what does it take to get an additional coach or coach/business car in the mix?
They didn't really "pick" it, per se--it is the longest and most significant segment (maybe the only? this is unclear) that has sold out so far, so is the best example to show how the Borealis is doing. The other reason would be that Milwaukee to St. Paul selling out is a VERY important way to show that the Borealis has robust ridership beyond the CHI - MKE Hiawatha segment of the route.
I think the projections were all for the first *full* Amtrak fiscal year of operations, not by calendar year, as in the partial calendar year the Borealis will have in 2024. Although we'll be able to extrapolate what a full year of ridership may look like based on late May through September of 2024, it will be most useful to see what happens in the next full fiscal year.
What's the ridership like on the Amtrak bus routes in Wisconsin? They are fairly extensive. I think the Green Bay Corridor - if it happens - will be first since there was money granted for the corridor study.
Hear, hear! Now we are talking...Wisconsin has the greatest number of Corridor Identification Program (CID) routes of any state! If you look closely at what is in Phase 1 WisDOT is building on the success of Borealis.
Just to clarify, the pre-Amtrak Empire Builder operated thru Wisconsin on the Burlington Route…
A friendly correction is that North Carolina has an astounding *seven!* total CID routes, so I believe they have the most of any state! But WI is not far behind
Grateful for the work that WisDOT is doing (compared to MnDOT, cough), and other DOTs like NCDOT!That is true. I’m not that old. I rode Amtrak’s Empire Builder from 1994 to 2017 when I lived there, but I did ride some of the last Milwaukee Road trains as a small child and the early Amtrak Empire Builder several times. But it’s good to note that at least four railroads operated Chicago - Twin Cities service into the 1960’s illustrating the strong market for service. The Milwaukee, the Burlington, the North Western and the Soo Line all offered service into the early ‘60’s.
In 1967, when I made my big trip "back East" from Portland to Chicago and St. Louis, I got off the North Coast Limited in Minneapolis and caught the Morning Zephyr to Chicago. In the annual Speed Survey, it was the fastest train in the U.S. When we hit the triple-digit segment, the ice water tinkled slightly in my glass.
The Empire Builder was a Great Northern train -
