy much of the Chicago-Detroit rail corridor.

On Oct. 5, Michigan said it had agreed to buy the tracks between Kalamazoo and Dearborn in suburban Detroit. The U.S. said then that it was giving Michigan $196 million for signal and track improvements.

The project allows speeds of up to 110 mph on 77 percent of the Detroit-Chicago line, cutting travel time by 30 minutes.

[ChiSoxRox]

Sweet. Would this use the same routing in metro Detroit as the SEMCOG rail?

[ardecila]

Yes.

[ardecila]

High Speed Rail Line Endorsed, Bypasses Rochester

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- It has been talked about for years - a high speed rail line connecting the Twin Cities to Chicago.

On Tuesday ABC 6 News learned there could be big decision on the way determining where that exact route will be. A number of different routes have been proposed for the rail line, and one advocacy group says its learned which route the Minnesota Department of Transportation will be supporting. The chair of the Minnesota High Speed Rail Commission tells me both MnDOT and and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are supporting the Mississippi river route -- a route that would not include Rochester.

"FRA and MnDOT agreed this route should be the preferred route for the high speed rail," says Winona mayor and chair of the Minnesota High Speed Rail commission, Jerry Miller, believes his city has the support of MnDOT.

"I've been getting calls from all over the state today...saying that everybody knows that this is it," says Miller.

"Well if you're really taking high speed, it can't go along the river. That's a fact," says Rochester mayor Ardell Brede who hadn't heard anything about a decision being made but has his doubts.

"I mean, it's too curvy, they don't have enough place to put two rails," says Brede.

He says last week the Olmsted County Rail Authority approved a study of the corridor between Rochester and Minneapolis.

"This seems to make sense to be from here to the Twin cities- from here being Rochester," says Brede.

MnDOT representatives from our area say nothing has been officially announced. They deferred further questions to the department's state office which did not return our calls. So for now, the decision appears to still be up in the air, and Brede says the Mississippi river route is not an option.

"If we're talking about high speed, they can't reach high speed," says Brede.

But Miller says his hope is the rail line through Winona would also be a platform to launch other high speed rail lines to places, like Rochester.

"I think this will serve as the initial backbone for higher speed rail," says Miller.

Olmsted County commissioner Ken Brown tells us he isn't surprised by the river route recommendation. The existing infrastructure is easier to upgrade whereas a route through Rochester would have to be built from scratch. High speed rail from Rochester to the Twin Cities isn't dead though. A completely separate project called Zip Rail is still moving forward.

Interesting... Zip Rail is really cool, too. If MN fast-tracks it, it could be the first real HSR corridor in the nation. California would probably complete their Central Valley segment first, but it won't be electrified or operated at high speed until it is linked into the Bay and/or the LA Basin.

[min-chi-cbus]

Do it, MN! You NEED the link to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic whatever the end result is.

[jpIllInoIs]

This was made possible after Iowa requested that the USDOT & FRA de-couple the original $233mil Chicago-Iowa City grant so that Illinois can procede with the Chi-QC portion. This buys Iowa some time for the political winds to shift so they can formally accept their portion of the grant to extend to Iowa City.

Chicago - Quad Cities Agreement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2011


Agreement in Place for Construction of Chicago-Moline Passenger Rail Route, Creating 2,000 Jobs



CHICAGO - The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) today announced that a cooperative agreement has been finalized with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and host railroads to begin construction of the Chicago-Moline passenger rail corridor. The project is expected to create nearly 2,000 jobs.

“We are very excited that we now have an agreement in place so construction can begin on this important passenger service extension connecting Chicago and the Quad Cities,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider. “Governor Quinn’s guidance and leadership on this issue has helped us ensure that service will begin on the corridor between Chicago and Moline in 2014.”

The cooperative agreement with the FRA allows the obligation of $177 million in federal funds towards corridor construction. The state is matching the federal funds with $45 million from Governor Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! capital program.

“Expanding passenger rail creates jobs, promotes economic development and provides people an alternative to the automobile by connecting the great cities throughout our state,” Governor Quinn said. “This agreement announced today is another important step to linking the Quad Cities area to Chicago and the global economy through new passenger service.”

“Almost five years ago we began a study of this route that reaffirmed what most in the region already knew: Expanding access into the Quad Cities makes economic sense,” said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. “That we are able to make this idea one step closer to reality today is a testament to the ability of Quad City officials, businesses and the public to unite behind a strong agenda to create jobs and boost economic development.”

The cooperative agreement on construction of the Chicago-to-Moline passenger service includes sub-agreements on service outcome arrangements with the host railroads, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad from Chicago to Wyanet and Iowa Interstate Railroad from Wyanet to Moline. The service outcome agreement sets forth how the corridor will be operated and provides for reliability standards.

“The Illinois Department of Transportation’s announcement of a cooperative agreement with the Federal Rail Administration is a huge step forward to bring passenger rail to the Quad Cities,” said Moline Mayor Don Welvaert. “The Quad Cities Rail Initiative is a perfect example of how city, state and federal agencies work together to make great transportation and economic development projects happen.”

[rockyi]

^Unbelievably good news!

[jpIllInoIs]

^^BTW the original $233mil Chi-IC grant was part the $810mil that was reallocated after being rejected by WI gov scott walker. Thanks Wisconsin!!! It almost makes up fr the Bears suckiing while GB goes perfect..