Feds dole out 22 million for passenger rail

[railiner]

Interesting read...thanks for posting the link.
Noted in the text was this: "Most transcontinental rail traffic through the upper Great Plains traveled either through North Dakota or Nebraska, rather than South Dakota"....
The last remnant of The Milwaukee Roads Olympian Hiawatha, was a Minneapolis to Aberdeen, SD local, that ended a couple of years before Amtrak began.

 

[me_little_me]

That's because theres only 200 People in the Whole State!

And that was before the pandemic!

 

[MARC Rider]

No to mention the only route that would make sense is Chicago to Sioux Falls. I'm not sure if that would hit the 750 mile rule, but that would make sense. Or a Denver to Rapid City line, but that is under 750 miles by highway let alone rail. Also, in my digging, there weren't trains to South Dakota at the time Amtrak was created, so I wouldn't be surprised if the railroads there didn't want to have a daily passenger train running there again.

In 1971 the 750 mile rule didn't exist. I think what Amtrak did back then was pick and choose among the passenger trains still running in 1971 which to keep. I'm not sure if they actually added any new routes at that time.

 

[SubwayNut]

I recommend checking out this really interesting podcast "Derailed" from Wisconsin Public Radio on the history of the never realized Milwaukee to Madison train and the historical politics behind this:

Derailed

Great news about the Golf Coast and second Chicago-Minneapolis Train, that corridor needs it.

 

[railiner]

In 1971 the 750 mile rule didn't exist. I think what Amtrak did back then was pick and choose among the passenger trains still running in 1971 which to keep. I'm not sure if they actually added any new routes at that time.

They did add one that I'm aware of...they brought passenger service to the former freight only "Port Road Branch" of the Penn Central between Perryville and Harrisburg, for the Washington section of the Broadway Limited and National Limited. Prior to Amtrak, they ran via the Northern Central line through York.

 

[MARC Rider]

They did add one that I'm aware of...they brought passenger service to the former freight only "Port Road Branch" of the Penn Central between Perryville and Harrisburg, for the Washington section of the Broadway Limited and National Limited. Prior to Amtrak, they ran via the Northern Central line through York.

Oh yes, true, but it was a rerouting of a small part of an existing train.

Do you know why they started to do that? (Although even if they had run on the Northern Central, it would have been only for a year, as Tropical storm Agnes in 1972 induced Penn Central to abandon the route. Actually, Tropical Storm Agnes messed up the Port Road, too. When I rode the Washington section of the Broadway Limited in April 1973, it was still closed, and we had to reroute all the way through Philadelphia.

 

[railiner]

Oh yes, true, but it was a rerouting of a small part of an existing train.

Do you know why they started to do that? (Although even if they had run on the Northern Central, it would have been only for a year, as Tropical storm Agnes in 1972 induced Penn Central to abandon the route. Actually, Tropical Storm Agnes messed up the Port Road, too. When I rode the Washington section of the Broadway Limited in April 1973, it was still closed, and we had to reroute all the way through Philadelphia.

Probably, because the Penn Central was not going to maintain the Northern Central to its former standards, as it was too costly to upgrade it, and probably planned to abandon it. As you stated, the hurricane damage made "rationalizing" their redundant routes, easier. Why they didn't reroute via Philly from the get-go, which they eventually later did, or the final solution, run the train on the B&O Capitol route, is open to conjecture...

 

[Qapla]

Just like when the hurricane took out the JAX to NOL service - even though the tracks have been built back - they have never restored Amtrak ... because they need to "study" it - why do you need to study a route that already existed

 

[Palmetto]

Just like when the hurricane took out the JAX to NOL service - even though the tracks have been built back - they have never restored Amtrak ... because they need to "study" it - why do you need to study a route that already existed

You don't. It's just a ploy to avoid returning to the norm, IMO. Reminds me of when the UP railroad wanted to add some double track in Utah. It was determined that that would be a threat to the desert tortoise. So, ONE track is not harmful already to the desert tortoise?

 

[Willbridge]

Interesting read...thanks for posting the link.
Noted in the text was this: "Most transcontinental rail traffic through the upper Great Plains traveled either through North Dakota or Nebraska, rather than South Dakota"....
The last remnant of The Milwaukee Roads Olympian Hiawatha, was a Minneapolis to Aberdeen, SD local, that ended a couple of years before Amtrak began.

It wasn't truly a "local" because they kept the streamliner schedule (and train numbers). I watched it come into Minneapolis in September, 1967. It was mainly a mail train by then.

 

[Willbridge]

In 1971 the 750 mile rule didn't exist. I think what Amtrak did back then was pick and choose among the passenger trains still running in 1971 which to keep. I'm not sure if they actually added any new routes at that time.

An FRA "study" set up the routes, but as it was a huge cutback there wasn't much consideration of new routes. In the West, the segment of the Coast Starlight between San Jose and Oakland-16th Street was new in the sense that it had not been served for years. The last train on that segment was the Klamath, which showed in the public schedules between Portland and Oakland, then another coach-only train showed up between San Jose and Los Angeles. A mailbag could cross the Bay Area without changing trains, but you couldn't.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

So has anybody come across any further or new information on these grants and developments?