Cleveland Real Estate News » Amtrak

Amtrak Departs Early From Cleveland But At Least Now You Can Dine On Board

Carole Cohen — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:05:18 +0000

It’s a start. Dining cars are back on the Lake Shore lines that run through Cleveland. It’s also true that departure time is before 6am (oy) and it will be swell when there are more trips planned. In the meantime, read the PD article about how Amtrak finally added the dining car back to the routes served through Cleveland.

For me, it would be noon before I was hungry but the trip to NYC is long enough to warrant a meal at some point during the trek. And for those of you who like steak and eggs (or breakfast at least), both are on the menu.

Peace Out – 3C

Fiscal Year Results In – Amtrak Ridership Coming Up Roses In The Midwest

Carole Cohen — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:00:28 +0000

The months are flying by aren’t they? It’s already time for the next update on passenger rail and transit news for the Midwest/Ohio. The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) did a study of Amtrak ridership in the Mid West. Some stats:

MIPRC had this to say:

Our report last year admitted that the picture was not completely rosy for the Midwest, as several routes had lost ridership. This year it’s all coming up roses - every route within or going through the Midwest gained riders in FY 08. Missouri is a special success – after two years of decreasing ridership, 30 percent more people took the Kansas City-St. Louis service than the previous year.

Ridership is up Nationally too. The National Rail Passenger Commission issued a press release and here are some stats from it:

28.7 people rode Amtrak in last 12 months (their fiscal year ends Sept. 30th, thus the yearly report)

that is an 11.1% increase in ridership.
total ticket revenue for Amtrak was 14.2% higher than the year before; in fact,
this is record ridership – the most since it all began in 1971.

The color emphasis is mine, but here is a quote from the Amtrak website/press release:

“After another record-breaking year, in which the railroad achieved double-digit growth, Amtrak has solidified its role as a leader in the nation’s transportation network and proven intercity passenger rail’s relevance in today’s world,” said Alex Kummant, President and CEO of Amtrak.

“With the recent passage of a reauthorization bill, which includes a significant state and federal capital matching grant program, we also look forward to expanding state partnerships to provide more rail service in growing corridors nationwide.”

Here is a chart in pdf form (only one page) of Amtrak ridership/revenues for the last fiscal year.

Since Ohio is working on the first leg of the Ohio Hub/3C Corridor, here is a Minneapolis – St. Paul Star Tribune editorial from mid October in support of MN signing on for high speed rail. The sticking point, especially in our volatile economy, is money for Minnesota, just as it is here. A Maryland based company did a feasibility study:

“….It concluded that a line with top speeds of 110 miles per hour and a direct link to Grand Casino in Hinckley would be financially self-sustaining after an initial ramp-up period.

That’s not enough to guarantee a federal grant, but it’s a crucial start. The higher hurdle to be cleared is at the State Capitol. Getting the Northern Lights Express rolling is expected to cost about $400 million. The state need not provide the entire 20 percent non-federal share; local and some private expenditures at stations would count toward the match. But the state’s share still could exceed $50 million….”

Somehow, spending money on rail projects sounds so much more economically rewarding than bailing out failed banks. Just sayin’. Peace Out – 3C

Great News! H.R. 2095 Passed the Senate last night 74-24.

Carole Cohen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:14:50 +0000

This is the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. It passed with a clear enough majority that it is vetoe proof and apparently (maybe because of that) President Bush has stated he will sign it. I’m going to list how the Senators voted on HR 2095 – note please that Senator McCain voted nay, Senator Biden did not vote, your Senator (and mine) George Voinovich voted no, and Senator Brown voted yes. I think Senator Obama voted yes. There is an asterisk after his name, but the ‘not voting’ list only contains two names so I’m assuming he is a solid ‘yes.’

The list:

Grouped By Vote Position
*YEAs —**74*
Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
*Obama (D-IL)*
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Tester (D-MT)
Warner (R-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)
Wyden (D-OR)

*NAYs —**24*
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Craig (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Martinez (R-FL)
*McCain (R-AZ)*
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)

*Not Voting – 2*
Biden (D-DE)
Kennedy (D-MA)

I watched the House vote on CSPAN (Wed) - h/t to Ed d’Amato for the list of how each Senator voted last night.

