Oakland section of Southwest Chief

[Paulus]

Pulling this from an old Caltrans publication:

In August 1984, Amtrak contacted Caltrans regarding a proposal to establish an Oakland section of the basic-system Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief. The Oakland section would separate from the main Chief train at Barstow, run to Bakersfield via Tehachapi, then follow the San Joaquin route into Oakland. Caltrans welcomed the idea of an Oakland section of the Chief, since it would provide direct service to the Southwest and Midwest for Valley communities, service which disappeared when Amtrak was established in 1971.

However, Amtrak's schedule proposal was based only on the transcontinental schedule of the Chief and would have required another morning bus connection departure from Los Angeles before 6:00 a.m.. Since local travel needs must be considered in the development of the State's rail passenger program, and since the Los Angeles market is vital to the success of rail service in the San Joaquin Valley, Caltrans could not justify supporting two out of three Valley trains that do not serve Los Angeles at reasonable hours. Accordingly, Caltrans asked Amtrak to consider some modifications to its proposed schedule, in order to serve the needs of both Amtrak's national network and California's local travel markets.

Didn't want to derail the Spirit of California thread with this, but I found this incredibly interesting and something that would probably provoke a good discussion here.

 

[inthegauge]

Provoked more of a good yawn... The powers to be have zero interest in new service in the west. Even if he service amounts to a restoration of historically successful service, in this example, a version Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief.

Hell, the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Florida has shown suspended for going on ten years this year due to Hurricane Katrina! Need any more proof there is ZERO interest in expansion of long hauls?!?

Moreover, there is a very strong East v. West sentiment on this board, just like exists in the organization of the railroad in discussion. Sorry, but ideas of expansion are a non-starter amongst republicans and other rail leaders.

 

[CHamilton]

Can we stop the "east vs. west" nonsense, please? There are lots of us who want better western services, and express our opinions. And expansion is a non-starter only if people on this board don't make their wishes known. So get off this board and get on the phone to elected officials! Better yet, do it in person in DC in April!

NARP Spring Council Meeting & Day on the Hill

 

[SarahZ]

Can we stop the "east vs. west" nonsense, please? There are lots of us who want better western services, and express our opinions. And expansion is a non-starter only if people on this board don't make their wishes known. So get off this board and get on the phone to elected officials! Better yet, do it in person in DC in April!

NARP Spring Council Meeting & Day on the Hill

Seriously. I'm all for expanded/restored service as well, in any part of the country, and especially in parts of the country not currently served by rail service.

I'm also a realist, however, and I know that restoration and expansion take millions and billions of dollars that the states aren't always willing to pony up. Explaining the facts as they are doesn't mean I'm anti-this or anti-that.

 

[rickycourtney]

It's an interesting proposal… But there's a reason why didn't go anywhere. Amtrak would need to find funding for this cut off car… because it really doesn't serve enough of California to justify the state funding 100% of the costs. Frankly, Amtrak is going to struggle to find the funding to keep the Southwest chief rolling... let alone expanding it.

The truth is that much as we all like taking "the train" in the decades since this proposal California has set up a very efficient set of Thruway buses that connect the San Joaquin to almost every corner of Southern California. There are buses that connect with the Southwest Chief, Barstow and Las Vegas. On the Southwest chief side of things there is a timed transfer to the coast starlight and the San Joaquin.

Cut off car proposals like this are always neat... but they're very expensive (especially if -like this proposal- they don't serve any major destinations along the way).