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Has anyone heard anything definitive about a new Amtrak timetable?
There were reports in February that a new system timetable was coming soon. With the switch to daylight savings this weekend, maybe it will be come out next week. or not.Has anyone heard anything definitive about a new Amtrak timetable?
Today while I was waiting for the Pennsylvanian to board in PGH I noted several Amtrak employees accompanying a small handful of passengers out to the platform, along with overflowing cartfuls of baggage. I wonder where all that luggage went...I'm surprised the employees even helped the passengers with this clear violation of policy.Here's hoping the timetable is delayed in order to incorporate some lovely improvements into it. Candidates:
1 -- better design of the NEC timetable. There should be separate weekday and weekend timetables, as the current presentation is nearly incompehensible. (I've emailed them to tell them this.)
2 -- tightened schedule for the Vermonter. We can hope, right?
3 -- implementation of the LSL/CL schedule restructure from the PIPs -- I can dream, right?
4 -- more realistically: maybe the new baggage cars will allow for baggage service on the Pennsylvanian or something.
?The hold up is ops waiting for the final word on the Cascades.
That sounds utterly bizarre. Nothing at all is changing on the Cascades. (We'd have heard from Washington DOT if anything was.)The hold up is ops waiting for the final word on the Cascades.
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/03/06/state-end-amtraks-hoosier-state-line/24505977/Or maybe they were waiting for the Hoosier State situation to be resolved.
It won't resolve until well into April, as it seems now, after digging deep behind that article to figure out what is actually going on.http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/03/06/state-end-amtraks-hoosier-state-line/24505977/Or maybe they were waiting for the Hoosier State situation to be resolved.
I emailed Amtrak the other day via their website and I received a response today:There were reports in February that a new system timetable was coming soon. With the switch to daylight savings this weekend, maybe it will be come out next week. or not.Has anyone heard anything definitive about a new Amtrak timetable?
The new timetable for April 6th will not include the final draft for the Cascades. I guess this is the hold up.Neroden: I just checked the BNSF website and their Capex 2105 plan. There is one double-track project and one siding extension on the Bellingham Sub [north of Seattle]. Don't know if the work is in progress, or planned for some time later this year.
The updated report from Trains Magazine clarifies the proposed budget issue in the state legislature which has $5 million for the Cascades service, which is short of the $10 million needed to fully support the Cascades train: Cascades trains south of Portland could end if budget plan is approved. The Cascades service is not going to get cut, this is just a budget funding game. The original subsidy number from Amtrak was $20 million, which was negotiated to ~$10 million (which is a big drop).And Oregon apparently is not going to fund Cascades trains between PDX and EUG beginning in July.
So, back to the new system timetable, presumably taking effect on April 6...Sen. Devlin told me on Friday afternoon that he feels passenger train advocates have misunderstood the Cascades funding situation. He noted that ODOT's original proposal was to fund Amtrak's entire $20 million request from the general fund, while other sources have contributed in the past, including taxes on non-automobile fuels (such as lawn mower fuel) and vehicle registration & license plate fees. (Note: Oregon's state constitution prohibits gasoline tax funds from being spent on anything other than roads.) "Basically, we're asking ODOT to find $5 million more" to complement $5 million from the general fund, Sen. Devlin said. "If [ODOT doesn't] find the money, the legislature will search for alternative ways of funding the Cascades. I don't believe there will be a reduction in service."
When asked his reaction to ODOT's statement before his committee's Transportation & Economic Development Subcommittee on Wednesday that the $5 million funding level would force a service shutdown south of Portland, Devlin said he was unaware of the statement and does not know the basis for it, but reiterated "our intent is not to diminish the service, but rather to minimize the use of general fund money.
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