As someone in KY that grew up around a long abandoned train line I always wanted Amtrak back in the state. Even if it's an hour car ride for me, having that station there in Louisville would be awesome.
As a Canadian railfan I became fascinated with the Monon upon getting Volume III of Classic American Railroads. It would be very cool to see passenger trains crossing the mighty Ohio from Indiana into Louisville again.
@@stephenjones8928 I think a passenger rail line following the flow of I-75 from Detroit to Florida would really work well, there is so much traffic on that highway and it might alleviate it.
@@jamesbarantor7094 That would be a good one as well. Going through Toledo, Cincinnati, Lexington, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and on to Florida sounds like a nice thick slice of Americana for any tourist making stops on the way.
Thats exactly what i was thinking. I am living over an hour away from Louisville but i know that It could use an amtrack line and that would promote positive growth
If only there was more will to buy up more of the important routes. Some states do have state owned routes, or even have commuter agencies that share their tracks with Amtrak (and usually have the capacity to do so)
Actually Amtrak reliability is all dependent on the justice department since it’s already illegal for freight trains/host railroads to delay passenger trains.
OR………..if the whole rail network across the entire country is nationalized (just like in China) where ownership transitions from private to public by the federal government and they controlled all the mainline tracks, then Class I railroads would no longer have the ability to put Amtrak trains at the back of the line when it comes to dispatching, just like private trucking companies don’t get to choose when the light turns green for them.
Minor correction: You can already do a round-trip from Kansas City to Chicago through St. Louis without changing trains. I think both the eastbound and westbound versions are called the Missouri River Runner, but it takes the route of the Lincoln Service both ways. There's also still a Missouri River Runner round trip that focuses on just Kansas City and Missouri.
Yep, trains 318 and 319. I think they typically style it the "Lincoln Service Missouri River." I've taken it a number of times from Jefferson City (or sometimes Sedalia) to Chicago.
ConnectUS 2035 was never really going to happen, it was a proposal by Amtrak, it was simply them saying "If you fund the Infrastructure bill, we could potentially do this, if you give us money!" Some of these routes are happening, some are not and some routes that weren't on connectUS 2035 are also happening. (Like Chicago to Peoria) If you want to look at the routes that got funded for planning check out the [Corridor ID program.] It's basically this but routes that received federal funding for planning. Routes selected for Corridor ID are "priority" for federal funding. Once planning is done routes selected can apply for federal grants through the Federal State Partnership program to fund construction up to 80% (2O% needs to come from somewhere else, like a state or cities) However it's all dependent if there's money in the FSPP Pot, which is all dependent on who is president and who controls the House/Senate
Yeah some route proposals are likely to get nixed simply because someone else will be running better service on them. Examples, LA to Vegas, Brightline West will be up and running before Amtrak can get service going there. Merced to San Jose is the route of CAHSR, so no point to slow Amtrak service on that route. And Brightline already has the majority of rail market share between Orlando and Miami, so low priority for amtrak. DFW to Houston is the Texas Central high speed line, but Amtrak will be the operator.
@@mrvwbug4423Brightline West blocks Vegas service, but I think CAHSR doesn't block anything, considering it's funding issues and construction timeline. Those services would be significantly funded by the state of California anyways. I can see the state increasing service on lower speed lines temporarily (for a decade or two) until (and if) CAHSR is ready.
@@mrvwbug4423The high-speed trains on some of those services will bypass the smaller towns, which might allow Amtrak to serve them in ways the HSR cannot. Even then I doubt most lawmakers would see it that way and would want either one or the other.
This sounds like a wishful plan that they hope will attract some politicians who might get severed by rail. Amtrak has pretty much been a failure for over 50 years. It never makes a profit, has low ridership, with the exception of Washington-Bosten corridor. How can they "upgrade" services? They know that they have had to downgrade them over the years. Dining cars are becoming a thing of the past, and the food is over-priced microwaveable stuff. The trains (for most of the country) are chronically late, and the service is becoming less frequent during the week. But the worst thing is the drain on the treasury that taxpayers have to pay to support this federal corporation, and most of them are not even served by these trains. The private railroads got out of the passenger business because they were losing money. Amtrak took them over, and Amtrak is losing money. It is an example of socialism when the government takes over private business.
@@johnbaugh6978 Funny how many non-socialist nations support their railroads as a necessary part of infrastructure, and the people like it. Only in America do you have people saying, "I never take the train, so my tax money shouldn't be used."
One thing that will occur if all this does get built in some form, is that my town will be one of the most connected towns in the nation to various local, regional and interstate rail. Which makes me a lot more pessimistic because whenever the state or federal government has tried to get life into my town, it's fallen on its face.
17:20 No, a train to Las Vegas is not the most notorious gap in the whole country - it is a rail connection between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. It is ridiculous to have to take a bus between those two cities before getting back on the train.
100% Accurate. Santa Fe and Southern Pacific used to run passenger trains over Tehachapi. Why can't we do that now? I hear excuses like "the freight railroads won't allow it" but they're legally required to under federal law.
Lots of awesome news! Many potential new routes to cover on both of our channels! Thanks for bringing us the news and we will be tuned in to see more adventures from you! Thanks for all you do for the viewers!
Several thoughts: - Las Vegas needs more connections-say, San Francisco-Reno-Las Vegas or Vegas-Phoenix-Tucson for examples. - In Colorado, why not extend the Front Range proposal to either La Junta or Trinidad, connecting to the current Amtrak service through southeastern Colorado? - It’s long time to reestablish the Louisville-Nashville route (remember the old L&N railroad)? Then you could have direct Chicago to Atlanta service as well. - Last, time to take the Sunset Limited out of suspension from New Orleans to Tallahassee to Jacksonville-and maybe run a service to Tampa from the north too.
My only worry is that Reno-Las Vegas would require a new lengthy corridor over sparse, rugged terrain, as to my knowledge no route directly between the two by rail presently exists. The most direct route between them, along US 95 and a little less than four hundred and fifty miles, takes just shy of seven hours to drive, much of that winding around the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains within the contiguous United States. The flat parts are mostly desert. To construct a rail line that would take one between the two cities in about five hours would be a monumental work of engineering. To cut the travel time to three hours would itself be the great project of the century. As for revival of the L&N, secondary routes that could work include Nashville-Birmingham-Montgomery-Mobile. The suspended Gulf Coast route was also owned by the L&N west of Chattahoochee, FL. As for completing the link between the Midwest and Florida, there are a number of possible routes south of Atlanta one could go. I’d go with Atlanta-Macon (the McDonough route is straighter than the Jonesboro route), then from there connect with the Silver routes at either Folkston or Savannah. Maybe, as you suggested, Tampa or St. Petersburg could be reached by a route directly south from Macon through Valdosta, Gainesville, and maybe Ocala. Some ambitious planner could even bring it south of Tampa as far as Naples.
Why not reinstate the former Burlington Zephyr route from Denver to Houston thru Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Amarillo, Dallas-Fort Worth? I recall the Burlington ski train every Christmas holiday season before Amtrak. I also recall the Burlington T-bone steak and rainbow trout... Get with it Amtrak...
@@ronclark9724 The _Texas Zephyr_ (1940-1967)? Come to think of it, that would be a good way to link up that region. Travelers from Texas to Denver wouldn’t have to take such a circuitous route through either California or Chicago.
And on the North end, connect all the way through to Billings, MT and on to Great Falls. Open up the middle of the Country to a major north/south artery.
For those that can remember, Amtrak used to have a route called the Desert Wind, which ran from Denver or Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. I rode that once, as part of a train that carried three lines that originated in Chicago, and they'd split in Denver, and the Desert Wind was one of those three routes, and it continued to Los Angeles (my dad and I got off at Fullerton, since we were headed to San Diego). When Metrolink came up with the line that goes from Oceanside to Riverside an San Bernardino, one thing they did was to veer a set tracks off the current Surfliner route just past the Orange station to merge with those coming south from Los Angeles east of the Anaheim station. One possibility I can see is a San Diego to Las Vegas line that could use that routing that takes Metrolink's Orange-Riverside County route to get to Riverside, and then follow the routing of the Southwest Chief and Desert Wind up to Las Vegas. And then, should the CAHSR project's San Diego portion ever get built, they could run Amtrak trains up the I-15/I-215 corridor to Riverside, and eventually, Las Vegas via Escondido and the Inland Empire. A question is, how would they run so many round trips on a line that's still partially single-tracked in San Diego and Orange counties (with two or three major track movement projects needed, plus that 25 MPH single-track portion at Miramar Hill just south of the Sorrento Valley Coaster station), considering there's also the Coaster and two Metrolink lines serving that same corridor from San Diego to Los Angeles (and on the San Diego end, there are already plans to continue that line past Santa Fe Depot to at least the S.D. Convention Center, which is near the big rail yard MTS uses for it's three trolley lines (Blue between the border and UTC, Orange between downtown and El Cajon via Lemon Grove, and Green between 12th & Imperial and Santee via Mission Valley, the stadium, and SDSU).
It would be nice to have train service in New Hampshire. Taking the bus to Boston is great and affordable, but sometimes the trains leave from North Station and Concord Coach does not go there. This would leave more options for Amtrak service. Not to mention I live in Concord, NH and work in Manchester, NH which might mean a commuter service.
Thank You for a informative episode.I remember when passenger trains went to different locations in new mexico like clovis many years ago and the high speed rail la to vegas wow! I''m glad they got the money to update old tracks also.
I’m looking forward to expansions in Virginia. VPRA is looking to eventually have four tracks on the RF&P (DC-Richmond) to separate freight traffic from passenger trains, two CSX owned and two VPRA owned. VPRA is about to begin work on a couple of overpass rebuilds so that the bridges can allow up to four tracks to pass under them in the future. Additionally, VPRA is looking to establish an east-west service through Virginia on the CSX Piedmont Subdivision, which was bought by the state between Doswell and Clifton Forge. These services would be amazing for Virginians looking to get across the state, as right now you have to go up to DC on one train and back down into the state on another train just to get across Virginia.
@@jamesmcdonnell5617 These commitments date back to 2019 when VPRA first bought half of the CSX RF&P Subdivision. What does half exactly mean? Well, the Subdivision has been cleared to have four tracks along the right-of-way; however, the line only holds two for CSX for most of the way. So VPRA bought the right-of-way that CSX left unused and will be building a third and fourth mainline owned by Virginia which will be exclusive to passenger services. Unfortunately, what I assume is due to funding or support restraints, this third and fourth track is being built in smaller projects, such as the Long Bridge project and a series of siding projects, which will eventually link together to form a continuous third and fourth mainline track along the subdivision. It will take years for the third and fourth track to be fully completed between DC and Richmond.
@@MrMarshmallow26 Of the track lines three and four that you describe above, is it being engineered as HSR capable / compatible, even if being constructed in segments, through fits & starts?
@@jamesmcdonnell5617 While specifications have not been released compared to the S-Line project, it's safe to assume that it will not be high speed capable due to the restricting obstacles along the line, such as the curves just north of Ashland and the tracks passing through Downtown Ashland. It may be higher-speed capable, however, and the tracks may be rated for 110 mph similar to segments of trackage along the Amtrak Midwest system.
Back in the 1970s Amtrak ran two east-west routes across Virginia: one on the C&O from Newport News through Richmond and Charlottesville into central West Virginia and beyond, and one on the N&W from Norfolk through Petersburg and Roanoke and into southern WV and beyond. I’d like to see both of those return to service, both to ease transportation across much of the state, and the N&W line in particular to provide some service to one of the most deprived parts of the country around Mercer, McDowell, Mingo, and Wayne Counties.
