Amtrak News/Updates

[Plutonic Panda]

I am usually very lucky with not having too many problems with the popo given how fast I usually drive on interstate and I mean I drive extremely fast but in the Texas panhandle I have horrible luck. Everywhere else I’m usually good. It’s bizarre.

[catch22]

I am usually very lucky with not having too many problems with the popo given how fast I usually drive on interstate and I mean I drive extremely fast but in the Texas panhandle I have horrible luck. Everywhere else I’m usually good. It’s bizarre.

I'm pretty good. I usually only get tickets in Oklahoma. If you're in Colorado and see a sign that says "Traffic laws enforced by aircraft" it is not an empty-threat to get you to slow down. They are doing aggressive airplane patrols. Ask me how I know this.

[Plutonic Panda]

I always wondered about enforced by aircraft. In California is seems to be more or less an invitation to drive with no worries as I have noticed most of the time CHP has virtually no presence in these areas.

[Snowman]

I always wondered about enforced by aircraft. In California is seems to be more or less an invitation to drive with no worries as I have noticed most of the time CHP has virtually no presence in these areas.

I used to find it odd that these tended to be on older highways but not seen as much on newer ones, till I learned more about general aviation history and present. Most of the signs seem to have went up decades ago when flying was much more economical, both from cost of purchasing and operating aircraft, and from their being large pool of post war pilots available to be hired. That environment had shifted since the rise of fuel costs and the aircraft manufactures almost abandoning the owner/operator section of general aviation in the eighties due to liability. Cheap drones that automate most of the piloting out might actually bring this full circle to that being viable again, but for the last few decades it would be more viable to just spend several times as much on cars or do the monitoring via cameras.

[catch22]

I used to find it odd that these tended to be on older highways but not seen as much on newer ones, till I learned more about general aviation history and present. Most of the signs seem to have went up decades ago when flying was much more economical, both from cost of purchasing and operating aircraft, and from their being large pool of post war pilots available to be hired. That environment had shifted since the rise of fuel costs and the aircraft manufactures almost abandoning the owner/operator section of general aviation in the eighties due to liability. Cheap drones that automate most of the piloting out might actually bring this full circle to that being viable again, but for the last few decades it would be more viable to just spend several times as much on cars or do the monitoring via cameras.

The Colorado State Police (Highway patrol) does regular patrols of I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs. In fact they just took off a few mins ago. I have noticed they usually work this area most weekdays between 9am and 11am. Return for lunch and to fill up, and then do a sweep over C-470 in the early afternoon.

https://www.flightradar24.com/C82S/26f9298a

[Snowman]

Agree. But would be very expensive. If OK could extend NW expressway from Okarche to connect into Hwy 3 to Watonga that would be a good start, as a lot of the state highways from there are divided 4 lane, but with at grade crossings. Get pretty good speeds through there without the price of a limited access road. Going off of the DrivingOklahoma cost to build the eastern OK county turnpike, it was $300 million for 21 miles. We'll say 15 million a mile for about $420 million to do Okarche to Watonga.

This would be a several hundred billion dollar were it to be an interstate. I don't think we can expect it anytime soon

Using 270 all the way to 40 seems a better base to start from, it is already a four lane divided highway with break down lanes most of it's route, it looks like most signs/signals are giving it a level of priority and having shifted people to i40 would be more useful to east/west access. Plus cost of the length of extension to NW eapressway you showed from Okarche to Watonga would be around enough to construct a junction with i40 and bypasses for every city from OKC to the Oklahoma border on 270 & 412, which at that point with the level of signal prioritization it has means you would not have to stop the entire way.

[shawnw]

Surprised you haven't advocated for a new interstate between OKC and Denver, Plu.

[PhiAlpha]

Going I-40 west, then north through Amarillo, Dalhart, Des Moines, to Raton is the best way. Seems to drag ass a lot less.

This 1000x. I'll take that route or the NW Passage through Guymon, Boise City, & Clayton anytime I make that drive. I've even taken I-40, exited in Clinton and gone through Canadian, Spearman, Stratford then to Boise City up through Kansas or to Dalhart, Clayton and connect to I-25 in Raton and other routes to mix it up. I can't stand I-70 through Kansas.

