Service disruption on the Southwest Chief

[Guest]

Excellent post, I know BNSF treats Amtrak lots better than UP but if New mexico actually has bought the raton area trackage who is going to pay to run only 2 trains a day, I dont think New Mexico or Amtrak has the money to maintain/improve this route! :unsure:

New Mexico only owns the track up to Lamy. To the east (or northeast) of there, it's still BNSF-owned. New Mexico had planned to buy the remainder of the track, but the deal was never finalized.

IMO, the Newton-Albuquerque portion of the Amtrak network is the most endangered at the present time. I just can't see BNSF continuing to maintain track in the long term between Lamy and Trinidad solely for the benefit of Amtrak. The situation might be different if there were businesses that BNSF could serve along this stretch of track, but there are none right now and little hope of any popping up in the future.

 

[printman2000]

I wonder if this bus bridge, instead of rerouting the SWC over the Transcon, is BNSF's way of saying they want the SWC to stay on its present route and off the Transcon.

Excellent post, I know BNSF treats Amtrak lots better than UP but if New mexico actually has bought the raton area trackage who is going to pay to run only 2 trains a day, I dont think New Mexico or Amtrak has the money to maintain/improve this route! :unsure:

I had been contemplating the question as well, though I figured it was Amtrak who wants to keep the current route. It was reported that BNSF approached Amtrak about a reroute. So I was wondering if Amtrak did not want to do the reroute cause it might show everyone how well it could work.

Course, I don't know anything. I am just spitballing.

 

[MikeM]

I wonder if this bus bridge, instead of rerouting the SWC over the Transcon, is BNSF's way of saying they want the SWC to stay on its present route and off the Transcon.

Excellent post, I know BNSF treats Amtrak lots better than UP but if New mexico actually has bought the raton area trackage who is going to pay to run only 2 trains a day, I dont think New Mexico or Amtrak has the money to maintain/improve this route! :unsure:

I had been contemplating the question as well, though I figured it was Amtrak who wants to keep the current route. It was reported that BNSF approached Amtrak about a reroute. So I was wondering if Amtrak did not want to do the reroute cause it might show everyone how well it could work.

Course, I don't know anything. I am just spitballing.

One other thought I had this weekend, when admiring the hordes of boy scouts headed to camp, is what impact it would have on ridership, both on this train and connecting trains, if Amtrak no longer served the Boy Scout camp in the summer? There has to be at least a coach full of scouts on both legs of my trip this last weekend, and that's pretty consistent with last year's trip on this line in the summer. If you reroute the train, say farewell to all that business, not to mention a long time tradition.

As a side note, at the Amtrak Town Hall, I specifically asked Boardman if there were plans to reroute to the Transcon given Amtrak was the only train on much of the northern route. All I got was a stare and comment of "I haven't heard anything about that". To the extent BNSF likes Amtrak off the Transcon, vs. Amtrak likes the northern route with less congestion and business, I don't think Amtrak is actively seeking out a reroute.

 

[printman2000]

Just FYI, Friday (July 2) both #3 & 4 successfully got through the repaired track. So the bus bridge is over.

 

[teacherkay]

Just FYI, Friday (July 2) both #3 & 4 successfully got through the repaired track. So the bus bridge is over.

thanks for the update!