I'm looking forward to the future expansion, but I would prefer if they'd spend more money on maintenance. Frequent breakdowns, dirty cars, worn out fixtures, and just an overall feel of "tired" on some of them. They need to be refreshed/remodeled more often and more thoroughly. I get that they are very heavily used and don't have a lot of turnaround time. But having an extra set of cars to be rotated into service once in a while, so that a more thorough deep cleaning can be done (shampooing carpet / stain removal etc), would greatly improve things. The old cars are clanky and rattle everywhere and a lot of stuff never gets fixed. You are expected to adjust your expectations. Sleeper cars cost more than luxury hotels. They should be AAA+ accommodations.
5:54 A second round trip to and from Roanoke was already added in 2022 and it was announced a couple of weeks ago that the VPRA came to a new agreement with NS to extend service to Christiansburg by 2027 with work beginning next year. A further extension to Radford is very possible under this new deal as well since the trains will terminate at the yard there. The new deal is expected to add a third round trip when the extension is completed. Further expansion west of Radford to places like Bristol, Knoxville, and Chattanooga are also possibilities under this new deal.
17:28 Considering that Brightline West is already being built while this route has only been proposed, is it even worth it for Amtrak to pursue this unless the route went beyond Las Vegas (i.e. to Salt Lake City)?
Great video! And fantastic work detailing every expansion plan that Amtrak plans to do! It's however such a missed opportunity that Nashville will not be connected to Louisville and then to Chicago. I guess Bowling Green and Elizabethtown won't be getting rail then. And also, what is stopping Amtrak from connecting Bakersfield to the rest of SoCal? I understand CAHSR is trying to connect them, but it's so jarring just leaving that gap in that map.
Theres a new organization in my small nc town dedicated to bringing back passenger service to western North carolina, and theyve received thousands of signatures asking for the line! The support here is amazing
I live in the Northeast but my parents retired to NC a few years ago now. Wilmington is pretty close to them so I have been taking the train with connecting bus to there, but it still is a 3 hour bus ride and a bus (even a dedicated one) is still nowhere near as comfortable as a train. It's still better than the drive by myself (over even with someone else doing it), but it's still a much longer trip just from the last/first leg. I'm glad NC and it's residents seem to be very supportive of trains as having that as an option can make it a very attractive place to visit. Staying in the southern beaches and being able to take a train for a weekend in the mountains sounds like an amazing vacation.
The Front Range service has a lot of twists to it. New Mexico has asked that the line be eventually extended down to New Mexico with services eventually reaching Albuquerque. There's also another twist where Colorado DOT (this will be a state run service) may demand electrification of some or all of the line and they have already expressed a desire for the necessary line upgrades to allow for services of 110-125mph on the corridor, this would also require buying the ROW from BNSF. There may also be additional services to Boulder and Longmont from Denver if line electrification on that segment is done, RTD would expand their own commuter rail up there (they were supposed to do that already but budget overruns killed the B-line beyond Broomfield). Regarding service to Cheyenne there is a big push to get UPRR and the City of Cheyenne to terminate the service at the historic Cheyenne depot rather than a small station on the edge of town, the Cheyenne depot last served passenger trains in 1981, the city currently owns the depot and has a museum in there and also leases out a portion to a restaurant, the tracks outside are still there and owned by UPRR and are part of the VERY busy Cheyenne yard. And in another twist, the state of Colorado purchased a disused ROW between Granby and Steamboat Springs and intends to start state run train service between Denver and Steamboat springs, following the route of the CA Zephyr up to Granby then splitting off, basically a second ski train service but will run year round and not stop AT the ski area like the Amtrak ski train does (west portal of the Moffat Tunnel is right behind the main ski lodge at Winter Park resort).
@@MarceloBenoit-trenesI saw the termination of the line at Pueblo and thought: why can’t it be extended to Trinidad? There’s a junction with the BNSF line there and either through trains or transfers can occur to allow passengers to get from the populated parts of Colorado and Wyoming to New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California.
@@DarkpawTheWolf its oddball pronunciation was inherited from its counterpart and namesake in the UK. The same country also has a Leicester, and it too, is NOT pronounced the way it's written.
Jeremy I am a big fan of your travel videos. Today this information video was equally enjoyable. I believe the tones of your voice is a major reason. Thank you sir. Keep traveling, I'll keep watching.
Thanks for the video. The proposed expansion of routes and frequencies of existing routes would make Amtrak more user friendly. However especially where Amtrak wants to increase frequiency of service, major capital improvements would be necessary so as not to cause delays to both freight and passenger service. The freight railroads have problems on some routes with Amtrak trains as it is now. So they will hold out for expensive upgrades before letting additional passenger trains operate. Look how long it took just to add one additional train between Chicago and St. Paul, Mn. It also has taken years of negations to get the New Orleans to Mobile train route in service which is supposed to start soon.
A glaring omission is service from Chicago to Fort Wayne, to Columbus, to Pittsburgh. That line was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was designed to be operated safely at speeds of 120mph.
Ooooh. Chicago to Columbus would be absolute nirvana for this rail fan. (I have a yearly thing in Columbus and I am NOT HAPPY that Columbus doesn't have passenger rail ... ) Getting Columbus to Pittsburgh would almost have to be new track; none of the freight boys are running anything close to that. :/
@@morewi Nope! Columbus is the largest city in the US without any rail service whatsoever. I went to college in Columbus. Great town but totally car-centric.
The Amtrak network is based largely on the railroads of the late 19th Century. There were the main trunk lines from Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and DC to Chicago - the main rail hub of the US, then the 4 transcontinental railroads from Chicago to the west coast, specifically, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Add lines from DC and Chicago to Miami and New Orleans and that’s it. Columbus was never a part of the main lines from the east coast cities to Chicago, which is why it has no rail service today.
I don't understand why they won't reconnect the service from Jacksonville to New Orleans! It is an unbelievably long drive from South and Central Florida to Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans. I think it would be a very popular route. It would be nice to connect Florida to Atlanta as well ( via Macon). Not everybody in Florida wants to travel along the Atlantic Coast and end up in NYC !
Amtrak would probably be better off running a train from Savannah to Atlanta, thus Florida passengers desiring to go west can switch there on the Crescent. But the largest Amtrak CRIME is not having. daily train from Houston to Dallas, two of America's TOP SIX urban metropolises...
Because you were talking about Amtrak connect map only you may have missed the corridor ID program is it already officially live! And there are significant deviations from Amtrak connect us 2035. Specifically, the FRA issued grants to 4 non-Amtrak projects, and left out some big ones in PA and added a train to Delaware.
@@MrMarshmallow26 the first round of grants was supposed to be $500,000 to the sponsoring agencies. The sponsoring agencies that are not directly connected with Amtrak as a supporting sponsor are the Alaska State railroad (Fairbanks to steward), California high-speed rail Authority for the (San Francisco to LA high-speed rail), Brightline West sponsored by Nevada DOT, and high Desert rail Authority to connect California, high-speed rail to Brightline West To fill-in the 12 mile gap between the proposed alignments, and without having to go all the way to downtown LA to make the transfer. It could be partially wrong on that . Amtrak also sponsored for roots themselves without any direct support from another authority , the most notable one is that the local government doesn’t want Amtrak trains on Long Island. Also if you look at the early maps Amtrak 2035 maps they forgot to include CaliforniaHSR and Brightline, Florida. After a few days, they released new maps with the non Amtrak roots included
@@MrMarshmallow26 the four non-Amtrak projects to get funding are the Alaska Railroad, California high-speed rail, bright line West, and High Desert high speed rail(to connect California high-speed rail to bright line west). I could be wrong about that list . All sponsored by respective state DOT .
My first thought was that there were multiple places where a proposed new service might be better run by a commuter rail operator already in the region.
The Roanoke service is aleeady up to a morning and evening service, and would expand to three alongside the Christiansburg extension. A fourth and possibly fifth daily train would serve the VA east west link to Richmond without passing through DC.
I can't wait for the east-west link; however, it'll definitely be a while before we see it considering all the projects along the RF&P. The Piedmont Subdivision will also need double trackage and other upgrades to properly support passenger rail.
This is all great news, we'll have to see how much of it really plays out. Fingers crossed! But is it too soon to start demanding a high-speed northeast corridor plan again? Great and informative video!
Amtrak's "Connect US" vision which includes an LA - Las Vegas route appears to be profitable enough for a private corporation to invest: Brightline to Las Vegas..
At 14:00 it is not "Pierre" but "Père Marquette". Both are French. Pierre in English is Peter. Père ("pare") in English is Father. Père Jacques Marquette was a French missionary and explorer. It is curious that both a railroad and a passenger train in English are frequently said as Peter Marquette, instead of Father Marquette.
Correction, the Kansas City - St Louis - Chicago route already has thru service between those points. The Missouri river runner and Lincoln service meet at St Louis and at least one train in each direction daily simply continues on from St Louis without having to change trains. I have traveled this route and it is lovely.
Just last week I did the Seattle to Vancouver route, it was awesome, food on train was great and reasonable priced. Views were awesome but they need more service.
I'm glad my state is looking to expand service in California, plus Oregon and Washington. More of Michigan definitely needed enhancements badly. I think they might be making some new long distance routes possibly, but in reference to all these changes, I do hope various intercity services can also get a variety of fleets consisting of locomotives and rolling stock (maybe MU's as well) to go along with the Siemens stuff they have, some new doubledecker coaches for this project, especially for longer trains. The section between Colfax and Reno could also use some Capitol Corridor mainline service. It would be most useful for the summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas travel times. California, Washington, Oregon and the Midwest definitely could use new doubledeckers. I already do know the long distance routes are searching for someone to build new bi-level coaches.
The C&O, right up until 1971, ran an unnamed spur of their Chicago-Grand Rapids service they inherited from the Pere Marquette that went up to Muskegon. That, plus routes to the north of the state (and connecting buses at stations to send passengers to parks in the area) would be good to see, maybe also Port Huron-Sarnia, ON-Toronto.
Don't you railfans all get your hopes up too high here - just saying as one who's been watching it from the beginning (1971). I still vividly remember "Black Monday" (October 1, 1979) when Amtrak essentially gutted itself - including dropping the service that serviced the more populated areas of Montana while retaining the route that serves virtually nowhere along the Canadian border. Ultimately, my homestate of Ohio really got shafted and, I don't understand why the proposed Colorado service stops at Pueblo and doesn't extend to LaJunta to connect with The SW Chief!!! Thus, I STILL can't go from Kansas City to Denver. WT*??? There's still no Salt Lake to Portland/Seattle (Pioneer) and still no SLC to LA via Las Vegas (Desert Wind) service. Finally, I don't like the fact that most Amtrak trains are engineer-only with no fireman/asst engineer. As a former railroad man, I don't think this is safe at all as it's not easy for one person to operate a locomotive. This isn't Europe after all. Frankly though, I doubt very much of this ever comes to fruition, sorry to have to say. But, that's just one cynical old duffer's opinion. Time alone will tell.
If they do, indeed bring back the Chicago to Toronto direct service that’ll be nice because you won’t have to go via New York, which will shorten the trip dramatically
I've ridden Amtrak between Los Angeles and San Diego a lot recently (taking my bike to zip around San Diego as I do in Los Angeles) and really appreciated having departure times every couple of hours throughout the day. It blows my mind that it could increase to 30!
A very ambitious plan. Still, I have to wonder why Amtrak would set up routes that would duplicate existing and under construction rail service, The Amtrak extension in Long Island makes no sense whatsoever since Long Island is well serviced by the LIRR. The Amtrak extension in Florida is also not needed, since the route proposed is already serviced by Brightline. The same could be said for the proposed LA to Las Vegas route which is the same route currently being built by Brightline. Also, it is a great step to increase service on existing routes. But unless Amtrak finds a way to scuttle freight service on those lines, I cannot see how to increase service on already maxed out lines that are leased to Amtrak by freight companies.
Yeah the Long Island service makes no sense, I suspect it will not happen. Amtrak would have to invest in 3rd rail rolling stock which would mean EMUs ... which LIRR already runs haha. Amtrak is actually ditching their 3rd rail/diesel bi modes on the Empire service and switching to a Diesel/Battery hybrid locomotive since they were only using the 3rd rail for a couple hundred yards just to get in and out of Penn, once they are in the exit tunnel they start the diesel.
