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Four Ways to Consider Intercity Passenger Train Expansion
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
(1) Provide service to the largest metro areas currently without it. The eight largest, in descending order of population are:
- *Las Vegas, NV
- *Columbus, OH
- *Nashville, TN
- *Louisville, KY
- Tulsa, OK
- Allentown-Bethlehem, PA
- Baton Rouge, LA
- McAllen-Edinberg, TX
* Indicates Amtrak formerly provided service. Las Vegas service lasted through May 10, 1997; Columbus, Nashville and Louisville lost service at the end of October, 1979, although Louisville briefly regained service with a painfully slow train to Chicago. That train ran Chicago-Jeffersonville, IN starting December 17, 1999, was extended across the river to Louisville December 4, 2001, and discontinued July 8, 2003.
(2) Route study requests in S. 294 (which passed the Senate in October):
- restore Amtrak’s Pioneer that linked Seattle-Portland with eastern Oregon, Boise and Salt Lake City. (Towards the end, its financial viability was compromised by running as a separate train all the way across Wyoming to Denver, rather than serving SLC and connecting there with the California Zephyr.)
- restore Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha in southern Montana and southern North Dakota – well used train until its demise in 1979.
(3) Maps in the National Surface Transportation Policy & Revenue Study Commission report, at chapter four:
The 2015 vision is at page 4-22 and notably includes
- Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati
- a long-discussed Meridian-Jackson-Dallas link among existing Amtrak routes, and
- closing the Bakersfield-Los Angeles gap.
The 2030 vision is on the next page and adds several routes including
- Atlanta-Florida,
- Dallas-Houston,
- Oklahoma City to both Newton/Kansas City and Tulsa/St. Louis,
- Cheyenne-Denver-Trinidad-Albuquerque-El Paso
- the above-referenced Pioneer, and
- service to Las Vegas from both east and west.
The 2050 vision is on page 4-24 and adds many more routes including Chicago-Atlanta.
The Commission recommends annual capital expenditure of $9 billion, much of which would support “genuine” high speed rail projects such that planned in California.
(4) NARP’s 40-year vision, which is more aggressive than the Commission’s although North Carolina DOT’s vision is more aggressive than ours! Read more about our Grow Trains Campaign and Vision Plan including regional “zoom-in” maps.
--Ross Capon
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, california high-speed rail, narp vision, north coast hiawatha, pioneer, service expansion,©2006 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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