Tucson - Los Angeles

[pldenc44]

Driving the I-10 corridor from Tucson to San Diego the other day, there were crews installing new track alongside existing track, working Northbound near Marana/Oro Valley. The new tracks have cement railroad ties instead of the traditional wooden ones. Are they replacing old track? Installing new double-tracking? Does the Amtrak line from TUS to LAX benefit from double-tracking?

Even if its not new track, I suppose maintenance is a good thing.

 

[Anderson]

UP has had double-tracking plans for that area in the works for quite some time, IIRC. One of the big issues with the cost UP was trying to charge for the Sunset Limited to go daily is that they were basically trying to force a huge share of the cost of doing so onto Amtrak.

 

[afigg]

UP has had double-tracking plans for that area in the works for quite some time, IIRC. One of the big issues with the cost UP was trying to charge for the Sunset Limited to go daily is that they were basically trying to force a huge share of the cost of doing so onto Amtrak.

UP has been working to double track the entire Sunset Limited route line from LA to El Paso, TX for some years. Most of the route is now double tracked, but UP still has a ways to go. There is a very, very long thread with many, many photos on the double tracking of the Sunset Limited line in the Trains Magazine General Discussion forum for anyone interested.

UP was not expecting Amtrak to pay for the cost of completing the double tracking project. They reportedly asked for $750 million as their opening gambit to keep Amtrak from going to daily service over their line. UP knew full well that Amtrak was not going to be able to provide even a small amount of that money.

 

[Microtech]

It's really smoother nowadays

750 mil?

That is pocket change for amtrak

Last time I rode from San Juan cap to Oceanside it was 20$ ONE WAY

 

[Trogdor]

It's really smoother nowadays

750 mil?

That is pocket change for amtrak

Last time I rode from San Juan cap to Oceanside it was 20$ ONE WAY

1) When I check, it looks like it's $14. Maybe there's a high-season fare of $20.

2) Take Metrolink. It's cheaper.

3) Just because the one-way fare on one random segment is too high for your tastes does not suddenly make a massive sum of money "pocket change" for the company. $750 million would eat up around half of Amtrak's annual federal appropriation. Hardly "pocket change."

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Maybe the SL will get an increased chancce to get daily service after the double tracking is complete, but I won't bet on it.

It's really smoother nowadays

750 mil?

That is pocket change for amtrak

Last time I rode from San Juan cap to Oceanside it was 20$ ONE WAY

You know, Amtrak does not earn a profit even though PacSurf fares have gone up. So, literally, even $1 is not pocket change for Amtrak.

 

[afigg]

It's really smoother nowadays

750 mil?

That is pocket change for amtrak

Last time I rode from San Juan cap to Oceanside it was 20$ ONE WAY

For the record, Amtrak's federal capital grant for FY2012 is $607 million not including $50 million for station ADA compliance and $15 million for NEC Gateway project PE. $750 million is hardly pocket change for anyone, even the DOD, although the DOD has spent far more than $750 million on development of weapons systems that get canceled because they don't meet requirements.

If you are complaining about a $20 ticket price, you should check NEC prices.