@@kyrieeliteFor the routes being constructed for high-speed trains, that might not be the best option, as towns Amtrak would be better fit to serve would be bypassed just as the high-speed trains would bypass it.
I don't understand the gap between Louisville and Nashville. It would connect Chicago to Nashville and beyond. Also, I am 80 years old and live in Nashville so I don't hold my breath to ever be able to ride Amtrak directly out of here.
What about other gaps in Amtrak such as extend the San Juaquin service from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, Kansas City to Omaha, Kansas City to Tulsa, Detroit to Louisville,KY,Cleveland to Louisville,Detroit to Grand Rapids, Washington & Baltimore to Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh to Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh to Erie,PA,Philadelphia to Scranton,PA
The Southern Pacific used to run trains between Los Angeles and San Francisco via the Central Valley, and the Santa Fe used to run trains from Chicago to San Francisco via Barstow going up much the same route within the Valley. Amtrak could revive similar routes no problem if only for the Tehachapi Loop being closed off to passenger service due to the railroads’ inability to allow any room for Amtrak trains amid the freight traffic, killing any Las Vegas-SF, Albuquerque-SF, or faster LA-SF plans (until CAHSR is completed). I’ve seen proposals for service from Kansas City to St. Joseph, but nowhere further up the Missouri River, probably due to a lack of cooperation from Nebraska. The other routes are ones I haven’t really thought about but would be good supplements. Kansas City-Tulsa could work if routes through Joplin, or maybe Tulsa-Joplin-Springfield-St. Louis as an alternative. Detroit-Louisville seems to work best to route it through Lima, Dayton, and Cincinnati, though Fort Wayne, Muncie, Indianapolis, and Columbus, IN might be an alternative. Cleveland-Louisville would be an extension of the 3C+D but would require cooperation from Kentucky and maybe Indiana. Detroit-Grand Rapids would be a good opportunity to connect Lansing directly to Detroit in addition to western Michigan in general. The PRR used to have the _Buffalo Day Express_ to go between DC and Buffalo, NY. It went up a route along the Susquehanna between Baltimore and Harrisburg that Amtrak used to use for trains between Washington and western PA/on to St. Louis, and was electrified by the PRR to the same standards as the Northeast/Keystone Corridor, but Amtrak rerouted the _National Limited’s_ Washington branch to North Philadelphia in 1978 and Conrail removed the wires three years later (what a waste). From there the PRR had a line north of Harrisburg going through Williamsport, Port Allegany, and Olean. It was a fairly direct way between Washington and western New York, at least considering the mountains, and reviving it could service north-central Pennsylvania. I don’t know how a Pittsburgh-Niagara Falls line would work if not an extension of Pittsburgh-Erie, using existing rails and prior passenger service records. Maybe up the Allegheny through Oil City, then up to Jamestown, NY and on from there. As for Philadelphia-Scranton, a line up through eastern PA seems like a good way to tie the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys to Philadelphia. Maybe send it up to Binghamton and even Syracuse for connections within upstate New York.
@@DiamondKingStudios The largest Amtrak CRIME is NOT having a daily train between Houston and Dallas, Presently Houston doesn't even have a. daily service with the Sunset Limited... Both Texas Metropolises have a population approaching SEVEN million, surely the two largest metros within 250 miles in America without a daily Amtrak train... Without any doubt whatsoever, Amtrak SCREWS Texas, the state with the second largest population...
@@ronclark9724 Houston-Dallas would be one of the most viable passenger corridors in the nation, and Amtrak probably would run a train there if they could. My guess as to why they haven’t is lack of cooperation from either the freight railroads or the state of Texas, or both.
An additional 3rd "Silver" route could potentially be designed to connect Ft. Meyers, Florida via Tampa, Orlando, Columbia, SC - Charlotte, NC, Charlottesville, VA & Washington, D.C. One of the Downeaster daily train trips could potentially be made as a revived "Gull" passenger train between Boston & Halifax, Nova Scotia. The "Gull" last operated in 1960, but was discontinued due to poor track condition, which made it slower than cars & trucks on the surface roads. Fixing the tracks there would entail lots of expensive repair work.
But NOT New Orleans to Jax? WTF? Amtrak needs to tie together the retirement hubs of the southwest and Florida. Two other corridors that should be included for the same purpose of serving retirees: Florida west coast (Tallahassee-St. Pete-Sarasota-Ft. Myers-Naples-Miami) and Cheyenne to El Paso, extending the proposed Front Range route (Pueblo-Walsenburg-Trinidad-Las Vegas-Santa Fe-Albuquerque-Las Cruces-El Paso) . Seriously, we need to re-visualize leisure travel for seniors. Amtrak has an essential role to play in the de-carbonization of long-distance travel. The purpose would be to divert individual automobiles from the road, thus reducing future demand on the electric grid by e-vehicles.
Unless you have three or more people in your car, I believe that's a mismomer. Anyone who is buying cars for over $10K and paying mechanics to maintain them is kidding themselves if they think it costs less than 50 cents a mile to drive.
I'd mention these are only the amtrak plans, it doesn't include other routes already being explored and build by brightline and california hsr, and Montana trying to reestablish daily service along the southern route through Missoula.
Higher frequencies mean more paths. What do the freight operators think of this. If time allows please show the freight lines where passenger services will be re-introduced.
Restoring service from Philadelphia to Reading has been requested/planned off and on for the past 40+ years when the service was discontinued. The tracks exist, but Conrail abandoned the PRR S&L route and now NS use them for the Crescent Corridor (I think? Been a while) and to my recollection either refused to allow passenger service on the tracks, restoration of the additional tracks (i.e., 4 tracked main instead of 2 tracks), wanted public funding to restore alternative routes from rail-trails from Harrisburg through Lancaster to Allentown in order to sell the route to Amtrak/SEPTA (public funding to 100% build the restored route AND to purchase the route from NS--not a swap), or refused to contribute to any combination of the above. Reading is the fourth largest city in PA and the largest to not have any commercial airlines, rail service, or direct connection to the Interstate Highway System (instead having a feeder route to the Turnpike via I-176) since the nonsensical decision was made in the 30s to bypass one of the largest cities and industrial centers in the state. The reason for the pessimism in the report is completely justified. Reading is one of the poorest and most diverse cities in the state and has been punished or neglected for decades by the State and Federal Governments because of it.
They need to extend Pittsburgh to Wheeling and put a small train station in Washington PA and one in Wheeling WV. This would be great for Pittsburgh , Washington and Wheeling. If I could ride a train to and from Pittsburgh or Washington I would go up there all the time.
As a lifelong central Ohio resident, I am just old enough to remember when amtrack served Columbus. I am a fan of the auto train which I have taken before (driving to Maryland and putting my vehicle on for trip to Sanford Fla. It is my earnest hope that not only will Amtrack expand their service back to Columbus after a 45yr hiatus,but extend auto train services to some cities out west,i.e. Chicago, Minneapolis, or St . Louis! The facilities to load the auto train can either be built, or converted by lease or agreement with CSX-Norflk Southren. Even a direct Midwest to Fla line is needed!
As a train buff (cant day lover 'cuz I got gripes with trains) I hope to be able to one day be able to get on a train where I'm currently at in Northwest Ohio, and go to Rapid City, SD by train ONLY...a few decades away, but non-the-less, it's a step. Amtrak is missing a chance to also connect Cincinnati with Detroit direct via Toledo, and Dayton....I can say safely from the routing that'd it's gonna be on CSX trackage, and most of that trackage is single-track...so I'd safely say 1 round trip a day if at all would be possible.
Great summary. There's also been talk of extending the Borealis to Fargo. This would happen after multiple daily round trips are established between Chicago and the Twin Cities, with one of them continuing up to Fargo.
adding trains and routes would be great....last time i hopped into Amtrak we were totally crowded from east to west coast then back....Las Vegas route would be beneficial from coast to coast
Amtrak should feature NEW lines BEFORE adding new stops - see how it goes and increase or decrease stops AFTER seeing what works or DOESN'T! Since I live near Cincinnati, it would be nice to have a way to get to major OH cities such as Cincinnat, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo and possibly others; possibly Athens and/or Steubenville.
I live near Allentown, PA and we haven't had passenger rail since Aug 1979 from Allentown, a short lived extension of the Philly-Bethlehem service operated by Conrail at the time under contract with SEPTA. The Bethlehem to Quakertown segment ended June 30, 1981 and from Quakertown to Lansdale July 26, 1981. Now Amtrak wants to start an Allentown to NY service. The Lehigh Valley region really grew since 1981 and train service into NJ and NY at least would allow people to connect with other Amtrak trains or commuter trains like NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road, etc.
I'm not really a railfan per say, but I stumbled into your vid from a similar subject (planes and short regional air travel in particular). I'm not sure if this is a dumb question but why not add more autotrain services, especially on the long, multi-day routes? It seems like a major problem for lots of people with long distance train travel is that it takes too long, but it seems like a good way to create an equal trade is to allow people to pack more stuff into their car, which they can take on a train to a destination in another part of the country for an extended period of time. So if you have a two week long vacation, you can drive to a train in a major hub and then ride to another major hub, where your car is offloaded and you finish driving to your destination. When I lived on the east coast, I needed to either fly to my family in Oregon and rent a car while I was there, or I needed to drive there from South Carolina, which was an obvious pain in the ass as you might imagine. It would have been nice if I could've just hopped on an autotrain in either Columbia or Raleigh, rode up to DC and then rode all the way out west to Portland where I would unload my car and drive to my parent's house. I also would've like to do sightseeing in neighboring states and Canada, something I couldn't do affordably in a rental car. I know the current autotrain is a special kind of train because it serves snowbirds and vacationers and it has a special yard on both ends to unload the cars, but even just adding a limited add on to the train of a few cars inside some shipping containers or something similar could be a great way to generate money for Amtrak and provide a useful proof of concept for possible further expansion in my opinion.
Thanks for this thorough explainer of all these proposals. I hope they all come to pass. Maybe there are some environmental limitations, but why is that Denver line not connecting to Pueblo?
There is one route that you did not mention. I am unsure whether it was part of the original 2035 proposal. That route is tentatively referred to as the Midwest Connect. It would run from Pittsburgh to Columbus with a stop in Fort Wayne and terminate in Chicago. The estimated completion date is 2030, As a resident of Columbus, I am very excited about this route. Columbus has not had Passenger Service since 1979. I also hope that they increase the frequency of trains that service Cincinnati and Cleveland. At this time they only go through once a day and that is in the wee hours of the morning.
Cleveland is served by two trains, Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited. However, both serve Cleveland at night. Cincinnatti only by the Cardinal, three times a week.
As for that train that ended in 1979, if only the tracks were still there, reviving the route from Pittsburgh to St. Louis via Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, and Terre Haute would be a great benefit to the Midwest.
Thank you for de-mysifying Amtrak routes. I've never figured out how to get anywhere on a train. Maybe Amtrak can add a proposal to their budget to develop software to assist would be travelers to plan a trip. It could look just like the map that you showed and a traveler can touch one city and a second city without selecting dates. Then the software could display a list of dates and times to choose from. Currently Amtrak's website makes me choose departure, destination and departure date and then tells me there are no trains from Chicago IL to Niagara Falls NY nor from anywhere to anywhere else.
The extension of one of the Wolverines from Detroit to Toronto is unlikely. However, what is currently in the works, with a tentative start date of sometime in 2027 is an extension from Detroit across the border to Windsor where a cross platform connection will be made with one of VIA Rail Canada's Toronto - Windsor trains. American customs and immigration would be in VIA's Windsor station. Good video by the way. I enjoyed it.
