Roadside Wire
Commuting via Amtrak in Oregon
- Published on Thursday, 08 March 2012 14:08
The Portland Oregonian filed this video showing some of the advantages of commuting via Amtrak. Wifi, local beers, space to spread out, and productive time make train travel an attractive alternative to a harried highway commute.
Portsmouth, New Hampsire wants in on passenger rail
- Published on Tuesday, 06 March 2012 13:34
This kind of development represents a much more palatable and doable alternative to all the “high-speed” rail hysteria that has gripped too many transit proponents. We have plenty of idle infrastructure out there that when properly upgraded, can provide convenient and efficient intercity travel. The success of Amtrak’s Downeaster has proven that people will return to trains providing that they offer clean, frequent, and reasonably-priced service. This is success breeding success.
Portsmouth Area Residents Want Boston Passenger Rail Service
NH Department of Transportation officials do not have that included in their proposed NH State Rail Plan.
By Robert Cook
Portsmouth area residents urged NH Department of Transportation officials to restore a Portsmouth to Boston passenger rail service the city once had 50 years ago.
More than 50 Portsmouth area residents came to City Hall to give the state agency their feedback on the NH State Rail Plan’s recommendations, which do not include the restoration of the Portsmouth to Boston rail service.
Ride Trains: Fall River rides rail for dinner
- Published on Monday, 27 February 2012 16:45
Baby steps on the way to restoring inter-city passenger service in New England starts with a good meal.
Passenger train will roll into Fall River for first time since 1967
By Grant Welker
A passenger rail line will roll into the city in April for what may be the first time in decades, adding to plans for an unrelated dinner car service in Fall River that were announced last year.
Called the “Fall River Extra,” the April 21 run into the city has been in the works for a few years. Last September, Cape Rail, the company with freight easements on the state-owned tracks to Fall River and New Bedford, said it would run dinner cars along the city’s riverfront.
“It took a long time to get all the pieces to come together,” said David Brown, the president of the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, an Andover-based nonprofit that is running the Fall River Extra. It will be the first public passenger train to Fall River since 1967, the group says.
Sometimes not-so-high-speed is plenty fast enough
- Published on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 21:34
Despite my preference for train travel, you cannot count me as a huge fan of President Obama’s high speed rail initiative — at least the one that promises 150 mile per hour maglev-like trains that will take a generation to build and cost billions of dollars. I find myself more in line with what James Howard Kunstler advocates, which would simply resurrect, restore, and upgrade existing infrastructure to bring more trains to more places. Railroad mileage peaked in this country at just over 254,000 miles in 1912, with much of it carrying passengers. In 1950, we still had nearly 150,000 miles of track that carried passengers. In contrast, at the birth of Amtrak in 1971, the United States passenger rail system extended a mere 21,000 miles. In light of this, I see Amtrak’s modest improves such as this on in Michigan as real progress.
Amtrak marks 110-mph service to Michigan, plans more high-speed improvements
Yesterday, an Amtrak train tested a recently federally approved maximum speed of 110 mph along a route from Chicago through Indiana to Kalamazoo, Mich., and back, marking the first expansion of high-speed rail outside of the Northeast Corridor.
Federal approval of higher speeds along the route was announced last week. The speed is the highest allowed by Amtrak trains west of Pennsylvania and New York, Amtrak officials said in a prepared statement.
The test “sets the stage for expansion of accelerated service from Kalamazoo to Dearborn by 2015, helping us meet the demands of the next generation of travelers,” said Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Director Kirk Steudle, who noted the state is in the late stages of completing the purchase of the track segment from Norfolk Southern Railway. Joining Steudle on the train were local, state, Amtrak and federal officials, including Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo.
Downeaster expansion nearly complete
- Published on Friday, 10 February 2012 12:37
After riding the Downeaster in 2004, Mrs. Roadside and I became big fans of the service. Apparently a lot of other people did as well. In fact, I don’t remember arriving in Portland feeling more relaxed. Now, if they could just establish that connection between Boston’s North and South Stations…
Amtrak comes to town, due in November
By Natalie Clark
Over two and a half years since the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority began expanding Amtrak’s Downeastern route from Portland to Brunswick, the tracks will finally reach the College this November.
In an email to the Bowdoin Orient, onsite project manager Mike Lyne wrote that he is confident that construction of the platforms in Freeport and Brunswick are not far from completion.
The expansion of the Downeastern will connect Brunswick with Portland, Boston and New York on one train line.