New Chicago - Kansas City service via St. Louis

[penguinflies]

There is a schedule change that happened.

No more 303/304 lincoln service.

Mo river runner now begins & end in Chicago as 318/319. Today it used venture coach equipment and 2 baggage cars. I didnt see what type of cafe car.

301/306 was 6 cars. Using 5 amfleet ii and an amfleet 1 biz/cafe. Of which, only 2 coaches were used.

 

[MisterUptempo]

There is a schedule change that happened.

No more 303/304 lincoln service.

Mo river runner now begins & end in Chicago as 318/319. Today it used venture coach equipment and 2 baggage cars. I didnt see what type of cafe car.

301/306 was 6 cars. Using 5 amfleet ii and an amfleet 1 biz/cafe. Of which, only 2 coaches were used.

Not trying to veer too far off topic here, but it will be interesting to see whether 318/319 experiences an uptick in passengers over the two routes running separately.

St. Louis has a metro area in which little more than 10% of the population actually resides within St. Louis city limits. I had wondered for a while whether the Lincoln Service could find greater ridership if it terminated in Kirkwood, as opposed to Gateway. Hate to say it, but some people in the 'burbs who would never consider going to Gateway for the Lincoln Service might be more willing to take the train if they could pick it up at Kirkwood.

Will also have to see whether one segment screws up the timeliness of the other.

 

[penguinflies]

New schedule appears to have several benefits.

Longest runtime possible for venture equipment all the way to kc

This prevents having the turn trains around in stl.

Don't have to clean 303 or the river runners in stl.

CUS has new printed signs in boarding area for the trains. So it seems as permanent as it gets.

I didn't think modot was part of the states venture order contribution. Unsure why the only missouri train is getting issued the newest equipment.

 

[MisterUptempo]

New schedule appears to have several benefits.

Longest runtime possible for venture equipment all the way to kc

This prevents having the turn trains around in stl.

Don't have to clean 303 or the river runners in stl.

CUS has new printed signs in boarding area for the trains. So it seems as permanent as it gets.

I didn't think modot was part of the states venture order contribution. Unsure why the only missouri train is getting issued the newest equipment.

The Midwest Venture order includes Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Don't know whether the equipment for this route will be from MO's or IL's allocation of Ventures.

ETA - Something that is a little concerning regarding the potential success of 318/319 - I tried booking tickets a month from today CHI-KCY, and while the SWC is more expensive for a coach seat than 319 ($78.00 for SWC, $60.00 for 319), the Chief is scheduled to only take 7h 10m to make the journey, as opposed to 11h 15m for 319, making it a far less attractive option.

 

[Eric S]

Not trying to veer too far off topic here, but it will be interesting to see whether 318/319 experiences an uptick in passengers over the two routes running separately.

St. Louis has a metro area in which little more than 10% of the population actually resides within St. Louis city limits. I had wondered for a while whether the Lincoln Service could find greater ridership if it terminated in Kirkwood, as opposed to Gateway. Hate to say it, but some people in the 'burbs who would never consider going to Gateway for the Lincoln Service might be more willing to take the train if they could pick it up at Kirkwood.

Will also have to see whether one segment screws up the timeliness of the other.

I might be mistaken, but I seem to recall that was mentioned as part of the reasoning for separating the previous Ann Rutledge CHI-STL-KCY train into separate CHI-STL and STL-KCY trains.

 

[penguinflies]

As a consumer. I found that 304 was one of the few trains that runs near capacity each day due to its timing at spi and bnl to chicago. That train could capture more revenue with more cars and the larger business class product promised with the new equipment.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The Midwest Venture order includes Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Don't know whether the equipment for this route will be from MO's or IL's allocation of Ventures.

ETA - Something that is a little concerning regarding the potential success of 318/319 - I tried booking tickets a month from today CHI-KCY, and while the SWC is more expensive for a coach seat than 319 ($78.00 for SWC, $60.00 for 319), the Chief is scheduled to only take 7h 10m to make the journey, as opposed to 11h 15m for 319, making it a far less attractive option.

But what if you're going from say Springfield to Kansas City (for example)?