I wish Amtrak the best. I wonder what routes will be implemented? With the "International Wolverine" (I'm sure they'll shorten it), hopefully VIA can get onboard with them for this route, although via Windsor rather than Sarnia. Actually, VIA was planning on running some of its trains to Detroit (and therefore held off on refurbishing the Windsor station because they assumed they were going to replace it), but 9/11 kind of...derailed that plan.
The Dayton and Cincinnati line would be very popular and possible if enough runs are made per day. Interstate 75 has daily rush hour traffic, congestion and slow downs from the daily commuters. If commuters could park at their local station and ride a fast train everyday, they would. If there is no public transport to reach final destination, then they can leave an old car at station to finish commute. It might be possible to work in Columbus, if there is a fast train, again. We used to have passenger train and trolley car service in this same area, about 75 years ago. Many abandoned railbeds, train stations and bridges connecting our towns. A car was not needed here 75 years ago, but a necessity today; something went wrong along time ago. I still am amazed at the size of the trolley car network every time the streets are tore up for maintenance. I collect the mini rail spikes laying around that get dug up.
I think Amtrak should start focusing on shorter but more frequent connections (similar to what is done in California and Chicago area). This is a good start but I think to have a proper rail service, you should try to get at least 1 train per hour between two major cities or the major city and the end of a branch between 6am and 9pm (16 round trips/day). This could be done with different long-distance routes but it should be reinforced with shorter, frequent services. This can be sustainable if Amtrak starts tackling smaller communities with small station platforms and European-style trains.
I’m sure they’ve done their research but that seems like a ton of round trips on some of the routes. I wonder if they would actually have the ridership to pull it off. The rail fan in me just wants the sunset limited route to be fully restored.
Attempted to plan a train trip for next year from Portland OR, to Louisville KY. I was shocked to see the train trip ends in Chicago and then it's a 6 hour bus ride to KY. I didn't realize Amtrak was so lacking. I figured trains went to at least one major city in each state.
A spur from Milwaukee to Madison, WI? A spur from Chicago to Rockford? Why not run a line from Chicago via Rockford along the way to the Twin Cities? Used to ride that Empire Builder a lot in the 1980s. Also rode the California Zephyr a few times. Sure hope they got that track fixed in Iowa. Eau Claire, WI deserves rail service.
Hi, my name is Collin, and one of the things that I would like to see improved between now 2035 is because Port Canaveral is about 45 minutes from Orlando, and Port Canaveral is the busiest cruise terminal in America, one of the things I would like to see improve is having those Amtrak three-way buses offer pick ups and drop off at the Orlando Amtrak station, transport guest to Orlando area hotels, including all Walt Disney World resorts, Walt Disney World, Swan, and dolphin resort, Disney Springs area, hotels, all good neighbor, hotels, for an overnight stay before the cruise, and possibly a few nights before that as well, set up people can take advantage of the theme parks, pre-cruise, and then after the cruise, have those buses take those people back to the Orlando Amtrak station set up people can catch a train to go north again, and that’s Orlando. For Washington DC, they should have those buses that can transport people between Union Station and All downtown Baltimore area, hotels, and drop them off at the cruise terminal for those people that are sailing with Carnival to the Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean to Canada in New England, the Bahamas and the Caribbean like for instance if you’re going on a Southern Caribbean cruise, those buses ship pick up and drop off at the Cruise terminal art vacation day, and pick them up at the Cruise terminal on the Station day after they get off the ship and transport them to Washington DC Union Station with a city tour Pirates of the 4:05 PM departure on the Capital limited from Washington DC to Chicago. I would like to see improve is in Seattle, after the Empire builder arrives in Seattle, those three-way buses should offer a sightseeing tour of Seattle which last all day with a lunch break stop in between, before dropping off at all downtown area, hotels, pre-cruise or even a couple days before the cruise set up people can have time to take advantage of pipe based market, SpaceNeedle, etc., before embarking on the Alaskan cruise if they say with Norwegian, celebrity, or a Caribbean, princess, Holland, America, and Carnival and then after the cruise, because the train does not leave until 4:55 PM, those buses should be able to take them up to the SpaceNeedle when you get to go 520 foot high observation debt, with the one floor below the observation deck which used to be the sky city restaurant. It’s now the glass floor sky city restaurant got discontinued back in 2017 due to major renovations, and the fact that the space needle has been open since 1962 and that place was open for 55 years and decided to close down as of 2017 permanently. So, that Seattle in Vancouver, I would like to see those three buses offer a Sightseeing tour of Vancouver BC, including a lunch stop, and drop off at all Vancouver area hotel, and then also offer passengers to take the BC ferry between Vancouver in Victoria, and do a sightseeing tour Victoria, including a visit to the butcher gardens, before embarking on the Alaskan cruise between Vancouver and Alaska round-trip and then back to Vancouver and then post Cruise, offer a tour to the Stanley Park, and the Vancouver lookout, that’s pre-cruise and then post Cruise, take those passengers between Vancouver and the Seattle King Street station in time for passengers to get back on the Empire builder to go back east so just one of the other photos I would like to see between now and 2035 I mean one of the things I would like to see between now and 2035 as one of those proposal and have Amtrak improve better service and
Ok. I could be missing stuff here, but here’s some of my thoughts: 1. The Quad-Cities (or as I’ve heard it as the “Quad-Cities Rocket”) will run on Iowa Interstate (IAIS) tracks after Peoria. And that IAIS has been trouble for getting the line going. 2. Im betting that the Los Angeles to Las Vegas isn’t going to happen. Not if there’s a high-speed rail alternative. cough Brightline West cough 3. What happened to the Cascade service suggestion between Seattle and Pasco? 4. Also, what happened to the Lackawanna Cutoff?
Atlanta would connect with Chattanooga, Nashville and then turn and go west/southwest to Memphis. They will not connect to Knoxville yet due to the expense of building an updated train route.
The Northeast Plan is abit scaled down , Originally Penndot wanted the Harrisburg-Reading-Allentown-Newark-NY corridor i'm not sure why that was cut. A recent study had high ridership on it. There's also a lack of service between Baltimore & Harrisburg which is a busy super commuter corridor , NY put the Southern tier plan on hold... Service in Maine might be rerouted to Bangor via Lewiston instead of Rockland which has proven to be more difficult. There's a few Intercity routes in Mass that might be operated by Amtrak.
I believe the plan for the Chicago to Toronto route is for passengers to transfer in Windsor, ON to a VIA Rail train, since they will need to detain their anyway to clear customs. Personally I think a better option would be to have the VIA trains extended to Michigan Central instead (and have all Amtrak trains stop/terminate there) as Detroit is a more significant destination than Windsor, and Michigan Central is a more useful station location than the current Detroit whistle stop. I would also like the train to Pontiac to be extended to either Grand Rapids or Flint (possibly splitting it from the Wolverine).
Maybe the leg of the _Wolverine_ could be extended beyond Flint, up to the Saginaw area or even to the north of the state. As for the Chicago-Toronto train, if the _Maple Leaf_ can get you between New York and Toronto in one seat (and the _International Limited_ prior to 2004), maybe we could see the same with a train from Chicago through Detroit/Windsor or Port Huron/Sarnia.
But still no daily Cardinal and Sunset Limited... however, it is good that stations over their lines will be shared with more trains, to reduce fixed costs.
as a Tucson resident i am extremely hopeful that the new. its absolutely insane that there is no amtrak service in phoinex. i really hope that they put a station at Tempe (tucson and tempe have rival colleges). tucsons station is not only nice, (being a historic building rather than an isolated amshack) but also extremely well located, in the heart of downtown located directly next to the main transit center
a future improvement would include Flagstaff, a mountain college city, with an already existing central train station. It is a hub for visitors to the Grand canyon and other natural beauty, as well as being quite nice itself, being fairly urbanist with a historic downtown and more dense development pattern. The highway from there to Phoinex gets very congested at certain times when, people want to escape the heat- and they actually widened the interstate despite it winding through the mountains.
More recent news says that the Nashville to Atlanta route is looking to be a Memphis to Atlanta route while going through Nashville. I really hope this is what happens because the trip to Nashville on I 40 completely sucks.
It's crazy to think that all of these towns once had passenger rail service 60 years ago. Even the smallest towns were connect to a vast network of rail service. It will take decades to re-establish these lines.
It's worth noting that a year ago Illinois awarded the Chicago-Rockford service to Metra, rather than Amtrak, with service beginning in 2027. That may remove it from Amtrak's list.
I wish they would seriously improve The Cardinal, in particular its frequency and also its service I took The Cardinal from Chicago to Wimnington DE during rainy weather, and we were 12 hours late getting to DE. I'd also like to see service INTO Wyoming, where I have family. There are also tourist destinations that could be served, if only by bus.
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As someone in KY that grew up around a long abandoned train line I always wanted Amtrak back in the state. Even if it's an hour car ride for me, having that station there in Louisville would be awesome.
As a Canadian railfan I became fascinated with the Monon upon getting Volume III of Classic American Railroads. It would be very cool to see passenger trains crossing the mighty Ohio from Indiana into Louisville again.
@@stephenjones8928 I think a passenger rail line following the flow of I-75 from Detroit to Florida would really work well, there is so much traffic on that highway and it might alleviate it.
@@jamesbarantor7094 That would be a good one as well. Going through Toledo, Cincinnati, Lexington, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and on to Florida sounds like a nice thick slice of Americana for any tourist making stops on the way.
@@stephenjones8928 Yeah I live in Lexington and the amount of Canadaians, Ohioans, Michiganders etc going south to Florida is pretty high tbh.
Thats exactly what i was thinking. I am living over an hour away from Louisville but i know that It could use an amtrack line and that would promote positive growth
8 trains between indy and chicago + increased speed would be game changing for both cities
What happened to Detroit to Grand Rapids? I was hearing a lot about that.
indy is dead... no one is traveling to indy.. not to mention they already have the cardinal heading that way.
@@haylieg2780 I WISH. much vehicular traffic DRW to LANS and LANS to GRR.
Amtrak service will never be completely reliable until it operates 100% on its own tracks and doesn't have to contend with freight trains.
If only there was more will to buy up more of the important routes. Some states do have state owned routes, or even have commuter agencies that share their tracks with Amtrak (and usually have the capacity to do so)
Exactly, that’s what I’ve been saying
*bro forgot that that's how other contender nations such as the UK, Germany, France, and others also contend with freight trains
Actually Amtrak reliability is all dependent on the justice department since it’s already illegal for freight trains/host railroads to delay passenger trains.
OR………..if the whole rail network across the entire country is nationalized (just like in China) where ownership transitions from private to public by the federal government and they controlled all the mainline tracks, then Class I railroads would no longer have the ability to put Amtrak trains at the back of the line when it comes to dispatching, just like private trucking companies don’t get to choose when the light turns green for them.
Minor correction: You can already do a round-trip from Kansas City to Chicago through St. Louis without changing trains. I think both the eastbound and westbound versions are called the Missouri River Runner, but it takes the route of the Lincoln Service both ways. There's also still a Missouri River Runner round trip that focuses on just Kansas City and Missouri.
Yep, trains 318 and 319. I think they typically style it the "Lincoln Service Missouri River." I've taken it a number of times from Jefferson City (or sometimes Sedalia) to Chicago.
Train service between Phoenix and LA is much needed. No need to go down to Yuma and back up to LA. Straight run from Phoenix to LA.
ConnectUS 2035 was never really going to happen, it was a proposal by Amtrak, it was simply them saying "If you fund the Infrastructure bill, we could potentially do this, if you give us money!" Some of these routes are happening, some are not and some routes that weren't on connectUS 2035 are also happening. (Like Chicago to Peoria) If you want to look at the routes that got funded for planning check out the [Corridor ID program.] It's basically this but routes that received federal funding for planning. Routes selected for Corridor ID are "priority" for federal funding. Once planning is done routes selected can apply for federal grants through the Federal State Partnership program to fund construction up to 80% (2O% needs to come from somewhere else, like a state or cities) However it's all dependent if there's money in the FSPP Pot, which is all dependent on who is president and who controls the House/Senate
Yeah some route proposals are likely to get nixed simply because someone else will be running better service on them. Examples, LA to Vegas, Brightline West will be up and running before Amtrak can get service going there. Merced to San Jose is the route of CAHSR, so no point to slow Amtrak service on that route. And Brightline already has the majority of rail market share between Orlando and Miami, so low priority for amtrak. DFW to Houston is the Texas Central high speed line, but Amtrak will be the operator.
