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Governor Parkinson will have a ceremonial signing of the Passenger Rail Service Act for Kansas at 1:30 pm on April 8th in the capitol.
I received an invitation to attend this gathering this morning. I think it will be worth the trip over to Topeka.
Posts: 110 | From: Kansas City, Missouri | Registered: Mar 2008
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Governor Parkinson invited NFA leaders and legislators to the ceremonial signing of the Passenger Rail Service Act for Kansas on April 8th in the capitol.
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Just talked to John Rosacker in KDOT Rail and Freight Division:
"When do you expect the Service Development Plan for Amtrak from Dallas to KC to be done?"
"We're going to try to have it done by the end of May, but there's no hard due date."
IN OTHER WORDS:
Not much chance of legislation in the 2011 Legislature.
Here's today's question: With Brownback in charge, when would a reasonable person hope for the first wheels to roll?
Answer: In the budget-unfriendly environment of Kansas (terminate all government support for public radio/tv, terminate government funding for the Kansas Arts Council, define "a suitable education"), don't hold your breath.
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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The young lady doing it interviewed both Ms Miller and Mr John Maddox of KDOT.
I found two points most interesting:
First, the price stickers at this point of the options in the extending service Kansas City to Dallas: - Low End: $150 Million. - High End: $500 Million.
Second, the timeline: As Mr Maddox said: "We're only at the beginning."
Now, if you live here in Flyover Country, you know that Kansas had to cut its FY2012 budget $800 million from FY2011. So, the ice water question, is, as always: "Whither the funding?" Let me give you a hint: Don't count on Feddybux.
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Well, here we are, watching Kansas from the East side of State Line Road. What have we learned recently?
Well, we've learned that Kansas does not have an effective consultant contracting mechanism. The Service Development Plan study is still out in the wild and has not gone public on the Kansas DOT website.
We've also learned the SuperDuper Committee failed, and mandatory recissions in budget authority are coming.
The teaching point is that Kansas should have applied under the true terms for HS dollars. 79MPH didn't get it done.
Oh ... Choose wisely the battles you wish to fight. Somewhat germane to the argument is where AMT 3/4 will be routed in the future. As I recall, the historic Santa Fe west of Newton in the direction of Raton and Albuquerque has been downgraded by Mr Buffett's BNSF managers. That slows the rate of advance of 3/4. I wonder how long it will be before the once Super Chief moves at the pace of the steam-era California Limited? (By the By, the Northern Flyer Alliance wants to tilt at this windmill, too.)
Finally what will that august American, that man who is so very respectful of his young voters, Governor Sam Brownback do when the study does come in?
May I suggest that those seeking additional Amtrak service in Kansas start looking at internal funding mechanisms? Chasing Feddybux may soon be a fools' errand.
We'll see what happens as Kansas approaches a new year and a new legislative session.
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Only two full months late, Kansas DOT has released its Service Development Plan:
Here's the Readers Digest Condensed Version:
- Prep/Startup costs: $136.5M to $475M depending on if it's the extension to Newton and cross platform transfer at 0300 (low end) or daylight service (high end).
- Equipment costs: $4M to add cars to the existing Flyer, $68M to buy a new train for daylight service.
- Annual subsidy:
Now it goes to the 2012 Kansas Legislature.
Gotta love this comment in the Introduction: "The state supported passenger rail project under consideration connects Kansas City, MO with Fort Worth, TX using conventional passenger rail equipment operating at a top speed of 79 MPH."
Gotta love this line in the Introduction: "The extended service to Newton (Heartland Flyer Extension) is estimated to require six years to implement, including environmental reviews, preliminary engineering, construction and commissioning. The development of the KC-OKC-FW Daytime Service or the long term possibility of Combined Services is expected to approach seven years from the start of the environmental studies.
So much for my timelines. As pessimistic as I was, I was hopelessly optimistic. 2020 is realistic.
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For one train a day, I don't think it would be wise to invest in 110 mph service. If the 79mph service is dependable, reliable and offered at convenient times, I think it will be attractive (and hopefully worth the wait).
Federal and state budgets are going to be tight for the rest of this decade, but every passenger who has a good experience with Amtrak may become a future pro-rail voter. So if investments in the River Runner are producing better service, anti-rail politicians may find more pushback when they bad-mouth rail investments and promote more money for highways and airports.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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This proposal comes from sad sam brownback's miserable state of kansas.
If the actual velocity vector is not at least 60MPH, IMO there is little need for this. It's an anachronism. kansas has already shown they are not interested in building a route that will relieve KC-OKC-DFW traffic. One a day is a vitamin brand name, not a way to run a passenger rail operation with an eye to anything other than eyewash.
