urbanSTL

Kirkwood city council meeting yesterday reported that the Missouri Senate restored funding for a 2nd Missouri train again. Still has to pass the House.


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Dont point  to China as a model for high-speed rail; it’s actually a failure
https://twitter.com/fawfulfan/status/1520083157340598272

Whew! Glad we found out. I mean we were just moments away from building a huge nationwide HSR network.

mikenewell48 wrote: ↑

Apr 29, 2022

Dont point  to China as a model for high-speed rail; it’s actually a failure
https://twitter.com/fawfulfan/status/1520083157340598272

Okay so none of these are midwest rail but there was enough going yesterday and today I wanted to dump it in one post.

Yesterday Amtrak invites press to inspect new-generation Acela. Yeah, the new Acela trainsets are super delayed, won't be rolling out until Fall of 2023. Which is excruciating considering a couple months ago, most of us were expecting the first few sets to enter service as early as next month.

Yesterday Shore Line East Goes Electric This is the commuter rail service along the Northeast Corridor from New Haven to New London, CT. They were running diesel locomotives despite running under the same overhead wires that power Amtrak's trains (Maryland does this too). They're now using the same rolling stocks as NY MTA's Metro North service between Grand Central and New Haven, I think the new trains even have the MTA logo on them. I'm not sure if they'll be exchanging equipment, kind of seems it. Unfortunately there is no single seat ride yet between New London and Grand Central (except New London to Penn Station on Amtrak, of course). Shore Line East's old cars will be transferred to Connecticut's Hartford Line which runs between New Haven, CT and Springfield, MA. The Hartford Line was leasing its passenger cars from Boston.

And finally this morning Crossrail: London's Elizabeth line opens to passengers. This is the first day revenue trains have traveled through the core of this project providing a single seat ride from Abbey Wood to Paddington. Some smaller parts of the project won't be done until Fall so transfers still have to take place now that won't be necessary at the end of the year (Paddington and Liverpool Street). For those of you not familiar with the project, this project has been shaping huge parts of the London real estate market for the last 5 years. For instance it will cut the travel time from Canary Wharf to Paddington from 37 minutes down to 17 minutes.

Rode Amtrak Sat and today. No new cars on either.

This shot isn't long for the world.

Venture Coaches are running on the Missouri River Runner and for the first time in my adult life, eastbound river runners will continue east to Chicago as Lincoln Service. Unfortunately after doing a mock run buying a ticket from Kirkwood to Chicago, the train dwells at STL's Gateway station for 40 minutes. This isn't surprising considering how likely river runner delays will be. The Lincoln Service has actually gotten much more reliable since Illinois's $2B track improvement program, delays in Missouri shouldn't be dragging down the Lincoln Service reputation.


original_026d3523-7550-4c97-a75f-7cde3d315edf_Screenshot_20220607-202927615 by A P, on Flickr



Screenshot 2022-06-08 085214 by A P, on Flickr

^So what you're saying is that the Ann Rutledge is back in all but name? Very nice! (Now if they can bring the name back to avoid confusion. Go back to the Mule for KC to StL only service and Annie R for trains continuing into Lincoln Land. And ditch this Runner silliness. Never much liked that name.)

Amtrak layed out and seeking Rail infrastructure funds for Chicago area.  Believe the request for improvement around Joliet will help out Lincoln Service.  But I wonder if their will be any requests either by Amtrak, Illinois and or both to continue Lincoln Corridor service improvements as I think there is some preliminary engineering for more double tracking south of Joliet and not sure if Springfield realignment full funded.  Of course any request by Illinois and Metro East to make improvements from Alton to downtown St. Louis would be huge.

 https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... perations/

Rebuilding a connection between the Airline and Metra’s Rock Island District, and a new station platform in Joliet, Ill.: $69.9 million plus $21.8 million in Joliet

The preferred route for St. Louis-bound trains between Chicago and Joliet blessed by the Federal Railroad Administration is Metra’s Rock Island District, not the existing, delay-prone CN tracks used by the Texas Eagle and Lincoln Service, as well as Metra’s low-frequency Heritage Corridor. Detouring Amtrak trains periodically have used the existing connecting track at 16th Street Tower, but its tight radius limits speeds to 5 mph. A new connection would increase that to 25 mph. The new platform in Joliet would be necessary given the new location where Amtrak trains would arrive and depart.

It's looking increasingly likely that Lincoln Service will be rerouted in greater Chicago. The re-route isn't the worst. This is mostly being done to shift the service to the much more Amtrak friendly Metra owned tracks. It's unfortunate the lengths Amtrak has to go through to wrestle with freight companies who could do incredible things for passenger rail in this country but won't.
The connection between the new and current ROWs already exists in Joliet but a new platform would need to be built. There's space for a new platform but how it would connect to their relatively new station isn't clear.
 


This is part of a much larger set of improvements sought for Chicago Union Station which includes better thru-running. Despite Chicago Union Station being a perfect fit for thru running, it's actually two terminal setups facing each other. There's three tracks on the east end that do thru run but neither Amtrak or Metra are able to use them, I think this is the Mail platform mentioned in the High Speed Rail Alliance link.

trains .com article

^ Thanks Aprice, considering the effort it appears that the latest round of proposed Chicago Area rail infrastructure projects, if projects secure the infrastructure funds, will continue to unleash some much needed improvements around Chicago.  Probably way overdue considering a lot of what has been done and what is being proposed are straight up infrastructure projects from grade separations to rebuilt junctions or flyovers to the proposed Joliet station improvements on existing RoW vs building a new HSR through dense metro area. 