@@mrvwbug4423Brightline West blocks Vegas service, but I think CAHSR doesn't block anything, considering it's funding issues and construction timeline. Those services would be significantly funded by the state of California anyways. I can see the state increasing service on lower speed lines temporarily (for a decade or two) until (and if) CAHSR is ready.
@@mrvwbug4423The high-speed trains on some of those services will bypass the smaller towns, which might allow Amtrak to serve them in ways the HSR cannot. Even then I doubt most lawmakers would see it that way and would want either one or the other.
This sounds like a wishful plan that they hope will attract some politicians who might get severed by rail. Amtrak has pretty much been a failure for over 50 years. It never makes a profit, has low ridership, with the exception of Washington-Bosten corridor. How can they "upgrade" services? They know that they have had to downgrade them over the years. Dining cars are becoming a thing of the past, and the food is over-priced microwaveable stuff. The trains (for most of the country) are chronically late, and the service is becoming less frequent during the week. But the worst thing is the drain on the treasury that taxpayers have to pay to support this federal corporation, and most of them are not even served by these trains. The private railroads got out of the passenger business because they were losing money. Amtrak took them over, and Amtrak is losing money. It is an example of socialism when the government takes over private business.
@@johnbaugh6978 Funny how many non-socialist nations support their railroads as a necessary part of infrastructure, and the people like it. Only in America do you have people saying, "I never take the train, so my tax money shouldn't be used."
One thing that will occur if all this does get built in some form, is that my town will be one of the most connected towns in the nation to various local, regional and interstate rail. Which makes me a lot more pessimistic because whenever the state or federal government has tried to get life into my town, it's fallen on its face.
Where is "my town" or I guess that would be your town?
17:20 No, a train to Las Vegas is not the most notorious gap in the whole country - it is a rail connection between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. It is ridiculous to have to take a bus between those two cities before getting back on the train.
Agree.
100% Accurate. Santa Fe and Southern Pacific used to run passenger trains over Tehachapi. Why can't we do that now? I hear excuses like "the freight railroads won't allow it" but they're legally required to under federal law.
@@anitrain The track is saturated through the Pass...absolutely no spare slots available.
@@mikevale3620 then we take slots away from freight and/or expand the track capacity. I don’t understand why we are over complicating this.
@@mikevale3620 It should be double track between Bakersfield and Mojave at least, if not all of the way to Lancaster.
Lots of awesome news! Many potential new routes to cover on both of our channels! Thanks for bringing us the news and we will be tuned in to see more adventures from you! Thanks for all you do for the viewers!
Several thoughts:
- Las Vegas needs more connections-say, San Francisco-Reno-Las Vegas or Vegas-Phoenix-Tucson for examples.
- In Colorado, why not extend the Front Range proposal to either La Junta or Trinidad, connecting to the current Amtrak service through southeastern Colorado?
- It’s long time to reestablish the Louisville-Nashville route (remember the old L&N railroad)? Then you could have direct Chicago to Atlanta service as well.
- Last, time to take the Sunset Limited out of suspension from New Orleans to Tallahassee to Jacksonville-and maybe run a service to Tampa from the north too.
I'd add a Detroit-Cincinnati route too.
My only worry is that Reno-Las Vegas would require a new lengthy corridor over sparse, rugged terrain, as to my knowledge no route directly between the two by rail presently exists. The most direct route between them, along US 95 and a little less than four hundred and fifty miles, takes just shy of seven hours to drive, much of that winding around the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains within the contiguous United States. The flat parts are mostly desert. To construct a rail line that would take one between the two cities in about five hours would be a monumental work of engineering. To cut the travel time to three hours would itself be the great project of the century.
As for revival of the L&N, secondary routes that could work include Nashville-Birmingham-Montgomery-Mobile. The suspended Gulf Coast route was also owned by the L&N west of Chattahoochee, FL.
As for completing the link between the Midwest and Florida, there are a number of possible routes south of Atlanta one could go. I’d go with Atlanta-Macon (the McDonough route is straighter than the Jonesboro route), then from there connect with the Silver routes at either Folkston or Savannah. Maybe, as you suggested, Tampa or St. Petersburg could be reached by a route directly south from Macon through Valdosta, Gainesville, and maybe Ocala. Some ambitious planner could even bring it south of Tampa as far as Naples.
Why not reinstate the former Burlington Zephyr route from Denver to Houston thru Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Amarillo, Dallas-Fort Worth? I recall the Burlington ski train every Christmas holiday season before Amtrak. I also recall the Burlington T-bone steak and rainbow trout... Get with it Amtrak...
@@ronclark9724 The _Texas Zephyr_ (1940-1967)?
Come to think of it, that would be a good way to link up that region. Travelers from Texas to Denver wouldn’t have to take such a circuitous route through either California or Chicago.
And on the North end, connect all the way through to Billings, MT and on to Great Falls. Open up the middle of the Country to a major north/south artery.
For those that can remember, Amtrak used to have a route called the Desert Wind, which ran from Denver or Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. I rode that once, as part of a train that carried three lines that originated in Chicago, and they'd split in Denver, and the Desert Wind was one of those three routes, and it continued to Los Angeles (my dad and I got off at Fullerton, since we were headed to San Diego). When Metrolink came up with the line that goes from Oceanside to Riverside an San Bernardino, one thing they did was to veer a set tracks off the current Surfliner route just past the Orange station to merge with those coming south from Los Angeles east of the Anaheim station. One possibility I can see is a San Diego to Las Vegas line that could use that routing that takes Metrolink's Orange-Riverside County route to get to Riverside, and then follow the routing of the Southwest Chief and Desert Wind up to Las Vegas. And then, should the CAHSR project's San Diego portion ever get built, they could run Amtrak trains up the I-15/I-215 corridor to Riverside, and eventually, Las Vegas via Escondido and the Inland Empire.
A question is, how would they run so many round trips on a line that's still partially single-tracked in San Diego and Orange counties (with two or three major track movement projects needed, plus that 25 MPH single-track portion at Miramar Hill just south of the Sorrento Valley Coaster station), considering there's also the Coaster and two Metrolink lines serving that same corridor from San Diego to Los Angeles (and on the San Diego end, there are already plans to continue that line past Santa Fe Depot to at least the S.D. Convention Center, which is near the big rail yard MTS uses for it's three trolley lines (Blue between the border and UTC, Orange between downtown and El Cajon via Lemon Grove, and Green between 12th & Imperial and Santee via Mission Valley, the stadium, and SDSU).
It would be nice to have train service in New Hampshire. Taking the bus to Boston is great and affordable, but sometimes the trains leave from North Station and Concord Coach does not go there. This would leave more options for Amtrak service. Not to mention I live in Concord, NH and work in Manchester, NH which might mean a commuter service.
Thank You for a informative episode.I remember when passenger trains went to different locations in new mexico like clovis many years ago and the high speed rail la to vegas wow! I''m glad they got the money to update old tracks also.
I’m looking forward to expansions in Virginia. VPRA is looking to eventually have four tracks on the RF&P (DC-Richmond) to separate freight traffic from passenger trains, two CSX owned and two VPRA owned. VPRA is about to begin work on a couple of overpass rebuilds so that the bridges can allow up to four tracks to pass under them in the future. Additionally, VPRA is looking to establish an east-west service through Virginia on the CSX Piedmont Subdivision, which was bought by the state between Doswell and Clifton Forge. These services would be amazing for Virginians looking to get across the state, as right now you have to go up to DC on one train and back down into the state on another train just to get across Virginia.
When did the VPRA start making these investments in four track infrastructure and expansion alongside CSX? A strategy to go across the Commonwealth?
@@jamesmcdonnell5617 These commitments date back to 2019 when VPRA first bought half of the CSX RF&P Subdivision. What does half exactly mean? Well, the Subdivision has been cleared to have four tracks along the right-of-way; however, the line only holds two for CSX for most of the way. So VPRA bought the right-of-way that CSX left unused and will be building a third and fourth mainline owned by Virginia which will be exclusive to passenger services. Unfortunately, what I assume is due to funding or support restraints, this third and fourth track is being built in smaller projects, such as the Long Bridge project and a series of siding projects, which will eventually link together to form a continuous third and fourth mainline track along the subdivision. It will take years for the third and fourth track to be fully completed between DC and Richmond.
@@MrMarshmallow26 Of the track lines three and four that you describe above, is it being engineered as HSR capable / compatible, even if being constructed in segments, through fits & starts?
@@jamesmcdonnell5617 While specifications have not been released compared to the S-Line project, it's safe to assume that it will not be high speed capable due to the restricting obstacles along the line, such as the curves just north of Ashland and the tracks passing through Downtown Ashland. It may be higher-speed capable, however, and the tracks may be rated for 110 mph similar to segments of trackage along the Amtrak Midwest system.
Back in the 1970s Amtrak ran two east-west routes across Virginia: one on the C&O from Newport News through Richmond and Charlottesville into central West Virginia and beyond, and one on the N&W from Norfolk through Petersburg and Roanoke and into southern WV and beyond. I’d like to see both of those return to service, both to ease transportation across much of the state, and the N&W line in particular to provide some service to one of the most deprived parts of the country around Mercer, McDowell, Mingo, and Wayne Counties.
I'm looking forward to the future expansion, but I would prefer if they'd spend more money on maintenance. Frequent breakdowns, dirty cars, worn out fixtures, and just an overall feel of "tired" on some of them. They need to be refreshed/remodeled more often and more thoroughly. I get that they are very heavily used and don't have a lot of turnaround time. But having an extra set of cars to be rotated into service once in a while, so that a more thorough deep cleaning can be done (shampooing carpet / stain removal etc), would greatly improve things. The old cars are clanky and rattle everywhere and a lot of stuff never gets fixed. You are expected to adjust your expectations. Sleeper cars cost more than luxury hotels. They should be AAA+ accommodations.
5:54 A second round trip to and from Roanoke was already added in 2022 and it was announced a couple of weeks ago that the VPRA came to a new agreement with NS to extend service to Christiansburg by 2027 with work beginning next year. A further extension to Radford is very possible under this new deal as well since the trains will terminate at the yard there. The new deal is expected to add a third round trip when the extension is completed. Further expansion west of Radford to places like Bristol, Knoxville, and Chattanooga are also possibilities under this new deal.
Now we just need the Piedmont Sub up and running for the Commonwealth Corridor
About damn time. The Shenendoah/Blue Ridge area has been without passenger rail for too damn long.
17:28 Considering that Brightline West is already being built while this route has only been proposed, is it even worth it for Amtrak to pursue this unless the route went beyond Las Vegas (i.e. to Salt Lake City)?
Great video! And fantastic work detailing every expansion plan that Amtrak plans to do!
It's however such a missed opportunity that Nashville will not be connected to Louisville and then to Chicago. I guess Bowling Green and Elizabethtown won't be getting rail then.
And also, what is stopping Amtrak from connecting Bakersfield to the rest of SoCal? I understand CAHSR is trying to connect them, but it's so jarring just leaving that gap in that map.
Too many freight trains in the Tehachapi Loop (the one existing rail corridor over those mountains has a lot of sharp curves and slow speeds)
Theres a new organization in my small nc town dedicated to bringing back passenger service to western North carolina, and theyve received thousands of signatures asking for the line! The support here is amazing
I live in the Northeast but my parents retired to NC a few years ago now. Wilmington is pretty close to them so I have been taking the train with connecting bus to there, but it still is a 3 hour bus ride and a bus (even a dedicated one) is still nowhere near as comfortable as a train. It's still better than the drive by myself (over even with someone else doing it), but it's still a much longer trip just from the last/first leg.
