PerRock
Engineer
There is talks in the government about getting a train up and running to connect the southern part of the LP to the northern part. My ex-boss has a cabin up there and keeps tabs on the process, it's still in the 'just talking about it' phase. But maybe some year...
The biggest issue for getting more trains to run between Michigan & CHI, is not actually in Michigan. It's the short section where they run in Indiana. The line Amtrak currently uses is basically at capacity right now. There are plans to ease the capacity issues down there; but until that's done your not going to see really much in the way of expanded service.
peter
Edit/PS: just had a thought, why can't Amtrak negotiate to use the South Shore line in Indiana? That line is used a lot less & is kept up to a good standard for passenger service. It would probably even be easier to implement some high-speed services on it, as I'm sure NICTD would be more favorable to chipping in then NS. Amtrak services could transfer over just after the Michigan City station, and then come back over to the NS just before the Hammond stop. Not to mention the potential to add additional stops along the way using NICTD stations (no need to build infrastructure.)
peter
The biggest issue for getting more trains to run between Michigan & CHI, is not actually in Michigan. It's the short section where they run in Indiana. The line Amtrak currently uses is basically at capacity right now. There are plans to ease the capacity issues down there; but until that's done your not going to see really much in the way of expanded service.
peter
Edit/PS: just had a thought, why can't Amtrak negotiate to use the South Shore line in Indiana? That line is used a lot less & is kept up to a good standard for passenger service. It would probably even be easier to implement some high-speed services on it, as I'm sure NICTD would be more favorable to chipping in then NS. Amtrak services could transfer over just after the Michigan City station, and then come back over to the NS just before the Hammond stop. Not to mention the potential to add additional stops along the way using NICTD stations (no need to build infrastructure.)
peter
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