I think the St Louis region has had a CREATE like approach but not really defined as such.  The biggie is much needed bridge rebuild to bring capacity and speed backs as well as some significant junction improvements in Metro East under the regional freightway plan.  However, don't believe a CREATE like plan has been formulated or articulated on paper beyond a list of regional freightway projects.   Especially for the Alton to Downtown corridor or looking at maybe a directional use of UP/BNSF from downtown to exburbs to allow for increased rail/passenger/possible commuter or even what it would take from a infrastructure standpoint to extend at least one of the daily/or maybe add a 3rd River Runner to Carbondale (offering connection to existing Chicago - New Orleans service).    

Maybe I'm missing something out there but think the region would benefit by taking a CREATE like approach or rail specific approach as next step beyond the regional freightway wish list - maybe start with Alton to Downtown passenger rail improvements as priority, followed by additional River Runner frequency &  regional extension of one River Runner to Carbondale as secondary followed by wish list of Missouri UP/BNSF directional running to support future Alton, IL to Pacific, MO commuter service utilizing existing stations at Alton, Downtown & Kirkwood with additions maybe at Granite on IL side and Webster Groves, Valley Park, Eureka & Pacific on MO side  

^ Latest not good

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... -missouri/

MENDON, Mo. — Three people are dead after Amtrak’s Southwest Chief hit a dump truck and derailed Monday afternoon, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

NBC News reports two people from the train and one person in the truck were killed, according to Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Dunn. A significant number of others were injured. Dunn said he did not have a number, but noted several people were taken to area hospitals. CNN is reporting at least 50 people are injured. Medical helicopters and ambulance services from several counties responded.

Really underlines how safe rail travel is given the low number of deaths in such a dramatic derailment.

Ebsy wrote: ↑

Jun 28, 2022

Really underlines how safe rail travel is given the low number of deaths in such a dramatic derailment.

Agreed and to add it shows how rare fatal accidents are that when any deaths do occur it's news as compared to how most road fatalities barely make mention in a local paper

I was shocked to see how much of the train derailed and was on its side. Not to say vehicle strikes are common but it happens often enough there are plenty of videos of it and it seem like the train usually stays on the tracks. I wonder if it having 2 levels made it more top heavy and susceptible to going over.

Terrifying.
Do any of the news stories mention who owns the railroad, BNSF? Really odd not to mention that fact and seek a comment.

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Jun 28, 2022

I was shocked to see how much of the train derailed and was on its side. Not to say vehicle strikes are common but it happens often enough there are plenty of videos of it and it seem like the train usually stays on the tracks. I wonder if it having 2 levels made it more top heavy and susceptible to going over.

The vehicle on the tracks was a dump truck carrying a load of rock which I think is the reason for how much the train came off. Despite being two levels, the passenger cars really aren't very top heavy given how little weight is on the upper level relative to freight cars, passengers are light cargo for a train. I don't think they're any more top heavy than the double-stacked container cars or 3-level auto carriers that are pretty standard on the rails.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jun 28, 2022

Terrifying.
Do any of the news stories mention who owns the railroad, BNSF? Really odd not to mention that fact and seek a comment.

Did the tracks do anything wrong?

The crossing was apparently in need of some upgrades - no signals, no gates, brush blocking the view for vehicles, and a steep gravel incline. Some stories have been updated to quote individuals who attempted to get these upgrades for years, but ran into issues with 1) county funding to match federal funding available and 2) scheduling the upgrades with BNSF. 

So no, this isn't an issue with the tracks themselves, but BNSF apparently could have helped with implementing more safety improvements over the last few years / they were aware that there was a potential need for them here.

Wonder how impacted Southwest Chief service will be, short or long term?

Could see a reroute of services through STL, resulting in 4 hour longer trip.

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Jun 28, 2022

I was shocked to see how much of the train derailed and was on its side. Not to say vehicle strikes are common but it happens often enough there are plenty of videos of it and it seem like the train usually stays on the tracks. I wonder if it having 2 levels made it more top heavy and susceptible to going over.

I understand the dump truck also tore up the rails for a distance. It's hard to know from the pictures what caused it, but the roadbed is a complete mess. KC's channel 41 has a lot of drone footage and you can see that the whole track has slipped off the top of the embankment and down the side and one rail might be more or less gone in places. That's surely not all the truck. Most of it is probably from the derailment, but things will be more of a mess for the cars further back, after the first part of the train has begun to seriously damage the track. Could be the locomotives drug the truck a distance. (Seems probable, actually.) And in so doing the track tore up, a rail rolled or the gauge spread or something, the locomotive dropped onto the gravel and turned into a plow pushing the rails apart. Add to that the slack action as the rear of the train piles into the front and then something goes a little sideways and starts to pull the rail down the bank with it and pretty soon the rear hits that spot and the end of your rope will whip around a little more, tipping over and pulling everything else with it. This was out in the country on tangent track, so that train was probably doing close to eighty when it hit the truck. Took the whole thing a long way from the crossing, even though the engineer most probably put the thing in emergency even before it hit the truck. I'd guess about half the derailments I've seen had cars flipped, more or less. And all the serious ones. (This being a fairly serious one.)
But as nomad said, I don't think it's the cars. They're ballasted. They don't even rock terribly badly. (They give a quite pleasant ride.) If they were too tippy the folks on the second level would get seasick. This was just a really bad mess. My thoughts are with everyone involved.

addxb2 wrote:Wonder how impacted Southwest Chief service will be, short or long term?

Could see a reroute of services through STL, resulting in 4 hour longer trip.

It looks like the line is already open, albeit single tracked for the affected section. I expect they'll just move trains through slowly, though maybe Amtrak will detour anyway if they don't want their customers seeing the mess.

Of course they would. Expect similar when the turnstiles on Metrolink don't prevent 100% of crime.