I'm glad NC and it's residents seem to be very supportive of trains as having that as an option can make it a very attractive place to visit. Staying in the southern beaches and being able to take a train for a weekend in the mountains sounds like an amazing vacation.
The Front Range service has a lot of twists to it. New Mexico has asked that the line be eventually extended down to New Mexico with services eventually reaching Albuquerque. There's also another twist where Colorado DOT (this will be a state run service) may demand electrification of some or all of the line and they have already expressed a desire for the necessary line upgrades to allow for services of 110-125mph on the corridor, this would also require buying the ROW from BNSF. There may also be additional services to Boulder and Longmont from Denver if line electrification on that segment is done, RTD would expand their own commuter rail up there (they were supposed to do that already but budget overruns killed the B-line beyond Broomfield). Regarding service to Cheyenne there is a big push to get UPRR and the City of Cheyenne to terminate the service at the historic Cheyenne depot rather than a small station on the edge of town, the Cheyenne depot last served passenger trains in 1981, the city currently owns the depot and has a museum in there and also leases out a portion to a restaurant, the tracks outside are still there and owned by UPRR and are part of the VERY busy Cheyenne yard. And in another twist, the state of Colorado purchased a disused ROW between Granby and Steamboat Springs and intends to start state run train service between Denver and Steamboat springs, following the route of the CA Zephyr up to Granby then splitting off, basically a second ski train service but will run year round and not stop AT the ski area like the Amtrak ski train does (west portal of the Moffat Tunnel is right behind the main ski lodge at Winter Park resort).
Unless the single track in Colorado Springs gets fixed, nothing will happen.
If that line reach Albuquerque will have more sense that end at Pueblo.
@@MarceloBenoit-trenesI saw the termination of the line at Pueblo and thought: why can’t it be extended to Trinidad? There’s a junction with the BNSF line there and either through trains or transfers can occur to allow passengers to get from the populated parts of Colorado and Wyoming to New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California.
@@DiamondKingStudiosWhy not extend it to El Paso?
@@skyh The tracks are or were there; it could be done.
I like the way you talk train. Wow favorite page for train travel. The Horn at the end chefs kiss info rn
Interesting Jeremy. Hope it all comes together. Fingers crossed 🤞. C😊😊
Did You have a chance to look at the FRA's LDS study yet? They're in part 5 now. And the Rockford line went to Metra.
The Rockford train is going to happen, but it will be Metra and not Amtrak that is going to operate it. It is expected in 2027.
Yeah but only at 75 mph the entire length
As a native of the Greater Boston area I am impressed that you pronounced Woburn correctly.
Glad I got it right, and that someone noticed!
I like watching when people outside the area try to pronounce Worcester. :P
@@DarkpawTheWolf yes! Also Salisbury and Billerica
@@DarkpawTheWolf its oddball pronunciation was inherited from its counterpart and namesake in the UK. The same country also has a Leicester, and it too, is NOT pronounced the way it's written.
@@wemailbill2Leominster, Gloucester
Los Angeles to Las Vegas is already happening with Brightline!!!!
Jeremy I am a big fan of your travel videos. Today this information video was equally enjoyable. I believe the tones of your voice is a major reason. Thank you sir. Keep traveling, I'll keep watching.
Thanks Pamela!
This is exciting.I just took my first trip on Amtrak from Boston to Illinois and back and i plan to explore the country by train soon.
Thanks for the video. The proposed expansion of routes and frequencies of existing routes would make Amtrak more user friendly. However especially where Amtrak wants to increase frequiency of service, major capital improvements would be necessary so as not to cause delays to both freight and passenger service. The freight railroads have problems on some routes with Amtrak trains as it is now. So they will hold out for expensive upgrades before letting additional passenger trains operate. Look how long it took just to add one additional train between Chicago and St. Paul, Mn. It also has taken years of negations to get the New Orleans to Mobile train route in service which is supposed to start soon.
A glaring omission is service from Chicago to Fort Wayne, to Columbus, to Pittsburgh. That line was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was designed to be operated safely at speeds of 120mph.
Ooooh. Chicago to Columbus would be absolute nirvana for this rail fan. (I have a yearly thing in Columbus and I am NOT HAPPY that Columbus doesn't have passenger rail ... ) Getting Columbus to Pittsburgh would almost have to be new track; none of the freight boys are running anything close to that. :/
@@stonebearwhy doesn't Columbus have passenger rail? It's a city of almost a million people
@@morewi Nope! Columbus is the largest city in the US without any rail service whatsoever. I went to college in Columbus. Great town but totally car-centric.
@@jadedmastermind that doesn't explain why though
The Amtrak network is based largely on the railroads of the late 19th Century. There were the main trunk lines from Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and DC to Chicago - the main rail hub of the US, then the 4 transcontinental railroads from Chicago to the west coast, specifically, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Add lines from DC and Chicago to Miami and New Orleans and that’s it. Columbus was never a part of the main lines from the east coast cities to Chicago, which is why it has no rail service today.
I don't understand why they won't reconnect the service from Jacksonville to New Orleans! It is an unbelievably long drive from South and Central Florida to Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans. I think it would be a very popular route. It would be nice to connect Florida to Atlanta as well ( via Macon). Not everybody in Florida wants to travel along the Atlantic Coast and end up in NYC !
Amtrak would probably be better off running a train from Savannah to Atlanta, thus Florida passengers desiring to go west can switch there on the Crescent. But the largest Amtrak CRIME is not having. daily train from Houston to Dallas, two of America's TOP SIX urban metropolises...
Thanks!
Thanks!!
Because you were talking about Amtrak connect map only you may have missed the corridor ID program is it already officially live!
And there are significant deviations from Amtrak connect us 2035.
Specifically, the FRA issued grants to 4 non-Amtrak projects, and left out some big ones in PA and added a train to Delaware.
What are the non-Amtrak projects that received grants?
@@MrMarshmallow26 the first round of grants was supposed to be $500,000 to the sponsoring agencies.
The sponsoring agencies that are not directly connected with Amtrak as a supporting sponsor are the Alaska State railroad (Fairbanks to steward), California high-speed rail Authority for the (San Francisco to LA high-speed rail), Brightline West sponsored by Nevada DOT, and high Desert rail Authority to connect California, high-speed rail to Brightline West To fill-in the 12 mile gap between the proposed alignments, and without having to go all the way to downtown LA to make the transfer.
It could be partially wrong on that .
Amtrak also sponsored for roots themselves without any direct support from another authority , the most notable one is that the local government doesn’t want Amtrak trains on Long Island.
Also if you look at the early maps Amtrak 2035 maps they forgot to include CaliforniaHSR and Brightline, Florida.
After a few days, they released new maps with the non Amtrak roots included
@@FreeJaffa92 ooh I see what you mean
@@MrMarshmallow26 the four non-Amtrak projects to get funding are the Alaska Railroad, California high-speed rail, bright line West, and High Desert high speed rail(to connect California high-speed rail to bright line west).
I could be wrong about that list .
All sponsored by respective state DOT .
@@FreeJaffa92 I’ll have to look into Alaska Railroad. Never knew they got funding.
Metra (Chicago's regional rail company) got the contract over Amtrak to run between Rockford and the city. 12:30
My first thought was that there were multiple places where a proposed new service might be better run by a commuter rail operator already in the region.
But it will run via the same route?
@MarceloBenoit-trenes , yes. I don't live there. But, from what I read online it'll start in 2027ish
@@MarceloBenoit-trenesNo, it'll be routed over Metra's UPNW line. But new stations are being created.
The Roanoke service is aleeady up to a morning and evening service, and would expand to three alongside the Christiansburg extension. A fourth and possibly fifth daily train would serve the VA east west link to Richmond without passing through DC.
I can't wait for the east-west link; however, it'll definitely be a while before we see it considering all the projects along the RF&P. The Piedmont Subdivision will also need double trackage and other upgrades to properly support passenger rail.
There is also the possibility of a long-distance route between Houston and New York that would run on the line as well.
Excellent video! Thank you for all of the information! 🙂
This is all great news, we'll have to see how much of it really plays out. Fingers crossed! But is it too soon to start demanding a high-speed northeast corridor plan again? Great and informative video!
Amtrak's "Connect US" vision which includes an LA - Las Vegas route appears to be profitable enough for a private corporation to invest: Brightline to Las Vegas..
The main issue with Brightline is no direct trip to Union Station in LA and a far away station at Las Vegas.
@@MarceloBenoit-trenesUnion to Rancho is available like 15 times a day on Metrolink.
@@Geotpf but isnt the same. I think that city to city in one train is important.
At 14:00 it is not "Pierre" but "Père Marquette". Both are French. Pierre in English is Peter. Père ("pare") in English is Father. Père Jacques Marquette was a French missionary and explorer. It is curious that both a railroad and a passenger train in English are frequently said as Peter Marquette, instead of Father Marquette.
Speed on these developments!
Correction, the Kansas City - St Louis - Chicago route already has thru service between those points. The Missouri river runner and Lincoln service meet at St Louis and at least one train in each direction daily simply continues on from St Louis without having to change trains. I have traveled this route and it is lovely.
Just last week I did the Seattle to Vancouver route, it was awesome, food on train was great and reasonable priced. Views were awesome but they need more service.
I'm a railroad fan. I enjoy these videos.
I'm glad my state is looking to expand service in California, plus Oregon and Washington. More of Michigan definitely needed enhancements badly. I think they might be making some new long distance routes possibly, but in reference to all these changes, I do hope various intercity services can also get a variety of fleets consisting of locomotives and rolling stock (maybe MU's as well) to go along with the Siemens stuff they have, some new doubledecker coaches for this project, especially for longer trains. The section between Colfax and Reno could also use some Capitol Corridor mainline service. It would be most useful for the summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas travel times. California, Washington, Oregon and the Midwest definitely could use new doubledeckers. I already do know the long distance routes are searching for someone to build new bi-level coaches.
The C&O, right up until 1971, ran an unnamed spur of their Chicago-Grand Rapids service they inherited from the Pere Marquette that went up to Muskegon. That, plus routes to the north of the state (and connecting buses at stations to send passengers to parks in the area) would be good to see, maybe also Port Huron-Sarnia, ON-Toronto.
Don't you railfans all get your hopes up too high here - just saying as one who's been watching it from the beginning (1971). I still vividly remember "Black Monday" (October 1, 1979) when Amtrak essentially gutted itself - including dropping the service that serviced the more populated areas of Montana while retaining the route that serves virtually nowhere along the Canadian border. Ultimately, my homestate of Ohio really got shafted and, I don't understand why the proposed Colorado service stops at Pueblo and doesn't extend to LaJunta to connect with The SW Chief!!! Thus, I STILL can't go from Kansas City to Denver. WT*??? There's still no Salt Lake to Portland/Seattle (Pioneer) and still no SLC to LA via Las Vegas (Desert Wind) service. Finally, I don't like the fact that most Amtrak trains are engineer-only with no fireman/asst engineer. As a former railroad man, I don't think this is safe at all as it's not easy for one person to operate a locomotive. This isn't Europe after all. Frankly though, I doubt very much of this ever comes to fruition, sorry to have to say. But, that's just one cynical old duffer's opinion. Time alone will tell.
If they do, indeed bring back the Chicago to Toronto direct service that’ll be nice because you won’t have to go via New York, which will shorten the trip dramatically
Will this involve amtrak building their own tracks, or use existing freight lines, for existing corridors? take for example, the empire service
Existing freight or state owned tracks.
I've ridden Amtrak between Los Angeles and San Diego a lot recently (taking my bike to zip around San Diego as I do in Los Angeles) and really appreciated having departure times every couple of hours throughout the day. It blows my mind that it could increase to 30!
