Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

[Balerion]

Suffolk County executive: Amtrak coming to Ronkonkoma LIRR station

News 12 spoke with Amtrak's vice president of network development, who says the project is in its beginning stages, and it will be years before there are Amtrak trains at Ronkonkoma.

longisland.news12.com

What's the value proposition here as compared to taking a regular LIRR train into the city and transferring?

Amtrak would express past most stops, but they'd also be stuck with having to change out the locomotive. Is that even a net positive on travel time?

 

[WarpedReality]

If rail congestion in Connecticut means the alternative to running to Long Island is turning around in New York City, then giving (some) Long Islanders a one-seat ride to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. might be worth a try.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

What's the value proposition here as compared to taking a regular LIRR train into the city and transferring?

Amtrak would express past most stops, but they'd also be stuck with having to change out the locomotive. Is that even a net positive on travel time?

Northeast Regionals are moving to dual-mode locomotives in a couple of years, so the diesel engine would fire up on-the-fly where the overhead of the NEC gives way to the third rail -only LIRR tracks. No engine swaps required.

 

[themissinglink]

Second Ave. Subway’s Next Leg Progresses With Promise of Congestion Pricing Funds

Engineering proposals on tunneling and structural shell work are due by March 5 and a contract is expected to be awarded by the third quarter of this year.

www.thecity.nyc

 

[beck4537]

A state of collapse: How the MTA put riders on the fast track to ruin

The city’s subways aren’t just on the brink of collapse — the breakdown of the aging system has already begun.

gothamist.com

 

[themissinglink]

FTA finalizes grant for Chicago’s Red Line Extension - Trains

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has signed a grant agreement for $1.97 billion in funding for the 5.5-mile extension of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line, the first line of the L system to reach the Far South Side. The extension is the largest single transit project in CTA...

www.trains.com

 

[themissinglink]

Brightline Raising $2.5 Billion Of Private Funds For Vegas-To-L.A. Bullet Train

If the 218-mile project opens as planned by 2028 it will be the first true high-speed railway in the U.S It predicts $1.4 billion of revenue by 2031.

www.forbes.com

Brightline West, billionaire investor Wes Eden’s 218-mile rail project to connect Las Vegas to suburban Los Angeles with electric bullet trains, is raising $2.5 billion from private investors with a tax-exempt bond offering as it seeks to launch passenger service by late 2028.

 

[themissinglink]

Los Angeles to San Diego by train is about to get easier

More passenger trains are being added between two Southern California cities this year. The Biden Administration has awarded a $27 million federal grant to the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency to add ad…

ktla.com

The federal funds will allow LOSSAN to add three new daily roundtrips between the two cities, increasing the total number of trips to 13.

Two trains will go into service in March, while the third will be deployed in November, officials said. The new service will help bring the Surfliner closer to hourly frequency between the cities.

 

[themissinglink]

Scranton-to-NYC train project clears another hurdle

The proposed restoration of passenger rail service between Scranton and New York City recently cleared another hurdle, advancing to the next stage of a federal program designed to identify new, via…

www.thetimes-tribune.com

The Scranton-to-NYC rail corridor project is one of the first five in the nation to advance to the second step of the three-step Corridor Identification and Development Program. Step two includes the completion of a Service Development Plan for the proposed route and serves as a precursor to the third step, which could deliver potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for rail construction and related work in advance of the Big Apple-bound trains running again.
[...]
Prior passenger rail service between Scranton and NYC shut down in 1970. Restoring it — which could happen as early as 2028 or 2029, if plans come to fruition — has long been a goal of rail advocates and supportive elected officials alike.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Final Report

Final Report Long-Distance Service Study Section 22214 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) directed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to conduct an Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study to evaluate the restoration of daily intercity rail passenger service...

fralongdistancerailstudy.org

FRA releases final report on their Amtrak Long-distance Route Revival study.

This is what they studied:

Not a chance 9/10ths of this actually gets built (in any Administration), but that's a pretty nice-looking map. Almost second-world status in terms of national connectivity.