-------------------- The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Ms Miller has resigned as the Secretary of Transportation for the State of Kansas.
I hope the various advocates have been working their relationships for some time; Ms Barb Rankin, the current general counsel, is the interim Secretary.
Meanwhile, there is this small matter of the 2012 Legislature session to prepare for. Wonder if anyone is working on prefiling bills?
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Have any of us considered the California "estimate" for HSR and how it tripled. And for less miles than the 1/3 cost estimate.
Those who are being asked to appropriate taxpayer funds will be very dubius of any estimates by proponents.
Posts: 467 | From: Prescott, AZ USA | Registered: Mar 2002
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All told, this seems like an underhanded way simply to get a dormant LD route restored. As I have consistently held throughout the entire Amtrak era, the LD's are not about moving people in an economic and efficient manner even though some "niche' groups find the service quite attractive. The LD's are simply about building political support so that what is a clearly, albeit essential, regional service - the Northeast Corridor - can garner Federal level funding.
Amtrak gets funded; the existing LD's are doing their job. Why have more?
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Where's the Earth Shattering Kaboom? There's supposed to be an Earth Shattering Kaboom!!!
NFA admits defeat. Development of this route is 10-20 years away.
What did I say back in 2009? Meet the specifications of the proposal. It's hard to get Feddybux when the grant proposal does not meet the minimums in the solicitation.
Get political support. Sammy's here, and he's not going away until at least 2014; if he's re-elected, 2018. He's not enamored with this idea.
I can't attach an image, so I'll quote a part of the page:
INTRODUCTION: The possibility the Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas corridor (TOK-Corridor) will be developed is highly unlikely, at least for the next 10 to 20 years. The region has missed its window. Government claims their hands are tied. The following is offered as evidence:
So, for now, we wave goodbye at the retreating Adios drumhead as this effort moves into the sunset.
OBJECT LESSON: Political support and timing matter.
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Mr. Pullman, a more apt comparasion would be with The Skyline Connection and all the rest of the nonsense that Warrington had in his Network Growth Strategy.
I noted the absence of any mention of rail by the President in the SOTU. The whole "$8B for HSR" was a bungle. I said it when ARRA '09 was enacted, and I say it again now.
It would have been great had the $8B been allocated to existing rail passenger agencies to be used for the backlog of "shovel ready" projects that any of them have. Instead it was parceled about the land with this Kansas charade, that was just an excuse to restore a needless Long Distance train, indicative of such.
Tomorrow Miami and a Cleveland Orchestra concert; Sat a client at The Villages, and Mike I'm on schedule for Sunday, in good health, and "Lex Noir" still runs like a champ - even if I'm not used to driving around, especially long trips, in an almost seven year old auto..
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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In 2010 it was estimated that an extension of the Heartland Flyer to Newton KS would require about $114 million in track improvements to support the new service. Stopping in Wichita would save money on start-up costs, but it would likely make connections to/from the SW Chief at Newton difficult.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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I would suggest that Wichita is more likely to gain scheduled Amtrak service when the Southwest Chief is rerouted away from Raton Pass than from any extension of the Heartland Flyer.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Oh where oh where hath you gone, Mr. Thunderchief. You haven't been around since 2012 when the final nail was driven into the coffin of the ill-conceived Kansas HSR.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote: Mr. Norman, perhaps we should really show our age and talk about Santa Fe's Texas Chief. A very classy streamliner (as were all ATSF trains) that operated on this route - plus a Houston section.
- Palmland
Loved both the El Capitan and the Texas Chief. Both were equally high-quality operations and both had the high-level coaches I loved.
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From a friend who teaches at the University of Central Oklahoma, there is supposed to be an Amtrak inspection train working from OKC to KC today.
Of course, since I last updated this topic, Kansas' budget woes have not changed in the slightest, other than Gov. Brownback finally got overridden on his taxation policy.
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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This is certainly a logical extension of the HF. The odds of this happening and being successful would increasee if the following was true: * The train is an extension of the SWC to Chicago * There is sufficient trackage in Newton Falls to enable a split of the SWC for LA and Ft. Worth as is done in Spokane or San Antonio. * There is sufficient equipment available to support the extension. * Kansas/Texas actually fund the change.
I'm not holding my breath. But then, who would have thought a few years ago that we'd see trains to Roanoke and Norfolk.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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With the new reroute of the Texas Eagle between DAL and FTW, would an HF extension be able to get to the new track to Dallas via a backup move from FTW? I looked at Google Earth, and it is difficult to tell whether that would be doable or not.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Thinking about it why not just designate the Trinity Railway Express has a Thruway connection?
That way a more convenient and dependable connection (with easy ability to change if Heartland late unlike with the TE) could show in Arrow and also in the online Heartland timetable.
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