HR 2095 (which btw is the old SB294) can be browsed here on the Nat’l Assn of RR site. Peace Out – 3C

Ohio Hub/3C Corridor Moves Along With Grant To Start Work On The First Leg

Carole Cohen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:28:40 +0000

The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) received a grant of $62,500 and they consider this a positive sign that The Feds consider The Ohio Hub a valid project for Ohio’s economy and future. The grant came from the Federal Railroad Aministration. The grant is for a feasibility study with AMTRAK to “start up two round trips per day between Cleveland and Columbus and possibly to Cincinnati (which together define the “3C” corridor”).”

It sounds like the goal of the study is to figure out a short term ’round trip’ service but make sure it fits into the long term plans and strategies for the general 3C Corridor, Ohio Hub.

Good stuff. From the ORDC press release:

The awarding of the FRA grant follows the request earlier this year by Governor Ted Strickland to Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant to begin a ridership and revenue study of possible start-up service in the 3-C Corridor. The corridor is the most densely-populated in Ohio with almost 60-percent of the state’s population, but has not seen passenger rail service since 1971. You can read about the 3C Corridor Plan here.

Peace Out – 3C

Is A Perfect (Passenger Rail) Storm A Brewin’?

Carole Cohen — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:44:56 +0000

In the song Aquarius, there is a line that goes ‘when the moon is in the seventh house…and Jupiter, aligns with Mars….’ (are you sorry you can’t hear me singing?) I keep thinking about that song and wondering if we could finally have the Perfect Storm of support for improved passenger rail. In Ohio, we supposedly have a Governor who is committed to passenger rail and the Ohio Hub. I mentioned in a post a week ago that Mayor Jackson is sounding very enthusiastic about passenger rail. Now we may have a Vice President who has consistently supported legislation involving passenger rail.

Here is a Washington Post story on it by Sarah Karush. Some stats taken from the article (bold emphasis is mine):

“…A record 25.8 million passengers took Amtrak in the last fiscal year. Ridership is expected to exceed 28 million this year, spokesman Cliff Black said.

More people are boarding trains across the country and not just in the traditionally successful Northeast corridor, he said. For example, ridership between Kansas City and St. Louis increased 57 percent last month compared with July 2007. The train between Oklahoma City and Dallas saw a 40 percent boost…”

This quote from The National Journal (this past Wed) on line by Megan Scullyabout the voting records of McCain and Biden:

“John McCain has consistently not been a supporter of Amtrak,” said David Johnson, deputy director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. “His voting record in the Senate speaks for that.”

While one could assume his stance on Amtrak would follow McCain to the White House if elected, “a change of heart is always possible,” Johnson said hopefully.

Ridership in Wisconsin is at an all time high. And it’s no wonder is it, that Chicago is thriving economically all these years since they did not totally abandon their railroad systems.

This is a reprint of an article by Train Orders website on Barack Obama’s positions on passenger rail:

“…Support Amtrak Funding: Barack Obama has been a strong supporter of federal financial support for Amtrak. Obama believes we need to reform Amtrak to improve accountability. In many parts of the country, Amtrak is the only form of reliable transportation. In the U.S. Senate, Obama is a cosponsor of the Passenger Rail Investment and Innovation Act of 2007, a leading act to provide long-term federal investment to Amtrak. As president, Barack Obama will continue to fight for Amtrak funding and reform so that individuals, families and businesses throughout the country have safe and reliable transportation options.

Support Development of High-Speed Freight and Passenger Rail: Barack Obama supports development of high-speed rail networks across the country. Providing passengers with safe high-speed rail will have significant environmental and metropolitan planning advantages and help diversify our nation’s transportation
infrastructure. Our domestic rail freight capacity must also be strengthened because our demand for rail transportation has never been greater, leaving many key transportation hubs stretched to capacity. Obama is committed to renewing the federal government’s commitment to high speed rail so that our nation’s transportation infrastructure continues to support, and not hinder, our nation’s long-term economic growth…”

To be fair, neither of the presidential candidates voted on SB294 but Biden did vote nay to the ‘limit to subsidies’ portion of this legislation and McCain did not vote (this was Senate Amendment 3453).

Of course there are other issues involved in deciding who to vote for in an election and this one is no different. But you all know passenger rail is close to my heart. Now, improving and expanding passenger rail service is becoming more of a ground swell with fuel prices on the rise. Just thought it would be good to know how it fits into the scheme of things for our upcoming November 4th election. Peace Out – 3C