Going to be Crowded Trains Today

The Thanksgiving travel period is a busy one for Amtrak and is one of the few times of the year when the passenger carrier operates extra sections of some trains.

The Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridor is not one of those routes that is getting or have had extra sections in the past, but Amtrak did plan to increase the capacity of trains in the corridor.

Shown is the southbound Saluki arriving at its station stop in Mattoon, Illinois, on Nov. 24.

The image was made from the Richmond Avenue bridge north of the station.

Parley Held to Discuss Lateness on Carbondale Route

Poor timekeeping in the Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridor appears to correlate with falling ridership at Champaign-Urbana, Amtrak officials recently said at a conference to discuss the route.

“There is a correlation between poor on-time performance and reduced patronage at Champaign, and that affects Illinois taxpayers who help support the service,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

The conference was held Nov. 22 and involved representatives of Canadian National, Amtrak and officials from communities along the route.

Amtrak officials gave a PowerPoint presentation showing how delays to trains at Champaign seem to be correlated with ridership peaks and valleys over the past decade.

The chart shows that on the whole ridership from Champaign-Urbana, home to the University of Illinois and the largest metropolitan region on the route south of Chicago, has been growing since 2008.

However, the chart also shows that delays have been declining since 2013 when about 60 percent of the trains serving Champaign were late.

Delays fell to about 30 percent in 2015. Since then the percentage of trains arriving late at Champaign has varied between 30 to 40 percent.

In the period 2008 to 2013 delays were in the 50 to 60 percent range.

The corridor is home to the State of Illinois funded Illini and Saluki between Chicago and Carbondale, and the City of New Orleans between Chicago and New Orleans.

Between 2008 and 2019 ridership crested at 190,000 in 2013 before starting a steady descent that bottomed out at 160,000 in 2018.

However, in the past year, ridership has sharply rebounded to near its 2013 peak. The ridership low point was 2009 and 2010 when the lingering effects of the Great Recession might have had an influence. Ridership in those years was around 140,000.

The on-time performance has not affected all of the six trains in the corridor the same. The Saluki has borne the brunt of the delays, arriving at its endpoints on time just 26 percent of the time in fiscal year 2019, which ended on Sept. 30.

The City of New Orleans has performed better in part because it has more scheduled padding than the state-funded trains.

“Because the distance from Champaign to Chicago is relatively short [129 miles], we are much more vulnerable to leak ridership from there when taking the train becomes unreliable,” Magliari said.

The conference was not open to the news media or the public, but officials held a news conference afterward. The CN representatives did not participate in the news conference.

Amtrak and CN are currently involved in a case before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board regarding the passenger carrier’s contention that CN gives Amtrak trains poor handling.

The host railroad has required Amtrak trains since 2014 to have a minimum of 32 axles to ensure a proper shunt of signals and crossing gates.

CN has said this is necessary because Amtrak’s Amfleet and Horizon equipment might not otherwise activate grade crossing protection devices in a corridor where the top speed is 79 mph.

Amtrak contends that CN track maintenance procedures and not its equipment is to blame for instances in which safety devices failed to activate.

Another source of delay has been CN’s edict that the Saluki and Illini slow to 60 mph over any highway crossings protected by electronic warning devices between University Park and Centralia.

Those trains carry Amfleet and/or Horizon equipment whereas the City of New Orleans is assigned Superliner equipment.

“The schedule for each train has more than a half-hour of buffer – time added in addition to running time – but the delays still occur,” Magliari said.

He disputed CN’s contention that schedules need to be lengthened, saying the trains arrived early 11 percent of the time.

A Trains magazine report about the conference noted that former CN CEO E. Hunter Harrison, sought to prevent Amtrak from instituting the Saluki in 2006 but backed down after U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) intervened.

Harrison was once CEO of the Illinois Central, which owned the tracks before they were acquired by CN in 1998.

Trains observed that delays to the Saluki have been prevalent in each direction since the train began service.

Durbin recently said he is ready to introduce legislation to give Amtrak a right to sue a host railroad for failure to give passenger trains preference.

But one member of Congress from Illinois, Rodney Davis, believes it is too soon for that.

Davis, who sits on the House committee that oversees Amtrak said giving the passenger carrier a right to sue a host railroad would prolong a solution to on-time performance issues.

He attended the news conference that followed the Nov. 22 conference.

“At this point, I want to try and solve (the on-time performance) problem without going to litigation,” Davis said. “When litigation is involved, it will prolong the final solution.”

Trackwork to Affect Some Keystones

Track work in Amtrak’s Keystone Corridor will result in schedule changes for some Keystone Service trains on Dec. 7, 8, 14 and 15.

Train 611, 615, 661, 663, 667, 669 and 671 will operate seven minutes later from Exton to Harrisburg.