A very ambitious plan. Still, I have to wonder why Amtrak would set up routes that would duplicate existing and under construction rail service,
The Amtrak extension in Long Island makes no sense whatsoever since Long Island is well serviced by the LIRR.
The Amtrak extension in Florida is also not needed, since the route proposed is already serviced by Brightline.
The same could be said for the proposed LA to Las Vegas route which is the same route currently being built by Brightline.
Also, it is a great step to increase service on existing routes. But unless Amtrak finds a way to scuttle freight service on those lines, I cannot see how to increase service on already maxed out lines that are leased to Amtrak by freight companies.
Yeah the Long Island service makes no sense, I suspect it will not happen. Amtrak would have to invest in 3rd rail rolling stock which would mean EMUs ... which LIRR already runs haha. Amtrak is actually ditching their 3rd rail/diesel bi modes on the Empire service and switching to a Diesel/Battery hybrid locomotive since they were only using the 3rd rail for a couple hundred yards just to get in and out of Penn, once they are in the exit tunnel they start the diesel.
Separated tracks in the same ROW?
@@mrvwbug4423Only makes it more frustrating that the PRR couldn’t just have extended their overhead wires into the tunnels and Penn Station.
@@kyrieeliteFor the routes being constructed for high-speed trains, that might not be the best option, as towns Amtrak would be better fit to serve would be bypassed just as the high-speed trains would bypass it.
I don't understand the gap between Louisville and Nashville. It would connect Chicago to Nashville and beyond. Also, I am 80 years old and live in Nashville so I don't hold my breath to ever be able to ride Amtrak directly out of here.
Would be nice to have Chicago to Tampa Bay, going through Louisville, Nashville, Atlanta and Tallahassee, maybe even an Auto Train version.
What about other gaps in Amtrak such as extend the San Juaquin service from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, Kansas City to Omaha, Kansas City to Tulsa, Detroit to Louisville,KY,Cleveland to Louisville,Detroit to Grand Rapids, Washington & Baltimore to Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh to Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh to Erie,PA,Philadelphia to Scranton,PA
The Southern Pacific used to run trains between Los Angeles and San Francisco via the Central Valley, and the Santa Fe used to run trains from Chicago to San Francisco via Barstow going up much the same route within the Valley. Amtrak could revive similar routes no problem if only for the Tehachapi Loop being closed off to passenger service due to the railroads’ inability to allow any room for Amtrak trains amid the freight traffic, killing any Las Vegas-SF, Albuquerque-SF, or faster LA-SF plans (until CAHSR is completed).
I’ve seen proposals for service from Kansas City to St. Joseph, but nowhere further up the Missouri River, probably due to a lack of cooperation from Nebraska.
The other routes are ones I haven’t really thought about but would be good supplements. Kansas City-Tulsa could work if routes through Joplin, or maybe Tulsa-Joplin-Springfield-St. Louis as an alternative. Detroit-Louisville seems to work best to route it through Lima, Dayton, and Cincinnati, though Fort Wayne, Muncie, Indianapolis, and Columbus, IN might be an alternative. Cleveland-Louisville would be an extension of the 3C+D but would require cooperation from Kentucky and maybe Indiana. Detroit-Grand Rapids would be a good opportunity to connect Lansing directly to Detroit in addition to western Michigan in general.
The PRR used to have the _Buffalo Day Express_ to go between DC and Buffalo, NY. It went up a route along the Susquehanna between Baltimore and Harrisburg that Amtrak used to use for trains between Washington and western PA/on to St. Louis, and was electrified by the PRR to the same standards as the Northeast/Keystone Corridor, but Amtrak rerouted the _National Limited’s_ Washington branch to North Philadelphia in 1978 and Conrail removed the wires three years later (what a waste). From there the PRR had a line north of Harrisburg going through Williamsport, Port Allegany, and Olean. It was a fairly direct way between Washington and western New York, at least considering the mountains, and reviving it could service north-central Pennsylvania.
I don’t know how a Pittsburgh-Niagara Falls line would work if not an extension of Pittsburgh-Erie, using existing rails and prior passenger service records. Maybe up the Allegheny through Oil City, then up to Jamestown, NY and on from there.
As for Philadelphia-Scranton, a line up through eastern PA seems like a good way to tie the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys to Philadelphia. Maybe send it up to Binghamton and even Syracuse for connections within upstate New York.
@@DiamondKingStudios The largest Amtrak CRIME is NOT having a daily train between Houston and Dallas, Presently Houston doesn't even have a. daily service with the Sunset Limited... Both Texas Metropolises have a population approaching SEVEN million, surely the two largest metros within 250 miles in America without a daily Amtrak train... Without any doubt whatsoever, Amtrak SCREWS Texas, the state with the second largest population...
@@ronclark9724 Houston-Dallas would be one of the most viable passenger corridors in the nation, and Amtrak probably would run a train there if they could. My guess as to why they haven’t is lack of cooperation from either the freight railroads or the state of Texas, or both.
An additional 3rd "Silver" route could potentially be designed to connect Ft. Meyers, Florida via Tampa, Orlando, Columbia, SC - Charlotte, NC, Charlottesville, VA & Washington, D.C. One of the Downeaster daily train trips could potentially be made as a revived "Gull" passenger train between Boston & Halifax, Nova Scotia. The "Gull" last operated in 1960, but was discontinued due to poor track condition, which made it slower than cars & trucks on the surface roads. Fixing the tracks there would entail lots of expensive repair work.
12:00 Chicago - Kansas City on Amtrak Midwest services are already underway. They are run as trains 318 and 319.
But NOT New Orleans to Jax? WTF? Amtrak needs to tie together the retirement hubs of the southwest and Florida. Two other corridors that should be included for the same purpose of serving retirees: Florida west coast (Tallahassee-St. Pete-Sarasota-Ft. Myers-Naples-Miami) and Cheyenne to El Paso, extending the proposed Front Range route (Pueblo-Walsenburg-Trinidad-Las Vegas-Santa Fe-Albuquerque-Las Cruces-El Paso) . Seriously, we need to re-visualize leisure travel for seniors.
Amtrak has an essential role to play in the de-carbonization of long-distance travel. The purpose would be to divert individual automobiles from the road, thus reducing future demand on the electric grid by e-vehicles.
Actually reducing jet travel (airlines) would help also.
@@Mike-f5r And replacing air travel with something significantly more humane.
I really wish Amtrak was not so doggone expensive though. It's hard to afford even a short line trip, much cheaper to drive most of the time. 😟
Unless you have three or more people in your car, I believe that's a mismomer. Anyone who is buying cars for over $10K and paying mechanics to maintain them is kidding themselves if they think it costs less than 50 cents a mile to drive.
@@Thisoldhiker More like $30 plus for a new car, if not more...
I'd mention these are only the amtrak plans, it doesn't include other routes already being explored and build by brightline and california hsr, and Montana trying to reestablish daily service along the southern route through Missoula.
Higher frequencies mean more paths. What do the freight operators think of this. If time allows please show the freight lines where passenger services will be re-introduced.
Restoring service from Philadelphia to Reading has been requested/planned off and on for the past 40+ years when the service was discontinued. The tracks exist, but Conrail abandoned the PRR S&L route and now NS use them for the Crescent Corridor (I think? Been a while) and to my recollection either refused to allow passenger service on the tracks, restoration of the additional tracks (i.e., 4 tracked main instead of 2 tracks), wanted public funding to restore alternative routes from rail-trails from Harrisburg through Lancaster to Allentown in order to sell the route to Amtrak/SEPTA (public funding to 100% build the restored route AND to purchase the route from NS--not a swap), or refused to contribute to any combination of the above. Reading is the fourth largest city in PA and the largest to not have any commercial airlines, rail service, or direct connection to the Interstate Highway System (instead having a feeder route to the Turnpike via I-176) since the nonsensical decision was made in the 30s to bypass one of the largest cities and industrial centers in the state. The reason for the pessimism in the report is completely justified. Reading is one of the poorest and most diverse cities in the state and has been punished or neglected for decades by the State and Federal Governments because of it.
So excited to see Toronto->Chicago
Amtrak runs a train to Port Huron and Via runs a train to Sarnia... Why did Canada kill the previous train over the border?
They need to extend Pittsburgh to Wheeling and put a small train station in Washington PA and one in Wheeling WV. This would be great for Pittsburgh , Washington and Wheeling. If I could ride a train to and from Pittsburgh or Washington I would go up there all the time.
As a lifelong central Ohio resident, I am just old enough to remember when amtrack served Columbus.
I am a fan of the auto train which I have taken before (driving to Maryland and putting my vehicle on for trip to Sanford Fla. It is my earnest hope that not only will Amtrack expand their service back to Columbus after a 45yr hiatus,but extend auto train services to some cities out west,i.e. Chicago, Minneapolis, or St . Louis! The facilities to load the auto train can either be built, or converted by lease or agreement with CSX-Norflk Southren. Even a direct Midwest to Fla line is needed!
As a train buff (cant day lover 'cuz I got gripes with trains) I hope to be able to one day be able to get on a train where I'm currently at in Northwest Ohio, and go to Rapid City, SD by train ONLY...a few decades away, but non-the-less, it's a step. Amtrak is missing a chance to also connect Cincinnati with Detroit direct via Toledo, and Dayton....I can say safely from the routing that'd it's gonna be on CSX trackage, and most of that trackage is single-track...so I'd safely say 1 round trip a day if at all would be possible.
Great summary. There's also been talk of extending the Borealis to Fargo. This would happen after multiple daily round trips are established between Chicago and the Twin Cities, with one of them continuing up to Fargo.
Oddly - you did not mention taking the Sunset/Texas Eagle to daily service - or was that not mentioned in this proposal?
An Atlanta - Orlando route is needed now!
adding trains and routes would be great....last time i hopped into Amtrak we were totally crowded from east to west coast then back....Las Vegas route would be beneficial from coast to coast
Great summary and some wonderful plan. Sounds like a lot more trains crossing the Hudson out of NYC though... any thought to another tunnel or two?
The Gateway project is its whole other thing. I just hope progress goes well with that.
Amtrak should feature NEW lines BEFORE adding new stops - see how it goes and increase or decrease stops AFTER seeing what works or DOESN'T! Since I live near Cincinnati, it would be nice to have a way to get to major OH cities such as Cincinnat, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo and possibly others; possibly Athens and/or Steubenville.
I live near Allentown, PA and we haven't had passenger rail since Aug 1979 from Allentown, a short lived extension of the Philly-Bethlehem service operated by Conrail at the time under contract with SEPTA. The Bethlehem to Quakertown segment ended June 30, 1981 and from Quakertown to Lansdale July 26, 1981. Now Amtrak wants to start an Allentown to NY service. The Lehigh Valley region really grew since 1981 and train service into NJ and NY at least would allow people to connect with other Amtrak trains or commuter trains like NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road, etc.
I'm not really a railfan per say, but I stumbled into your vid from a similar subject (planes and short regional air travel in particular). I'm not sure if this is a dumb question but why not add more autotrain services, especially on the long, multi-day routes? It seems like a major problem for lots of people with long distance train travel is that it takes too long, but it seems like a good way to create an equal trade is to allow people to pack more stuff into their car, which they can take on a train to a destination in another part of the country for an extended period of time. So if you have a two week long vacation, you can drive to a train in a major hub and then ride to another major hub, where your car is offloaded and you finish driving to your destination. When I lived on the east coast, I needed to either fly to my family in Oregon and rent a car while I was there, or I needed to drive there from South Carolina, which was an obvious pain in the ass as you might imagine. It would have been nice if I could've just hopped on an autotrain in either Columbia or Raleigh, rode up to DC and then rode all the way out west to Portland where I would unload my car and drive to my parent's house. I also would've like to do sightseeing in neighboring states and Canada, something I couldn't do affordably in a rental car.
