River Runners Suspension Extended to June 1

The cancellation of Missouri River Runner service between St. Louis and Kansas City has been extended through June 2.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said flooding on the Union Pacific network has diverted some freight traffic to the route used by the River Runners.

In the interim, Amtrak passengers ticketed for trains 311, 313, 314 and 316 are riding chartered buses that are serving all stations.

Amtrak said it and the Missouri Department of Transportation, which funds the trains, are continuing to monitor the situation on a daily basis.

Passengers were urged to check their train’s status at Amtrak.com or on the Amtrak smart phone app.

The buses are adhering as close to the train schedules as possible, but delays may occur.

Flooding Prompts CZ Detour

Flooding that affected the BNSF route used by Amtrak’s California Zephyr between Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska, had Nos. 5 and 6 detouring on Wednesday.

The trains used the former Chicago & North Western line now owned by Union Pacific.

Amtrak said No. 6 will also use the ex-CN&W on Thursday.

However, Amtrak is unsure what route that No. 5 departing Chicago today will be taking.

 

Amtrak Cracks Down Again on Private Cars

Private car owners have suffered another setback with Amtrak banning passengers from riding on open platform or in open dutch doors on a moving train.

In a special notice, Amtrak said private car owners and guests can only be on an observation deck or at an open dutch door when a train is stationary.

The rule also requires that when a train is stopped that those on a rear platform or in an open dutch door must wear protective eye wear and that sufficient hand holds and railings must be available for all occupants

Leaning beyond the sides or rear planes of any private car and liquids are also prohibited in these areas when a train is stationary.
Officials with the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners and the Railroad Passenger Car Alliance say the latest decree by Amtrak represents a reversal of an earlier agreement to ban riding on open platform decks only in the Northeast Corridor.

The two private car trade groups had worked with Amtrak last year to create a safety manual that address platform riding.

AAPRCO officials believe that the change occurred the manager the private rail car groups worked with at Amtrak moved to another department and the agreements it reached with the passenger carrier was never published on the Amtrak website.

“We immediately asked for reconsideration of the ban, but we’re told it came from safety – and no change,” APPRCO President Tony Marchiando told Trains magazine.

Amtrak had agreed to a rule proposed by the private car owners that those riding an open platform must be seated, wear eye protection and that no drinks of any kind were to be consumed on the rear platform.

Amtak’s former special movements manager had approved the private car safety manual, which has since been published.

“Of course, our membership is very disappointed with this,” Marchiando said. “Platform riding has always been an important part of the private car experience and very, very few, only minor, injuries have ever occurred. Our intention is to work to allow safe riding on platforms with sensible rules and procedures.”

Amtrak said car owners who fail to adhere to safety rules could be suspended or see their car’s permission to operate on any Amtrak train be revoked.

VIA Changes Dome Operations

A VIA Rail Canada Panorama Dome sits in Jasper, Alberta, on the eastbound Canadian in May 2014.

VIA Rail Canada has changed the operation of dome cars on its signature train, The Canadian.

Trains magazine reported that the single-level, full-length Panorama dome cars are operating between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Edmonton, Alberta.

VIA has two of the Panorama cars and they operate eastbound on Train No. 2 on Friday and Train No. 4 on Tuesday.

The cars return on Train No. 1 on Wednesday and No. 3 on Friday.

The Panorama cars had originally been billed as operating between Vancouver and Toronto, but that proved to be short lived with the last Panorama leaving Toronto on May 22.

The Canadian will operate for the summer with four short dome cars, which included a Park series dome-observation car.

Two of the domes serve beverages and snacks. A third dome has meals and beverages for purchased by coach passengers. That dome is positioned behind the coaches.

Trains said when a Panorama dome operates on Nos. 1 or 2, that will give the consist of those trains five domes.

Nos.  3 and 4 operate only between Vancouver and Edmonton with a shorter consist that includes one less Skyline dome.

Oregon Thruway Stop Dropped

Effective June 1 the Amtrak High Desert POINT Thruway bus will no longer stop at the Bend River House in Oregon.

In a service advisory Amtrak said buses will continue to stop at the Bend Hawthorne Station, which is 1.7 miles from Bend River House. All traffic in and out of Bend will be at the intermodal facility located at 344 Hawthorne Avenue.

Buses 6111, 6114, 6211 and 6214 will continue to stop at Redmond, Bend (Hawthorne Avenue), Sun River, LaPine and Chemult to connect with the Coast Starlight.

VIA Gets Ridership Boost From Victoria Day

VIA Rail Canada said it carried more than 82,000 passengers during the Victoria Day weekend, an increase of 4 percent increase compared last year.

In a news release, VIA said this was its best ridership performance for this period in the past 10 years.

The busiest day was May 17 was the busiest day with more than 18,000 passengers riding VIA trains.