Train 665 will operate five minutes earlier from Philadelphia to Paoli and two minutes later from Exton to Harrisburg.

Strike at CN Helped Canadian’s Timekeeping

A recent strike by the Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference against Canadian National proved to be a good thing for timekeeping of VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian.

An analysis by Trains magazine found that the Canadian that departed Toronto on Nov. 24 spent 14 hours and 15 minutes waiting for its scheduled departure times at stations in western Ontario and Manitoba.

That was because during the strike CN rerouted some of its trains through the United States, thus removing some of the freight train delays that Nos. 1 and 2 often incur.

Trains said that on one day the Canadian waited at the crew change point of Hornepayne, Ontario, for three-and-a-half hours until its scheduled departure time. Other waiting times ranged from 15 to 30 minutes.

The Canadian has 65 intermediate stops between Toronto and Vancouver and is allowed to depart ahead of schedule if there are no passengers set to board.

That led to the Canadian leaving Foleyet, Ontario, nearly two hours early on Sunday evening.

The analysis said that CN and VIA agreed in April 2019 to lengthen the running time of the Canadian to ensure that passengers on the westbound train would be able to see the Rocky Mountains in daylight.

The magazine said its review of every departure since the longer schedule went into effect found that has overall been successful.

No. 1 has consistently arrived in Vancouver earlier than its 8 a.m. scheduled arrival time, sometimes arriving early by as much as two to four hours.

VIA does not allow passengers to disembark in Vancouver before 6:30 a.m. and offers a continental breakfast to Sleeper Plus and Prestige class passengers.

Early arriving passengers are permitted to stay aboard as late as 8 a.m.

VIA has also reduced the frequency of operations of the Canadian to twice weekly between Toronto and Vancouver and once a week between Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta.

CN and the Teamsters on Wednesday announced a tentative contract agreement that ended the strike.

However, it may be as many as eight weeks before the ratification vote is completed.

San Joaquin Authority May Consider Another Operator

Recent testimony before a congressional committee hinted that some California officials might be thinking about finding another operator for trains serving the San Joaquin Valley.

Amtrak has operated the San Joaquin service between Bakersfield and Oakland since 1974, but some on the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority are unhappy about the national passenger carrier’s lack of transparency as to costs.

During a hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Authority’s executive director, Stacey Mortensen, said Amtrak charges three times as much per passenger to run the San Joaquin trains than Herzog Transit charges to handle the Altamont Corridor Express.

Mortensen also heads the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission.

In her testimony, Mortensen said her agency has asked Amtrak for cost-sharing and maintenance data for years but never received it.

“Our attempts to discuss these issues with various Amtrak leadership typically starts with, ‘We will look into it.’ Ultimately though the transition to defensiveness, resistance and then, in the end, futility,” Mortenson said.

“Amtrak, exceeds its own budget projections year after year with little or any explanation. Their only remedy has been to seek additional funding from our state,” she said.

A California television station asked Amtrak for comment on Mortenson’s testimony, but responded with a statement that said nothing of substance or illumination.

“We look forward to continuing to provide more information to state partners and serving more customers in California,” the Amtrak statement said.

Amtrak’s contract with the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority must be approved annually.

Mortensen indicated that the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority might look into finding another provider to operate passenger trains on the San Joaquin route.

NNERPA Eyes Projects to Improve Downeaster Route

Increasing capacity and adding new stations to the route used by Amtrak’s Downeaster trains is being studied by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

NNERPA is considering adding a siding and second platform in Wells, Maine; building a new station at Portland, Maine; and creating a new stop at Falmouth, Maine, south of Portland.

The proposed siding and platform at Wells would allow for the addition of a new northbound, commuter-oriented train from Wells to Portland and on to Brunswick, Maine.

During a public meeting held in Brunswick, NNERPA officials said the plans are not final nor has a decision been made to pursue them.

They said the ideas are part of an effort to boost ridership between stations even if a majority of passengers are traveling to and from Boston.

“Even though there’s a diverse group of people who ride for different reasons, Boston is really the destination,” said Patricia Quinn, NNEPRA’s executive director. “We’re trying to figure out ways to make the Downeaster more appealing for people to ride it on a regional basis.”

Virgin to Start Laying Rails in January

Virgin Rails USA had told an Orlando news outlet that is will begin laying rails in January 2020 for its extension from West Palm Beach to Orlando, Florida.

The carrier said it will begin construction in February 2020 of a $70 million, 138,000 square foot maintenance center that it said will create 160 new jobs.

The 170-mile line to Orland will have 55 bridges that will cost $35 million apiece. Virgin projects that each bridge will take 12 to 30 months to build.

