Nostalgia Not in Amtrak’s Future

[NeueAmtrakCalifornia]

CalTrans had already paid for signal improvements on the line (CTC up to somewhere between Santa Barbara and SLO. The CTC installation keeps creeping northward, unsure how far they've gotten. It used to be just all ABS ). If they are making major investments in it, they may as well buy it.

I will say that the Coast Line needs realignment though, some of which are necessary (i.e. Cuesta tunnel, Vandenberg AFB bypass)

 

[Anderson]

So are the corridor trains. Witness the Michigan and Illinois services. That is what makes me laugh when they mention pushing corridor service. Unless they are planning on buying up a lot of railroad or partnering with states to grab railroad, you are still at the mercy of the hosts.

How will they handle the additional trains?

I suspect that the idea is, in so many words, that if a given corridor is a big enough "customer" for the host(s), the host will treat it better because the money is there. That doesn't mean that improvements won't be needed, but a once-an-hour service is more likely to generate a large enough OTP incentive to get the host to "play ball" than a once-a-day train that might be hosed half of the time coming into a RR's territory.

 

[neroden]

I suspect that the idea is, in so many words, that if a given corridor is a big enough "customer" for the host(s), the host will treat it better because the money is there. That doesn't mean that improvements won't be needed, but a once-an-hour service is more likely to generate a large enough OTP incentive to get the host to "play ball" than a once-a-day train that might be hosed half of the time coming into a RR's territory.

In practice we know this isn't true. Michigan trains get stabbed in the schedule constantly. Empire Service doesn't get treated well either. There are only three ways to get good dispatching:
(1) Own the tracks
(2) Have enforceable penalties
(3) Have a friendly manager running the host (like Matt Rose was at BNSF)

 

[Anderson]

In practice we know this isn't true. Michigan trains get stabbed in the schedule constantly. Empire Service doesn't get treated well either. There are only three ways to get good dispatching:
(1) Own the tracks
(2) Have enforceable penalties
(3) Have a friendly manager running the host (like Matt Rose was at BNSF)

Yes, but what do those incentive structures look like in MI and NY?

 

[neroden]

Frankly NS doesn't seem * able * to run trains on time from Chicago 21st St. to Porter, Indiana. CN is notoriously unwilling to run trains on time through Battle Creek station. In both of those cases, it would be ludicrous for them to charge more than a nominal amount; I don't know what they get paid for these short segments, but it's already too much. The solution is OWN THE TRACKS.

In New York, CSX refused to run trains on time from Albany to Poughkeepsie; until the state leased the tracks. Now they run on time. West of Schenectady, they seem to run on time when CSX is afraid of federal penalties (when the courts have ruled in favor of the OTP standards), and not when they're not afraid. In CSX's case, they're notorious for *undermaintaining track and signals*, and they only seem to maintain the tracks when there's a threat of penalties; better for the state to own the tracks and maintain them.

I gave up on the idea of providing incentives to the freight railroads after two notorious examples: the St. Louis to Chicago route, where UP has taken lots and lots of government money and provided practically nothing in return, and the *three* government-funded bypasses of Acca Yard in Richmond for passenger service, which were quietly stolen for freight trains one at a time by CSX. It seems the only incentive which really works for the freight railroads is to buy the tracks from them -- a deal which worked well for Metrolinx in Toronto when it bought most of CN's tracks, and earlier for Metrolink in LA when it bought most of SP's tracks.

Full credit to Virginia for buying half of the right-of-way from DC to Richmond, along with other useful trackage. That will work.