Michigan would be a logical place but the Cascades would also be a consideration since they already run Talgo equipment.Please use this thread to speculate as to where the Talgo sets that were originally built for Wisconsin will be used.
At least smarter people at the national level came to their senses. Now, Scottie is actively soliciting here in WI try to get us to bail him out of his huge campaign debt. Guess he forked out a little too much cash for the daily lobster rolls and his "personal photographer."Michigan would be a logical place but the Cascades would also be a consideration since they already run Talgo equipment.Please use this thread to speculate as to where the Talgo sets that were originally built for Wisconsin will be used.
Of course if Wisconsin was to come to it senses and get rid of Scott Walker, they could be used as intended in Wisconsin!
There had been money in WSDOT's rail budget to buy the WI trainsets, but it was removed before final passage. But we can hope that funding could be found.3 are currently owned by WA, 2 by OR, and 2 by Amtrak. Who would take the 2?
Maybe British Columbia? iirc, The Wisconsin Talgos are missing a car or three, like, Business Class, lounge? So they don't match the make-up of the current Cascades trainsets. Need to get the missing cars somehow, or otherwise explain to customers every day that this train doesn't have what you rode in yesterday.3 are currently owned by WA, 2 by OR, and 2 by Amtrak. Who would take the 2?
The most logical place is the Cascades. According to the Long Term Plan, Washington State is scheduled to need to buy another trainset for the expanded service planned in, IIRC, 2020, or maybe it was as early as 2017.Please use this thread to speculate as to where the Talgo sets that were originally built for Wisconsin will be used.
I didn't know this detail. So it didn't make it into the 2015-2017 budget....There had been money in WSDOT's rail budget to buy the WI trainsets, but it was removed before final passage. But we can hope that funding could be found.3 are currently owned by WA, 2 by OR, and 2 by Amtrak. Who would take the 2?
... maybe not use them immediately. BSNF would have to agree to more slots.....There had been money in WSDOT's rail budget to buy the WI trainsets, but it was removed before final passage. But we can hope that funding could be found.3 are currently owned by WA, 2 by OR, and 2 by Amtrak. Who would take the 2?
.... buy the trainsets in the 2017-2019 biennium. With all the ARRA improvements including Point Defiance Bypass operating, they'll actually be able to *use* the trainsets immediately if they buy them in that budget cycle ...
+++++
... demands on the rail budget should relax quite a bit when [the Cascades] projects are finished ...
BNSF already agreed to more slots. Conditional on particular projects being completed (Point Defiance Bypass, certainly -- and I think also the third track near Kalama and the Vancouver trackwork).... maybe not use them immediately. BSNF would have to agree to more slots.
Last I checked, Washington can't reliably run all the additional frequencies without buying additional Talgos. Even with the Oregon Talgos, because they're dedicated to the improved schedule for Oregon and Oregon will stop lending them to Washington if Oregon gets what it wants.It agreed to the two additional when the Stimulus upgrades are finished.
It's all good.BNSF already agreed to more slots. Conditional on particular projects being completed (Point Defiance Bypass, [etc]).... maybe not use them immediately. BSNF would have to agree to more slots.
Last I checked, Washington can't reliably run all the additional frequencies without buying additional Talgos. Even with the Oregon Talgos, because they're dedicated to the improved schedule for Oregon and Oregon will stop lending them to Washington if Oregon gets what it wants....It agreed to the two additional when the Stimulus upgrades are finished.
Also, I believe BNSF agreed to more than two additional slots. I think it was a total of seven frequencies -- that's *three* additional.
Anyway, if I remember the plan from several years ago correctly, Washington needs one more trainset. Which doesn't quite match with the *two* trainsets which Talgo has... but that is one way of dealing with the trainsets being shorter than the Oregon/Washington trainsets: reassemble the two into one and a collection of spares.
I like to think that all of us who ride the Cascades are uniqueHow many unique individuals actually ride the Cascade service now?
You'd have to ask our national security monitors, who track our every move, legally or not. But I'd be surprised if Amtrak snoops into our business enuff to have this exact figure.How many unique individuals actually ride the Cascade service now? I am not looking for ridership numbers, but actual individuals who ride. Just out of curiosity, since ridership numbers do not vote, but riding individual votes and each individual has exactly one vote, not the number of votes determined by how many times s/he rode a service.
Well, this project only promises 88%, due to the "hundreds of curves" and other issues to be resolved in the next phase, or the next Stimulus, or whatever. But even 88% will look sweet compared to the dismal 73% they deliver now....
If they manage to achieve the planned 95% on-time rate which the ARRA projects are supposed to achieve ...
Ah, it will be seven frequencies if you count the Coast Starlight, which is sort of along for the ride here. All the growth action being on the state-supported Cascades, now four, going to six....Also, I believe BNSF agreed to more than two additional slots. ... I think it was a total of seven frequencies -- that's *three* additional.It agreed to the two additional when the Stimulus upgrades are finished.
...
Hmmm... I'd like to see that reference -- is that just for Point Defiance Bypass? I thought 95% was supposed to be after the *cumulative* impact of the *entire* list of proposed ARRA projects.Well, this project only promises 88%, due to the "hundreds of curves" and other issues to be resolved in the next phase, or the next Stimulus, or whatever. But even 88% will look sweet compared to the dismal 60-something they deliver now....
If they manage to achieve the planned 95% on-time rate which the ARRA projects are supposed to achieve ...
That might be correct. I still remember WSDOT saying they needed to buy one additional trainset, though.Ah, it will be seven frequencies if you count the Coast Starlight, which is sort of along for the ride here. All the growth action being on the state-supported Cascades, now four, going to six.
But the Starlight is a frequency from BSNF's point of view, no? Six Cascades plus one Starlight, the route will go from five to seven frequencies.
Right. Ticket revenue is $28K out of "fully allocated" costs of $66K. We don't know what's getting "allocated", of course, but I'd expect it to be no more than half and probably more like a third of the costs. So that's a long way from an operating surplus. Still, bringing the OTP up from 60% to 88% or 95% should raise ridership and revenue quite quickly.Those revenues include state subsidies.
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