Amtrak Line West: the Future?

#1 Midwestern bilevels for state-supported services will allow the Amtrak equipment used for them to be re-deployed elsewhere. New Northeast locos are an immediate concern becaue the AEM7's are wearing out, with few to no spare parts, and the HHP's were lemons, with as many as half of them out of service due to failures at any given time.

You are aware that the Viewliner diners and baggage cars (as well as the new sleepers) were purchased with ticket revenue that came in above projections, right?

Any Superliner replacements will likely be funded the same way. The idea was to make smaller orders over a more frequent basis over a long period of time in order to rebuild a passenger-car building industry (along with the institutional knowledge needed to do them well. The Midwest bilevels are a start in this direction, as much of the knowledge and technology that went into them will likely be re-used for Superliner replacements (as will the Viewliner II project will likely support the development of eventual replacements for the Amfleet 1/2). 

#2 If the western long-distance trains die, the political support from the areas they served will die as well. So, not seeing them die off without the entire system shutting down.

#3 Freight railroads won't let that happen. Deal with the devil you know (Amtrak), not the ones you don't.

More detailed answers? Ask on Amtrak Unlimited. You don't even need to make an account to post your question.

---PCJ

The Texas Eagle has grown over the past few years from five cars to six and now seven--at least where it runs through the Austin area.  There must be some kind of demand for the consist to grow.

Aaron

I think there is the posibility of passenger Rail travel turning profitable on a nation wide level soon.. If you play around with booking allot Amtrak trains are booked full unless you book weeks in advance. I've looked at taking it from Utah to Iowa and its not cheap and there always booked. There are a certain number of people who just cant stand flying. Bus service SUCKS. Amtrak is charging almost as much for long distance train rides in some cases more then airlines. It could be rail travel is coming back to profitability I think.. Never be like it was 60 years ago.. Could soon break even finally.

No public transport system exists without subsidy.

And looking at the short term, without a doubt, the Southwest Chief is Amtrak's most endangered long distance train.  The Raton Pass subdivision, owned by BNSF, is void of rail traffic except the Chief both ways a day.  Maintenance has been at a minimal, speeds keep dropping, and fairly soon it will not be feasible to run ANY rail traffic over, let alone an express passenger train.  Compounding this is are upcoming new requirements for passenger train routes be equipped with hideously expensive Positive Train Control.. I sincerely doubt BNSF is going to invest hundreds of millions in a line it doesn't want or use.  The alternative is to run the train via the Transcon between Chicago and L.A. which is well over capacity in many portions which would subject the Chief to undesirable delays without hefty investments in the infrastructure... and who will pay for this?  Regardless, Chicago to Los Angeles train service, in my opinion, is critical to maintaining a national passenger rail system.  When we start erasing vital lines such as this, the integrity of the system begins to unravel.