 

[as02143]

Final Report

Final Report Long-Distance Service Study Section 22214 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) directed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to conduct an Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study to evaluate the restoration of daily intercity rail passenger service...

fralongdistancerailstudy.org

FRA releases final report on their Amtrak Long-distance Route Revival study.

This is what they studied:

Not a chance 9/10ths of this actually gets built (in any Administration), but that's a pretty nice-looking map. Almost second-world status in terms of national connectivity.

Looks like a DFW and Denver hub or base forms out of all these proposals.

 

[stick n move]

Caltrain’s Electric Fleet More Efficient than Expected​

“Caltrain announced at its monthly Board of Directors meeting that regenerative braking on the new trains is generating and sending back to the electric grid approximately 23% of the energy consumed by the system. The new electric trains are outperforming Caltrain’s original projections, which is welcome news for a public agency that holds sustainability as a core value.

Originally estimated to cost approximately $19.5 million annually, Caltrain’s electricity use since the launch of electric service averages 207 MWh on weekdays and 175 MWh on weekends, revising cost estimates to $16.5 million. With the agency expecting approximately $6 million annually in energy credits from the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program, the first year of electric service will have lower fuel costs than the previous diesel service. Currently, Caltrain is providing that power to the grid free of charge as there is no legal requirement for the agency to be reimbursed for the energy generated….”

https://www.caltrain.com/news/caltrains-electric-fleet-more-efficient-expected

 

[themissinglink]

Plans for a new Brooklyn-to-Queens train gets back on track as congestion pricing continues

As congestion pricing in NYC continues, plans for a new Brooklyn-to-Queens train are making a comeback.

www.amny.com

The MTA’s $68 billion capital plan, unveiled last week, proposes starting construction on the Interborough Express (IBX), the potentially transformative light rail link between Brooklyn and Queens, within this decade.

 

[stick n move]

Awesome news. I read somewhere recently too that they no longer plan on having that stupid street running portion of the line anymore which is a huge win.

 

[Badusername]

Awesome news. I read somewhere recently too that they no longer plan on having that stupid street running portion of the line anymore which is a huge win.

Without the street running is it a fully sealed corridor? If so I hope they shift to automated light metro, as the only remaining advantage of light rail would seem to be station cost.

 

[stick n move]

It actually had a link to an earlier article talking about the plan to dig the tunnel to skip the road portion at the bottom of the article that was shared. Pretty convenient I didnt even have to look.

https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/mta-tunnel-queens-cemetery-ibx-light-rail/

I’m so happy theyre considering this, the street running portion was just going to be such a bottleneck from day 1.

Without the street running is it a fully sealed corridor? If so I hope they shift to automated light metro, as the only remaining advantage of light rail would seem to be station cost.

Thats what it sounds like, it says with the tunnel it would be situated entirely within a dedicated right of way.


Sweet new render showing utrecht ave station too.

 

[HenryAlan]

Are these to be some sort of battery powered LRVs, or was the artist just lazy?

 

[TheRatmeister]

Thats what it sounds like, it says with the tunnel it would be situated entirely within a dedicated right of way.

So why are they using low floor vehicles then?

 

[HenryAlan]

So why are they using low floor vehicles then?

I don't think it's a fully formed idea. If they do decide to tunnel the section by the cemetery, then why go with LRT at all? 1 million people live within walking distance of this ROW and it will have connections to 17 subway lines and the LIR. That should be heavy rail and the only justification for not doing so would be the street running requirement.

 

[stick n move]

I don't think it's a fully formed idea. If they do decide to tunnel the section by the cemetery, then why go with LRT at all? 1 million people live within walking distance of this ROW and it will have connections to 17 subway lines and the LIR. That should be heavy rail and the only justification for not doing so would be the street running requirement.

Yup. They havent decided yet if they are going to pull the trigger or not on the tunnel, so thats why theyre still showing the current plan of light rail vehicles. I agree though that if they do make it entirely grade seperated they need to go full heavy rail. More commonality of equipment, much higher capacity…etc. I have to imagine if they do go with the tunnel those questions will come up.