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

[themissinglink]

Book Now for Amtrak Mardi Gras Service starting August 18 - Amtrak Media

Amtrak Guest Rewards members get free trips faster on this new route MOBILE, Ala., and NEW ORLEANS – Tickets are now available for new twice-daily Amtrak

media.amtrak.com

MOBILE, Ala., and NEW ORLEANS – Tickets are now available for new twice-daily Amtrak intercity train service starting Aug. 18 between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans, along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The new state-sponsored Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will offer convenient morning and evening departures from both cities – plus a promotion to introduce Amtrak Guest Rewards to the region.
[...]
Adult coach fares end-to-end start at $15 each way, less for shorter distances. There are everyday discounts for children ages 2-12, students, seniors, veterans, military personnel and families, small groups, large groups, and others.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

"Sources, however, say Deutsche Bahn pushed for ambitious, European-style changes, while some of the Crown agency’s leadership resisted, insistent that things work differently in Canada."

F%^*ing hell. Worse; did they mean worse? They meant to say worse, right? What an awful, unfunny joke. We're never fixing this problem.

Metrolinx has finally detailed how much "worse" it's going to be: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threa...ication-metrolinx.20729/page-250#post-2244282

Pretty freaking worse. And electrification won't go into effect--on 3 lines only--until 2035-38, which is absolutely insane given that they've been planning it for over 10 years now.


"Can't-build" mentality runs rampant throughout the whole of North America, not just in 'Murica Fuck Yeah.

 

[themissinglink]

MTA launches next eminent domain push for Second Ave subway

The agency is looking to seize 10 sites in East Harlem as it continues on its lengthy quest to extend the underground transit line.

therealdeal.com

The agency filed a petition in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court to begin eminent domain proceedings against 10 sites in East Harlem, Crain’s reported. The MTA is looking to seize and demolish the sites, clearing the way for two subway entrances on East 116th Street.

The properties are on Second Avenue between East 115th and East 119th streets. Residential buildings, stores and a church are among the buildings that could be sacrificed. Impacted owners include Great Neck’s Ziva and Nasir Sasouness, the Shamooil family, the Movtady family and Aaron From’s Afco Development LLC.
From here, the MTA will spend four weeks making offers to property owners for the affected sites. Owners will have four months to either accept the agency’s offer or challenge it in court.

 

[themissinglink]

Heartland Flyer gets $3.5M to keep Fort Worth-Oklahoma City route alive for a year

The Regional Transportation Council approved emergency funding to keep the Heartland Flyer passenger train operating between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.

fortworthreport.org

The Heartland Flyer will keep chugging along from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City — at least for another year.

The popular Amtrak passenger train will continue to operate after the Regional Transportation Council awarded $3.5 million funding from Regional Toll Revenue allocations on July 10 to keep the service going for one year. The Texas Legislature did not appropriate funding to match the amount Oklahoma provides for the train.

 

[cubbe8]

What on earth

High-speed train linking NYC to Los Angeles proposed ahead of FIFA World Cup

The proposal would “create opportunities to usher in a profitable Golden Age of rail travel for passengers and truckers,” officials said.

nypost.com

 

[themissinglink]

High-speed train linking NYC to Los Angeles proposed ahead of FIFA World Cup

The proposal would “create opportunities to usher in a profitable Golden Age of rail travel for passengers and truckers,” officials said.

nypost.com

High Speed? It would be slower than a two-seat ride on existing Amtrak routes!

A proposal — dubbed “The Transcontinental Chief” and pitched to Amtrak as well as President Trump and his secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy — would shoot riders between the country’s two biggest cities in just 72 hours.

Delaware-based Ameristar Rail said it would use existing infrastructure owned by Amtrak and other regional rail lines passing through major cities like Kansas City, Chicago and Philadelphia rather than launch a massive and costly new public project.
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AmeriStarRail hopes to have it running by May 10, 2026 — in time for the FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted across North America, with the finals at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The people running Ameristar Rail are nuts.

 

[aquaticko]

These people can say anything; it means nothing, in the most complete sense of the word.

 

[JeffDowntown]

High Speed? It would be slower than a two-seat ride on existing Amtrak routes!

View attachment 65002

The people running Ameristar Rail are nuts.

As a comparison, Chinese High Speed Rail from Beijing to Guangzhou, roughly 1,400 miles, takes 8 hours. Do that twice and you have NYC to LA in 16 hours. The only thing "high" about the Ameristar proposal are the people promoting it.

 

[KCasiglio]

just 72 hours.

RIP the airline industry

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

High Speed? It would be slower than a two-seat ride on existing Amtrak routes!

View attachment 65002

The people running Ameristar Rail are nuts.

They want to do a couple transcontinental Auto Train routes as well and haul mixed tractor-trailer freight on those runs as if they've found some never-before-thought-of profit center under their noses. They're also polluting social media with crayon maps riddled with lots of bad AI slop.

Total unserious astroturf outfit. I don't know how they manage to get any press attention.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article308679915.html

Somebody combed through public records and tallied it all up: Brightline has killed 182 people since the first test trains started running in 2017. 158 on-foot or on-bike, and surprisingly only 24 inside of cars even though those were the ones that got the most press. 75 were ruled suicides. 157 of them were in the southernmost 3 counties on the route--Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties--where the tracks pass through the most population density by far. 60% of the deaths weren't at grade crossings, meaning the concern might be misplaced as to where the most risk is (i.e. security fencing for trespassers is needed more badly than better grade crossing protection).