[hipsterdoofus]

I've traveled by AmTrak from Kansas City to MA via Chicago, and there are definitely a lot of challenges to fix how it runs already before adding new service. For one thing, I believe a lot of the tracks are owned by the freight companies and if you are in a passenger train, you sometimes have to just sit and wait for the freight train traffic to clear. This makes it challenging, at least on some routes, to get where you are going on a schedule (I witnessed this more between Chicago and MA). Also, in my experience, the customer service wasn't that great, the bathrooms were disgusting. Just a lot of things that needed to to be corrected if you want to draw enough traffic to justify building more infrastructure.

Now with that being said, I wouldn't take back the experience in a second. I love road trips, and this was like taking a road trip without having to worry about watching the road, so there's definitely some plusses.

[rte66man]

Agree. But would be very expensive. If OK could extend NW expressway from Okarche to connect into Hwy 3 to Watonga that would be a good start, as a lot of the state highways from there are divided 4 lane, but with at grade crossings. Get pretty good speeds through there without the price of a limited access road. Going off of the DrivingOklahoma cost to build the eastern OK county turnpike, it was $300 million for 21 miles. We'll say 15 million a mile for about $420 million to do Okarche to Watonga.

This would be a several hundred billion dollar were it to be an interstate. I don't think we can expect it anytime soon

It was proposed as part of a massive toll roads package in the late 90's. It would have run more or less where you were indicating. Title 69-1705:

(15) A turnpike or any part or parts thereof beginning in the vicinity of Watonga and extending south and/or east to the vicinity of north and/or west Oklahoma City.

Needless to say it was squashed along with the others in that section as being wildly unprofitable. Would have been yet another drain on the Turner and Will Rogers cash cows.

[SEMIweather]

This isn't a bad OKC/Denver route, but I also appreciate the nothingness of the Plains. Put on some good folk music and you're golden. https://goo.gl/maps/w3qhDsWc6D6Aetw8A

[mugofbeer]

I don't think they need a toll road but continuing the diagonal from Okarche to near Watonga and then some sort of faster way around Woodward and Guymon would be a huge help.

[Plutonic Panda]

Amtrak has proposed a massive overhaul and expansion which is very exciting! As you can see there is new Oklahoma service proposed which I'll post about in the Oklahoma Passenger Rail thread.



https://www.businessinsider.com/map-...re-plan-2021-4

[Rover]

Looks like a minor addition of La Junta to Pueblo would open up DFW, Austin, Houston, OKC, Wichita, Kansas City and St Louis to a route to Denver, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Low cost, high impact.

[runOKC]

Looks like a minor addition of La Junta to Pueblo would open up DFW, Austin, Houston, OKC, Wichita, Kansas City and St Louis to a route to Denver, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Low cost, high impact.

First thing I noticed looking at the map.

[David]

Interesting that Amtrak has existing routes that cover Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. I wonder how much of the Canadian population that manages to hit, I suspect it's a fairly big percentage.

[AMinEdmond]

What exactly does the "overhaul" mean? I've always wished for the day that there would be a bullet train from OKC to DFW, heck at this point I would take just a non-stop service from OKC to DFW. Also, OKC to Tulsa would be nice,

[Jersey Boss]

Interesting that Amtrak has existing routes that cover Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. I wonder how much of the Canadian population that manages to hit, I suspect it's a fairly big percentage.

I would think a good % of the riders to those cities are American tourists.
The fares are very competive. NYC to Montreal. $70.00

[shawnw]

I was planning to do the NYC to Montreal thing last fall but pandemic.

[Jersey Boss]

^ My wife and I had been planning the same. I'm not counting on this year quite yet. Travel restrictions are still in place.

[BoulderSooner]

Looks like a minor addition of La Junta to Pueblo would open up DFW, Austin, Houston, OKC, Wichita, Kansas City and St Louis to a route to Denver, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Low cost, high impact.

60 miles ..

[AnguisHerba]

If the goal of this is to reduce travel by car and plane, I think it makes more sense for Amtrak to focus on high speed regional routes instead of trying to connect the whole country.

[shawnw]

"Enhanced" service may mean more frequency

https://www.kten.com/story/43590782/...homa-and-texas

[Plutonic Panda]

"Enhanced" service may mean more frequency

https://www.kten.com/story/43590782/...homa-and-texas

I would like more double tracking and perhaps some improvements to the section through the Arbuckle Mountains as well.

[Brett]

I've never traveled by train but below is a good YouTube video that explains Amtrak routes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anKNW1YHBoU