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    New train (40-41 Floridian) between Miami and Chicago via Washington DC

    Having a nearly 48-hour schedule doesn't seem to make the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, or California Zephyr unpalatable, I don't know why it would be different for the Capitol/Star. Like jis says, few people are riding a two-night train end-to-end, and those that are are well aware that it's...
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    Ramsey County approved the Union Depot operating agreement today. Watching the video, one of the commissioners mentioned that the state agreement is hopefully still only a couple weeks out, and that this approval was one of the things they're waiting on.
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    Winter Park (Colorado) Express is back

    I've also wondered that. Would certainly help on the return to not have to do the backup move into Union Station.
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    Union Depot has more parking and is closer to an I-94 interchange than Midway, in addition to having public transit connections, so, no.
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    Long Distance (LD) fleet replacement RFP discussion H1 2024

    Is there a need to get into the baggage car while the train is moving? Seems like you could just clamp a Viewliner bag car onto the end of a bilevel consist and just accept that no one can access it between stations.
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    According to Wikipedia, it originally had 10 through-running and 8 stub-end tracks. The area where the stub-end tracks were is now the bus platform area, but there's about 160' between the edge of that and the existing platform track. The current platform and track on either side takes up about...
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    I stand corrected! I guess that makes sense - there's only two tracks at SPUD, but with the only scheduled service being an EB in each direction, 10-14 hours apart, that second track has effectively been open for Train Days displays or that holiday Northstar run, etc. With a TCMC train laying...
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    There were some fairly plausible rumors a while back of Amtrak being (understandably) unhappy that Ramsey County keeps renting out the SPUD waiting room for weddings and the like, squeezing all of the actual Amtrak customers off to the side of the space and making it hard for announcements to be...
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    Twin Cities (Minnesota) Local and Suburban Rail Service discussion

    Yep, Union Depot is the easternmost station on the Green Line and Target Field is the westernmost (until the extension opens in a few years). Takes about 45 minutes.
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    Amtrak and Vermont

    Oh yeah, the site is insistent on giving you at least three options if at all possible. When I look at booking from St. Paul to Chicago, usually it spits out the Empire Builder direct, the Empire Builder to Milwaukee with a transfer to the Hiawatha, and something with a thruway bus, but every so...
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    I think there's reason to be optimistic that TCMC will be extended to Target Field Station in Minneapolis once the NLX project turns it into an Amtrak station. I saw a rumor somewhere (Twitter?) that Amtrak was aiming to combine one of the NLX trips with the TCMC trips similar to the River...
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    Why did they need a special inspection when the Empire Builder runs the route daily? Is it something to do with the shorter consist? I don't know enough about railroad operations to have an opinion on the rest of your points, but as a Minneapolis resident, I prefer a 40-minute LRT ride that...
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    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    The Wisconsin DOT sent out an update a couple weeks ago with the following schedule. It didn't give an exact date, but showed the start of service being in summer or fall 2023, consistent with the plan to start in FY 2023 mentioned upthread a bit.
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