The Victoria Day travel period extended from May 16 to 21.

More than half of the passengers rode within Ontario, particularly between Ottawa and Toronto.

The Quebec City-Windsor corridor recorded 78,852 passengers, a 4.2 percent increase compared with 2018’s ridership.

Missouri River Runners Remain Suspended

Passengers booked aboard Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner trains between St. Louis and Kansas City will continue to ride chartered buses through at least Wednesday (May 29).

Amtrak said in a service advisory that host railroad Union Pacific continues to divert freight trains to the route used by the River Runners.

Nos. 311, 313, 314 and 316 had been suspended last week after flooding occurred near Kansas City.

Originally, the suspension of the River Runners was to last through Saturday, but was extended.

Amtrak said the substitute buses will operate as close as possible to the train schedules and will pick up and drop off passengers at all stations served by the train.

OurBus to Seek to Fill Gap Left by Hoosier State Demise

A New York-based bus line will seek to fill the void being left when Amtrak’s Hoosier State is discontinued on July 1 between Chicago and Indianapolis.

OurBus announced that it will operate service between the two cities for two months on a trial basis to test the market.

The company might face some stiff competition as Greyhound has eight roundtrips daily between Chicago and Indianapolis while Megabus has six roundtrips.

“We know the train is being taken away,” said OurBus co-founder Alxel Hellman. “We think it means there are a lot of people who are looking for a new transportation option. The routes can go wherever they need to be.”

OurBus plans to lease buses from Gold Shield Transportation in Indianapolis. The buses will have reclining seats and WiFi.

Hellman described them as “high-end buses” that are typically chartered for business conferences or traveling sports teams.

The OurBus service will initially only serve Chicago and Indianapolis, but Hellman said if 100 or more people express interest in a stop by going to the company’s website the service will add it to the schedule.

The Hoosier State, which operates quad-weekly on days that Amtrak’s Chicago-New York Cardinal does not operate, serves intermediate stations in Indiana at Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Rensselaer and Dyer.

The initial fare will be $10 but increase to between $20 and $40.

Although schedules and boarding sites are still being worked out, OurBus said the daily roundtrip will leave Indy in the morning and Chicago in the evening, similar to the current schedule of the Hoosier State.

OurBus has 15 regular routes, mostly in the Northeast and Southeast. This would be the company’s first route in the Midwest.

Hellman said his company, which was founded in 2016, is different from other bus lines because it can quickly adapt to changing needs.

He said OurBus also can offer flexible routes that only run some days of the year to serve, for example, college students returning home to campus before or after semester breaks.

FRA Suspends Study of New Petersburg Station

Efforts to create a new Amtrak station in Petersburg, Virginia, have stalled after the Federal Federal Railroad Administration suspended work on an environmental assessment of the project.

In a letter sent to the Tri-Cities Metropolitan Planning Organization, the FRA did not explain why work on the study had been suspended, but an FRA spokesman later said the agency would be willing to consider the project at an unspecified later date.

“We have not abandoned plans to evaluate the feasibility of building a new station, and will continue to discuss the next steps with the Tri-Cities MPO,” the FRA spokesman said in a statement.

Amtrak currently serves Petersburg at a station located in Ettrick. That facility was one of three locations under consideration for a new station.

The other locations are the CSX Collier Yard in Petersburg and a former department store in Colonial Heights.

Studies of a new station began five years ago and the FRA had indicated last year that it favored the Colonial Heights location, a former Nichols Department Store because of its proximity to Interstate 95.

Officials have said the station in Ettrick is 74 years old and is located near Virginia State University.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation had also favored revitalizing the Ettrick station.

Expressing disappointment in the FRA decision, David Hyder, transportation director of the Crater Planning District Commission, said he would welcome the opportunity to revive the new station study.

Petersburg is served by Amtrak’s Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Carolinian and Palmetto.

Not Much Breakfast to be had in Diner Dover

Amtrak began putting Viewliner dining cars built by CAF USA into service not longer before it stopped offering full service dining aboard the Lake Shore Limited in favor of what it termed “fresh and contemporary” meal service.

At the time that service launched in June 2018, no hot meal offerings were offered. Everything served was prepared off the train.

Since then hot food had made a sort of comeback on the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited.

Breakfast now includes a breakfast sandwich of ham, egg and cheddar cheese served on a ciabatta roll that an attendant can heat for you in a microwave oven.

I imagine that one or more passengers were having that sandwich as the westbound Lake Shore passed through Olmsted Falls, Ohio, near Cleveland on the morning I made this image.

It wasn’t a hot, freshly prepared meal created by a chef aboard the train, but I suppose it was better than the alternative of breakfast bars.

Dover, like most of the Viewliner diners, is named after a state capitol city. Like many of those capitols, Dover is not on the Amtrak route map.