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  1. M

    Hiawatha discussion

    Thanks for pointing this out! This was posted after the last time I checked WISARP and there's very interesting information there: Borialis cannibalizing a Hiawatha frequency is only temporary. When additional frequency is allowed the 7th Hiawatha trip will be restored and Borealis will move...
  2. M

    Hiawatha discussion

    That's a good point to consider. The Boaralis onboard crew changes in Milwaukee. All trips between CHI-MKE / MKE-CHI are essentially Hiawatha onboard crews -- the same rotation they did when all 7 round trips were Hiawatha. New crews take over MKE-MSP / MSP-MKE. With the Borialis cafe open...
  3. M

    Hiawatha discussion

    Two notable updates on Hiawatha Service. (1) Business class is now offered on the 8:05am southbound and the 8:05pm northbound. That appears to be by virtue of the Borealis trainset spending the night in Milwaukee, the westbound Borealis trainset running MKE-CHI-MKE-MSP in the AM, the...
  4. M

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago Corridor service H2 2024

    Two Borealis items: 1. 100,000th passenger served on the Borealis 22 weeks after launch https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2024/10/25/amtrak-borealis-line-between-milwaukee-twin-cities-hits-100000-riders/75838498007/...
  5. M

    Tracking FY 2024-25 Ridership and Finances

    Thanks for posting this stuff -- definitely interesting! Wish there was a way to adjust, extract or combine to get a clearer Hiawatha picture. It has not 100% versus 2019 but now that about 15% of CHI-MKE-CHI trips (14 of 96 weekly) are under Borealis there's no solid way to know how close...
  6. M

    Michigan North-South Rail Passenger Project

    The only single-class 50-seat regional jets were a pair of daily flights to O'Hare, and they made up about 4% of the total passenger traffic for the month. Three-class regional jets (first class, comfort + coach) were about 44% of passenger traffic, primarily 76-seat aircraft. Most of...
  7. M

    Michigan North-South Rail Passenger Project

    Traverse City supports remarkable levels of nonstop airline markets in summer -- this July it was nearly 4,000 people per day on average plus 390 at Pellson. This past summer TVC's roster of nonstop destinations included seven east coast airports stretching from Boston down to Washington, three...
  8. M

    Michigan North-South Rail Passenger Project

    I don't think anyone is necessarily saying "kill the Michigan North-South Rail Project and funnel those resources to Detroit-Grand Rapids". Rather it's just kind of puzzling that in a relativelhy rail-forward state like Michigan DET-LAN-GRR doesn't seem to show up in discussions, speculative...
  9. M

    Michigan North-South Rail Passenger Project

    Any obvious reason that DET-GRR seems to rarely if ever show up in proposals, discussions, etc? To me it's such an obviously-good candiate. I like the idea of Holland-Grand Rapids-Lansing-Howell-Ann Arbor-Dearborn-Detroit. I know it's a bit of a detour to head south rather than plunge...
  10. M

    Preferred connection time between Long Distance (LD) trains

    Duh on my part -- thank you for posting that and I'm embarassed to not have tried myself. I just assumed anything beyond Boston would say no trains found. Given that this does exist for sale I'm guessing they do get some beyond-Boston traffic, though I'm sure others are dissuaded by the...
  11. M

    Preferred connection time between Long Distance (LD) trains

    Absolutely -- I would guess it would be Maine's dime (MA gets no real benefit to making it easier for someone to travel from Portland to NYP.) It might be as far removed from "Amtrak" as when states subsidize bus companies to run Amtrak thruway service, only instead of, say, Bangor to Brunswick...
  12. M

    Preferred connection time between Long Distance (LD) trains

    Wonder if there's any reasonable way to know how many people self-transfer between the two stations, and (even more difficult) to know how many more *would* make such a jounrey if it was easier. Seems pretty likely that: X people would travel from the Downeaster to NYC/Southern New England if...
  13. M

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago Corridor service H2 2024

    Are you able to reserve a specific seat when booking business class on Borealis? Or is it open / conductor-suggested seating, with people boarding at intermediate stations having fairly poor odds of nabbing a single seat if traveling alone, nor finding an open pair if traveling as a twosome?
  14. M

    Original railroads of current routes

    Circling back to the original question of a resource showing original owners of rail lines, this site is a fantastic resource. http://rail.guide/#7.92/42.536/-88.117 Don't recall where I found it (possibly even someplace on this site??) but there are different map versions showing early...
  15. M

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago Corridor service H2 2024

    Bad luck today for Borealis, though obviously worse for the bicyclist it struck in Oconomowoc. Right now westbound Borealis and eastbound Empire Builder are stopped indefinitely, and the opposite counterpart of each train will stack up behind if it's not cleared in a couple of hours...
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