Passenger Trains > 354(26)

Ending the day on a low note, just like it started... 354 has been a disaster out of CHI, finally cut the PTC out east of NLS and now making 59 mph. Lots of restricted speed before that. Spend most of the trip on NS Chicago West at Medium Speed before the bottom fell out. That blank check from MIDOT to extend ITCS to Dearborn probably got Bob Harmon rolling in the grave...

Also took out 355(26) waiting to meet the beleaguered train (354) at DOA....

Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

DevalDragon Wrote:
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> Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?


BAhahahha !! Well done !!
Headed to the “WillisTower”…. Eventually …. LMFAO!!!

Flight time from MDW to DTW is  about 45 minutes. Add a half hour commute at each end. Add another hour at MDW prior to departure. Both Delta and Southwest (on a good day) have multiple departures. And United goes to ORD frequently as well.  That's less them than it took 354 to make it to Michigan City.  I-94 driving time on a normal day is about 5 hours from downtown Chicago to downtown Detroit. I feel sorry for the passengers who expect barring weather or some unusual incident to arrive on time. And try explaining to them what the problem actually is. And of course those going to intermediate destinations where flying  isn't an option. 

More self imposed delay from Amtrak. 

They are not a serious operator. 

Last I checked Amtrak didn’t design the ITCS system or the engine on the train. Might wanna check your facts guys.

Posted from iPhone

2904 Wrote:
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> Last I checked Amtrak didn’t design the ITCS
> system or the engine on the train. Might wanna
> check your facts guys.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Regardless of who designed it, Amtrak accepted and operates it. 

When a plane crashes, the average consumer likely doesn't know or care who the manufacturer is of the aircraft. 

The Amtrak Line Train Director asked 355's engineer "just out of curiosity are they (the troubled 354) running the same locomotive you had yesterday?"  I could not hear 355's reply but the TD's response was classic: "I'll refrain from laughing over the radio!"
Amtrak's promised $66 billion won't do a thing to improve operational reliability on the Michigan Line unless some meaningful management changes are made in Chicago and on the Midwest Division.  Pontiac/Port Huron-Chicago train performance has  a lot more problems than NS west of Porter.
Andy

That there are more problems than just NS is absolutely true.  This important corridor, like so many business lines at Amtrak, lacks someone in authority to pull the pieces together and to ensure that service metrics are met.  Moreover, the continued lack of determination at the executive (re: Washington, DC) level is disheartening.

Why the Grand Crossing Project and/or the creation of an alternative "around the lake" route has not been advanced raises concern as to how new dollars will be effectively spent to improve service if we can't eliminate the most basic stumbling blocks.   

In an environment where demand for commuter train service has slumped severely and not likely to return to 2019 levels anytime soon, is it too much to consider an operating scheme that might include operation over South Shore from Kensington to Michigan City?  South Shore (NICTD) is working diligently to advance their double track project, but wouldn't the prospects for obtaining needed capital be improved by showing how two passenger railroads can effectively work together to create a hugely improved operation?

An added benefit for Amtrak is access to northwest Indiana markets(a growing population area), which has largely been abandoned for years.

Yes, significant improvement to the connection at Michigan City will be required but with South Shore Freight's cooperation should not be too hard to accomplish.  (If all Amtrak trains were routed via South Shore, the 10th St. Interlocking in Michigan City could be eliminated.  A boon to both railroads, particularly NICTD/South Shore.  Hooray!)  An apparently passenger friendly STB during the Biden Administration may also help to work through issues with CN at Kensington.

It is said by knowledgeable folks at Amtrak that the Indiana Crossroads Project did not produce any improvement in on-time performance.  The NS approach to Amtrak will likely never ever be like BNSF's.  So, Amtrak must become its own best friend, its own cheerleader and identify alternatives.  That takes passion and determination.  I hope 66 billion dollars buys them at least that.

 

Train29 Wrote:
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> Flight time from MDW to DTW is  about 45 minutes.
> Add a half hour commute at each end. Add another
> hour at MDW prior to departure. Both Delta and
> Southwest (on a good day) have multiple
> departures. And United goes to ORD frequently as
> well.  That's less them than it took 354 to make
> it to Michigan City.  I-94 driving time on a
> normal day is about 5 hours from downtown Chicago
> to downtown Detroit. I feel sorry for the
> passengers who expect barring weather or some
> unusual incident to arrive on time. And try
> explaining to them what the problem actually is.
> And of course those going to intermediate
> destinations where flying  isn't an option. 

Going to school in Bowling Green I do this frequently. Make the 1 hour or so drive to Detroit. Park at the off site garage and catch their shuttle to the terminal. Through security/boarding quickly as an AA Platinum Pro. 45 minute flight. Family member picks me up at ORD, home in the North Shore. Quicker process than taking the Amtrak (at ungodly hours of the day out of Toledo I might add). The only reasonable train is 30 which leaves at 18:40 and arrives in Toledo by midnight (if on-time). Only one time in the last few years of me flying this route has AA run late. That time being when the First Officers headphone jack was loose and a 3rd party mechanic showed up and we left 30 mins late. 

I would bet good money that most people at Amtrak HQ don't even know that they own a railroad in Michigan.

For that matter, they probably couldn't find Michigan on a map either.

Come to think of it, I would bet most maps at HQ don't show the United States existing west of Harrisburg.

And the thing if you guys all remember as kids, Computers were supposed to make it easier for everyone in the future! WHAT A JOKE!!