“Obviously our goal is to maximize mobility for the Central and South Florida communities,” said Virgin Trains USA CEO Patrick Goddard said. “We are looking at stations. We are in a dialogue with the Treasure Coast, we are in a dialogue with the Space Coast. We would like to see stations every 50 to 60 miles. I think that’s feasible and reasonable to have an express train service so we will continue to pursue to update those as we make progress.”

Virgin said the steel being used in construction of the line is being purchased from American Steel in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Approximately 1,000 will be employed to build the line.

Goddard said before building west of Orlando International Airport that Virgin must reach an agreement on a lease from the Central Florida Expressway Authority and the Florida Department of Transportation.

Virgin plans to build along existing highways between Orlando and Tampa.

Slower Than We’d Like

Shown is a schedule for Amtrak’s Broadway Limited from the mid 1970s. Penn Central was still the host railroad and its tracks west of Pittsburgh were not in great condition.

Therefore Amtrak placed a notice that the schedules were slower than PC was required to provide but faster scheduled were not possible at this this time.

Left unsaid was that PC was in bankruptcy proceedings and couldn’t afford to fix its tracks.

But even with these schedules Nos. 40 and 41 were still subject to delays, some of them major.

The symbol next to times at Canton and Crestline, Ohio, denoted that tickets could only be purchased for some or all trains at this station.

They were to be purchased either from the conductor or a travel agent. There was no cash penalty for buying your ticket aboard the train if no agent was on duty at train time.

The letter “e” for Canton and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, indicated that the train stopped on signal to pickup or drop off passengers.

The train would stop eastbound at Gary only to receive passengers and westbound to discharge them.

Amtrak Adds Padding to CONO, WB Lake Shore Limited

Amtrak has been quietly adding additional running time to some routes, including the City of New Orleans and Lake Shore Limited.

Most of the changes have involved endpoint terminals, but in some instances time has been added at intermediate stations.

Schedules posted on Amtrak’s website for the City of New Orleans effective Oct. 1 show that 20 minutes has been added to the northbound arrival time of in Chicago since May 2018.

Effective with the May 13 departure from New Orleans, No. 59’s arrival time in Chicago was changed from 9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.

The Oct. 1 schedule change shows No. 58 is now scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 9:20 a.m.

The times at stations north of Mattoon, Illinois, for No. 58 also have been adjusted with the time at Champaign-Urbana moved from 6:10 a.m. to 6:15 a.m., Kankakee was changed from 7:13 a.m. to 7:18 a.m., and Homewood was changed from 7:44 a.m. to 7:49 a.m.

The arrival time in New Orleans for No. 59 has been lengthened by nine minutes, but times at intermediate stations are unchanged from their earlier schedules.

In fact, the times at intermediate stations for No. 59 are unchanged from Amtrak’s last printed national timetable, which was issued on Jan. 11, 2016.

The intermediate times for No. 58 are unchanged since 2016 from New Orleans to Mattoon.

It is not clear if the recent changes to the schedules of the City of New Orleans are linked to a battle Amtrak has been having with host railroad Canadian National over what Amtrak believes is poor dispatching.

Amtrak has asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to intervene, but thus far the STB has urged the two sides to continue in mediation.

The current schedules posted on the Amtrak website for Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridor trains the Illini and Saluki, which use the same tracks as the City of New Orleans show no changes in schedules.

Those schedules were last updated on Sept. 13, 2017. That schedule also continues to show No. 58 scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 9 a.m.

As for the Lake Shore Limited, the only change in the schedule dated Nov. 11 is to change the Chicago arrival time of No. 49 to 9:50 a.m. It had been 9:45 a.m.

Times at intermediate stations served by No. 49 remain unchanged as does the schedule of eastbound Train No. 48.

The Nov. 11 schedule for the Lake Shore Limited continues to show that café car service remains unavailable on Nos. 48 and 49 between New York City and Albany-Rensselaer, New York.

Amtrak has also posted new schedules for the Cardinal, Crescent, Capitol Limited and Silver Meteor that show no schedule changes but reflect the inauguration of flexible dinning service for sleeping car passengers.

2 Illinois Routes Saw Ridership Up in FY2019

Ridership of two Amtrak routes in Illinois increased in fiscal year 2019.

The Chicago-St. Louis corridor carried 756,062 passengers during the fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, an increase of 5.5 percent from the previous year, and 24 percent higher than fiscal year 2011.

Those figures include ridership of Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service trains as well as the Chicago-San Antonio Texas Eagle, which used the route.

The Illinois Department of Transportation funds the Lincoln Service trains.

IDOT and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation jointly fund the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha Service, which saw a gain of 38,000 passengers.

Ridership of Hiawatha Service trains was 882,189 in FY2019, a 4.5 percent increase over FY2019.