 

[jis]

But what if you're going from say Springfield to Kansas City (for example)?

Indeed! I very much doubt that end to end travelers from Chicago to Kansas City would be a significant clientele of this service.

 

[como]

I might be mistaken, but I seem to recall that was mentioned as part of the reasoning for separating the previous Ann Rutledge CHI-STL-KCY train into separate CHI-STL and STL-KCY trains.

Excellent point. The current schedule leaves KC relatively early in the morning. The downside of the combined trains is for Missouri passengers. I use the Jefferson City station to go to St. Louis. The travel time is competitive to driving but the new schedule means that I leave Jeff City around noon and arrive in St. Louis at 2:30. This isn't convenient for a day trip. When the second River Runner returns in July, assuming that the state budget is signed by the governor, it will leave Jeff City at 6:30 p.m. The bottom line is that it is impossible to go to St. Louis, spend the day and return.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Excellent point. The current schedule leaves KC relatively early in the morning. The downside of the combined trains is for Missouri passengers. I use the Jefferson City station to go to St. Louis. The travel time is competitive to driving but the new schedule means that I leave Jeff City around noon and arrive in St. Louis at 2:30. This isn't convenient for a day trip. When the second River Runner returns in July, assuming that the state budget is signed by the governor, it will leave Jeff City at 6:30 p.m. The bottom line is that it is impossible to go to St. Louis, spend the day and return.

NOT Good as you know!

 

[Willbridge]

Indeed! I very much doubt that end to end travelers from Chicago to Kansas City would be a significant clientele of this service.

Back when it ran through it made a Springfield>Southwest Chief trip easy. I enjoyed it. If the connection at Kansas City is offered as an alternative (like Spokane on the Empire Builder, it could be used to bypass the peak loads between Chicago and Kansas City on the SWC.

 

[toddinde]

Indeed! I very much doubt that end to end travelers from Chicago to Kansas City would be a significant clientele of this service.

Yes. Try flying from Kansas City to Springfield. The train would be very competitive.

 

[OBS]

It shouldn't surprise anyone, but the new train left Chicago on one of its first trips with no toilet paper in some of the bathrooms...

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Welcome to Chicago.

 

[DaveKCMO]

We'll have to keep an eye out in KC!

 

[jpakala]

Such nonsense vaguely resembles the apparent inability of a postal carrier to read even a well-written cursive, so when a letter came back "Addressee unknown" I now must 'print' when I address an envelope to my sister outside DC, and hundreds of letters to an address in the Phila. 19123 zip code (up Broad St. north of City Hall) sent in June came back to senders in September with the recipient (an educational institution) as "Unkown"; so, the recipient ended up changing to a P.O. box in an adjacent zip code and going to pick up their mail there. When I worked for the P.O. in the Pittsburgh area two summers 50 years ago we had to tend to any & all "nixies" (addressee unknown; forwarding period expired; etc.) within one week.

 

[moselman66]

If the connection at Kansas City is offered as an alternative (like Spokane on the Empire Builder, it could be used to bypass the peak loads between Chicago and Kansas City on the SWC.

Indeed that's happening. For example if you want a coach seat CHI-ABQ on Monday 6/13 you can't get one because coach is sold out CHI-KCY, but now you can travel to KCY via St Louis and catch the SWC there. And while a local CHI-KCY passenger might cringe at the extra four hours the CHI-STL-KCY trip takes versus the speedy SWC, a passenger heading to ABQ may not think much of 25 hours versus 30.

 

[Willbridge]

Indeed that's happening. For example if you want a coach seat CHI-ABQ on Monday 6/13 you can't get one because coach is sold out CHI-KCY, but now you can travel to KCY via St Louis and catch the SWC there. And while a local CHI-KCY passenger might cringe at the extra four hours the CHI-STL-KCY trip takes versus the speedy SWC, a passenger heading to ABQ may not think much of 25 hours versus 30.

Yes. Somebody was on the ball. Now if they can get Lacey, Centralia, and Kelso routed to Spokane via Portland (with its amenities and shorter wait) and not just via the slower trip through Seattle....