Aloha
I suggest you read the FY10 Performance Improvement Plan for the Cardinal which can be found the Amtrak Reports & Documents page at
It requires as much equipment and almost as many crews to operate Monday to Friday as it does to run daily.
No not really. You will need to add an entire Cardinal consist to have daily service. You can't turn a train and get it back to NYP or CHI when the trip is 28 hours (which many times turns into a 30+ hour trip) The CDL leaves NYP at 6:45 AM and arrives in CHI at 10:05 the next day. Due to the length of the trip and the timing you cannot have daily service until a third train is added. We have't ridden the Cardinal due to the 3 day schedule, the lower food quality (Diner Lite) and the fact that the single sleeper only has a hand full of rommettes and two bedrooms to offer. There are also no additional sleepers to be had so don't count on more until the Viewliner II's arrive.
Doesn't matter. You'd need more equipment.
Yes, really. Operating the Cardinal Monday through Friday requires three trainsets. Operating daily requires three trainsets.
I don't believe that that's the case.
I've done exactly that ride many times (usually on Sunday night!). I cannot tell a significant difference between the two cars. Leaving Chicago on the Cardinal, the food service car opens so late, (well past Dyer) that it's easier just to eat before getting on the train anyway. The diner can get backed up, due to passengers wanting to eat as soon as possible, that the train may get to Rensselaer before you can buy your food, let alone eat it. Realistically, diner service for Chicago-Indianapolis passengers, whether the train is a Hoosier State or a Cardinal, is only going to be convenient if the departure is moved earlier. (Going the other way, from Indianapolis to Chicago, probably works better for breakfast, so having a cafe car on the Hoosier State isn't a complete waste.) Passengers aren't going to get much sleep; if they are going past Lafayette, they'd have to be woken up anyway.
What you are asking for could be rather complicated operationally. According to the Cardinal PIP report, they could go daily with a 3rd consist, up from the 2 plus a Hoosier state consist they have now. They need 1 additional baggage, sleeper, diner, coach car to make up 3 full consists. What I don't know offhand is the turn around time for the Cardinal consists. The plan may be to tighten the time up in order to go daily with 3 consists. What you are asking for are consists in 2 different configuration that might require 4 consists, 2 of each, in order to run 4 days a week in one configuration - ie no sleeper, no diner, and 3 days a week in the full configuration. It also becomes very confusing in booking the train.
From what I know of the Buckingham Branch, it is not jammed with traffic, so probably not a problem getting approval there.
I was just repeating what one of the guys who is on the committee that writes those PIPs told me the other day. Of course he may not know what he is talking about too,
I did not get the impression that finding the cars for a third consist will be a problem. But he did say that it is more likely that the through cars from Pennsy to Capitol will happen before the Card will go daily. But of course everything can change.
We've crunched the numbers on this forum for Amfleet II, Viewliner, Dining and Baggage car availability enough times to determine that there aren't any single level cars to spare. There are just a few extra cars to cover maintenance rotation and the occasional loss of a car due to an accident. If you go back in the archives there are posts that clearly explain the numbers in the Amtrak roster. Believe me there is just enough equipment available to keep the routes going.