I know the current autotrain is a special kind of train because it serves snowbirds and vacationers and it has a special yard on both ends to unload the cars, but even just adding a limited add on to the train of a few cars inside some shipping containers or something similar could be a great way to generate money for Amtrak and provide a useful proof of concept for possible further expansion in my opinion.
Thanks for this thorough explainer of all these proposals. I hope they all come to pass. Maybe there are some environmental limitations, but why is that Denver line not connecting to Pueblo?
There is one route that you did not mention. I am unsure whether it was part of the original 2035 proposal. That route is tentatively referred to as the Midwest Connect. It would run from Pittsburgh to Columbus with a stop in Fort Wayne and terminate in Chicago. The estimated completion date is 2030, As a resident of Columbus, I am very excited about this route. Columbus has not had Passenger Service since 1979. I also hope that they increase the frequency of trains that service Cincinnati and Cleveland. At this time they only go through once a day and that is in the wee hours of the morning.
Cleveland is served by two trains, Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited. However, both serve Cleveland at night. Cincinnatti only by the Cardinal, three times a week.
As for that train that ended in 1979, if only the tracks were still there, reviving the route from Pittsburgh to St. Louis via Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, and Terre Haute would be a great benefit to the Midwest.
Thank you for de-mysifying Amtrak routes. I've never figured out how to get anywhere on a train. Maybe Amtrak can add a proposal to their budget to develop software to assist would be travelers to plan a trip. It could look just like the map that you showed and a traveler can touch one city and a second city without selecting dates. Then the software could display a list of dates and times to choose from. Currently Amtrak's website makes me choose departure, destination and departure date and then tells me there are no trains from Chicago IL to Niagara Falls NY nor from anywhere to anywhere else.
The extension of one of the Wolverines from Detroit to Toronto is unlikely. However, what is currently in the works, with a tentative start date of sometime in 2027 is an extension from Detroit across the border to Windsor where a cross platform connection will be made with one of VIA Rail Canada's Toronto - Windsor trains. American customs and immigration would be in VIA's Windsor station. Good video by the way. I enjoyed it.
I wish Amtrak the best.
I wonder what routes will be implemented?
With the "International Wolverine" (I'm sure they'll shorten it), hopefully VIA can get onboard with them for this route, although via Windsor rather than Sarnia. Actually, VIA was planning on running some of its trains to Detroit (and therefore held off on refurbishing the Windsor station because they assumed they were going to replace it), but 9/11 kind of...derailed that plan.
The Dayton and Cincinnati line would be very popular and possible if enough runs are made per day. Interstate 75 has daily rush hour traffic, congestion and slow downs from the daily commuters.
If commuters could park at their local station and ride a fast train everyday, they would.
If there is no public transport to reach final destination, then they can leave an old car at station to finish commute.
It might be possible to work in Columbus, if there is a fast train, again.
We used to have passenger train and trolley car service in this same area, about 75 years ago.
Many abandoned railbeds, train stations and bridges connecting our towns.
A car was not needed here 75 years ago, but a necessity today; something went wrong along time ago.
I still am amazed at the size of the trolley car network every time the streets are tore up for maintenance.
I collect the mini rail spikes laying around that get dug up.
Not looking to good for Amtrak returning to the Florida Panhandle
I think Amtrak should start focusing on shorter but more frequent connections (similar to what is done in California and Chicago area).
This is a good start but I think to have a proper rail service, you should try to get at least 1 train per hour between two major cities or the major city and the end of a branch between 6am and 9pm (16 round trips/day). This could be done with different long-distance routes but it should be reinforced with shorter, frequent services.
This can be sustainable if Amtrak starts tackling smaller communities with small station platforms and European-style trains.
No mention of the route through Southern Montana and Southern ND? That one seems to be extremely likely from what I'm seeing.
I’m sure they’ve done their research but that seems like a ton of round trips on some of the routes. I wonder if they would actually have the ridership to pull it off.
The rail fan in me just wants the sunset limited route to be fully restored.
Attempted to plan a train trip for next year from Portland OR, to Louisville KY. I was shocked to see the train trip ends in Chicago and then it's a 6 hour bus ride to KY. I didn't realize Amtrak was so lacking. I figured trains went to at least one major city in each state.
A spur from Milwaukee to Madison, WI? A spur from Chicago to Rockford? Why not run a line from Chicago via Rockford along the way to the Twin Cities? Used to ride that Empire Builder a lot in the 1980s. Also rode the California Zephyr a few times. Sure hope they got that track fixed in Iowa. Eau Claire, WI deserves rail service.
Hi, my name is Collin, and one of the things that I would like to see improved between now 2035 is because Port Canaveral is about 45 minutes from Orlando, and Port Canaveral is the busiest cruise terminal in America, one of the things I would like to see improve is having those Amtrak three-way buses offer pick ups and drop off at the Orlando Amtrak station, transport guest to Orlando area hotels, including all Walt Disney World resorts, Walt Disney World, Swan, and dolphin resort, Disney Springs area, hotels, all good neighbor, hotels, for an overnight stay before the cruise, and possibly a few nights before that as well, set up people can take advantage of the theme parks, pre-cruise, and then after the cruise, have those buses take those people back to the Orlando Amtrak station set up people can catch a train to go north again, and that’s Orlando. For Washington DC, they should have those buses that can transport people between Union Station and All downtown Baltimore area, hotels, and drop them off at the cruise terminal for those people that are sailing with Carnival to the Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean to Canada in New England, the Bahamas and the Caribbean like for instance if you’re going on a Southern Caribbean cruise, those buses ship pick up and drop off at the Cruise terminal art vacation day, and pick them up at the Cruise terminal on the Station day after they get off the ship and transport them to Washington DC Union Station with a city tour Pirates of the 4:05 PM departure on the Capital limited from Washington DC to Chicago. I would like to see improve is in Seattle, after the Empire builder arrives in Seattle, those three-way buses should offer a sightseeing tour of Seattle which last all day with a lunch break stop in between, before dropping off at all downtown area, hotels, pre-cruise or even a couple days before the cruise set up people can have time to take advantage of pipe based market, SpaceNeedle, etc., before embarking on the Alaskan cruise if they say with Norwegian, celebrity, or a Caribbean, princess, Holland, America, and Carnival and then after the cruise, because the train does not leave until 4:55 PM, those buses should be able to take them up to the SpaceNeedle when you get to go 520 foot high observation debt, with the one floor below the observation deck which used to be the sky city restaurant. It’s now the glass floor sky city restaurant got discontinued back in 2017 due to major renovations, and the fact that the space needle has been open since 1962 and that place was open for 55 years and decided to close down as of 2017 permanently. So, that Seattle in Vancouver, I would like to see those three buses offer a Sightseeing tour of Vancouver BC, including a lunch stop, and drop off at all Vancouver area hotel, and then also offer passengers to take the BC ferry between Vancouver in Victoria, and do a sightseeing tour Victoria, including a visit to the butcher gardens, before embarking on the Alaskan cruise between Vancouver and Alaska round-trip and then back to Vancouver and then post Cruise, offer a tour to the Stanley Park, and the Vancouver lookout, that’s pre-cruise and then post Cruise, take those passengers between Vancouver and the Seattle King Street station in time for passengers to get back on the Empire builder to go back east so just one of the other photos I would like to see between now and 2035 I mean one of the things I would like to see between now and 2035 as one of those proposal and have Amtrak improve better service and
Here in St. Joseph, MO, we hear of new Amtrak service from KC to Omaha, Neb. (Mon. Sep. 16, 2024 )
Ok. I could be missing stuff here, but here’s some of my thoughts:
1. The Quad-Cities (or as I’ve heard it as the “Quad-Cities Rocket”) will run on Iowa Interstate (IAIS) tracks after Peoria. And that IAIS has been trouble for getting the line going.
2. Im betting that the Los Angeles to Las Vegas isn’t going to happen. Not if there’s a high-speed rail alternative. cough Brightline West cough
3. What happened to the Cascade service suggestion between Seattle and Pasco?
4. Also, what happened to the Lackawanna Cutoff?
Extend the Sunset Limited to Jacksonville, Florida, like it was before Hurricane Katrina.
Atlanta would connect with Chattanooga, Nashville and then turn and go west/southwest to Memphis. They will not connect to Knoxville yet due to the expense of building an updated train route.
The Northeast Plan is abit scaled down , Originally Penndot wanted the Harrisburg-Reading-Allentown-Newark-NY corridor i'm not sure why that was cut. A recent study had high ridership on it. There's also a lack of service between Baltimore & Harrisburg which is a busy super commuter corridor , NY put the Southern tier plan on hold... Service in Maine might be rerouted to Bangor via Lewiston instead of Rockland which has proven to be more difficult. There's a few Intercity routes in Mass that might be operated by Amtrak.
Funding is the likely culprit for PennDOT’s corridor plan.
@@MrMarshmallow26 Feds were willing to pay for it...I think its more political grandstanding.
I would like to see a Harrisburg - Baltimore - DC line.
I’ve ridden from Burlington to New York City. That’s a great extension. Also I want them to extend the line from Saint Albans to Montreal.
I believe the plan for the Chicago to Toronto route is for passengers to transfer in Windsor, ON to a VIA Rail train, since they will need to detain their anyway to clear customs. Personally I think a better option would be to have the VIA trains extended to Michigan Central instead (and have all Amtrak trains stop/terminate there) as Detroit is a more significant destination than Windsor, and Michigan Central is a more useful station location than the current Detroit whistle stop.
I would also like the train to Pontiac to be extended to either Grand Rapids or Flint (possibly splitting it from the Wolverine).
Maybe the leg of the _Wolverine_ could be extended beyond Flint, up to the Saginaw area or even to the north of the state.
As for the Chicago-Toronto train, if the _Maple Leaf_ can get you between New York and Toronto in one seat (and the _International Limited_ prior to 2004), maybe we could see the same with a train from Chicago through Detroit/Windsor or Port Huron/Sarnia.
But still no daily Cardinal and Sunset Limited... however, it is good that stations over their lines will be shared with more trains, to reduce fixed costs.
Amtrak critics love to quote ridership numbers for these two Amtrak trains, but never realize if the service was daily ridership would double...
@@ronclark9724 or more than that.
as a Tucson resident i am extremely hopeful that the new. its absolutely insane that there is no amtrak service in phoinex. i really hope that they put a station at Tempe (tucson and tempe have rival colleges). tucsons station is not only nice, (being a historic building rather than an isolated amshack) but also extremely well located, in the heart of downtown located directly next to the main transit center
a future improvement would include Flagstaff, a mountain college city, with an already existing central train station. It is a hub for visitors to the Grand canyon and other natural beauty, as well as being quite nice itself, being fairly urbanist with a historic downtown and more dense development pattern. The highway from there to Phoinex gets very congested at certain times when, people want to escape the heat- and they actually widened the interstate despite it winding through the mountains.
More recent news says that the Nashville to Atlanta route is looking to be a Memphis to Atlanta route while going through Nashville. I really hope this is what happens because the trip to Nashville on I 40 completely sucks.
Why is PA not feasible? Is it the terrain?😢
I got the sense they meant money and track availability, but I'm not sure
It's crazy to think that all of these towns once had passenger rail service 60 years ago. Even the smallest towns were connect to a vast network of rail service. It will take decades to re-establish these lines.
502 come up! I didn't know that the Kentucky Cardinal proposal would be four whole trips per day. I am literally crying tears of joy.
extra trains between Orlando tamp is redundant since brightline can accommodate it
It's worth noting that a year ago Illinois awarded the Chicago-Rockford service to Metra, rather than Amtrak, with service beginning in 2027. That may remove it from Amtrak's list.
I wish they would seriously improve The Cardinal, in particular its frequency and also its service I took The Cardinal from Chicago to Wimnington DE during rainy weather, and we were 12 hours late getting to DE. I'd also like to see service INTO Wyoming, where I have family. There are also tourist destinations that could be served, if only by bus.
Whaddabout Boise to SLC?
For Rockford, you should have mentioned the new Metra service there!