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Re: Does Amtrak prefer to operate on some host railroads lines as opposed to others???
Author: Mike Swanson
Date: 10-23-2007 - 11:20
Amtrak's routing is based entirely on operational needs and the desires of the states that pay for state-funded trains such as the San Joaquins (it's the state/regional agencies involved who choose these routes, not Amtrak; Amtrak merely operates these trains), plus several of its trains operate on the very same routes as when they were still operated by the railroads; Amtrak's "personal preferences" (if it has any) have nothing to do with this.
The San Joaquins have always used BNSF tracks south of Stockton and west to Port Chicago; BNSF's and UP's tracks are within 10-15 miles of each other, so there wouldn't be any real advantage or reason for switching the Sacramento or Oakland trains on the "Fresno Line" to Bakersfield (especially since that would mean building new stations and establishing new bus connections, not to mention forcing long-time commuters/riders to change their routines and angering quite a few folks who would see no reason for such a major change; needless to say, such a move would be both expensive and would cause one of the most successful "corridor" trains in the U.S. to lose ridership, which is obviously not what Amtrak or Caltrans wants).
Both the original California Zephyr (as operated by CB&Q, DRGW, and WP) and Amtrak's CZ have always run on the BNSF (ex-CB&Q) line from Chicaco to Omaha; when WP ceased operation of it's portion of the CZ, the "Q" and DRGW continued to run tri-weekly trains (California Service on the CB&Q; Rio Grande Zephyr on the DRGW with service extended from Salt Lake City to Ogden to connect with SP's City of San Francisco) on the remainder of the route. When Amtrak started service in 1971 it began running the San Francisco Zephyr over the CB&Q route from Chicago to Denver, then on UP through Wyoming to Ogden, then west on SP; DRGW opted out of Amtrak and continued to run the Rio Grande Zephyr until 1983, when the Rio Grande joined Amtrak. Amtrak then discontinued the San Francisco Zephyr and replaced it with a new California Zephyr which follows the original route from Chicago to Wells, Nevada. Amtrak simply chose to follow the original route; again, UP had nothing to do with that choice.
It also might be worth noting that Alexander Kummant, Amtrak's current president and CEO, held several VP jobs at Union Pacific and certainly isn't interested in pulling all Amtrak trains off of UP or any other railroad (which would be both expensive and pointless), particularly since Amtrak's problems with UP are due to UP's own management problems (which affected UP's own operations as much as Amtrak's) and are now being dealt with by the railroad.
Statr doing some research before you post next time, Coleman, and take your UP-bashing elsewhere.
The San Joaquins have always used BNSF tracks south of Stockton and west to Port Chicago; BNSF's and UP's tracks are within 10-15 miles of each other, so there wouldn't be any real advantage or reason for switching the Sacramento or Oakland trains on the "Fresno Line" to Bakersfield (especially since that would mean building new stations and establishing new bus connections, not to mention forcing long-time commuters/riders to change their routines and angering quite a few folks who would see no reason for such a major change; needless to say, such a move would be both expensive and would cause one of the most successful "corridor" trains in the U.S. to lose ridership, which is obviously not what Amtrak or Caltrans wants).
Both the original California Zephyr (as operated by CB&Q, DRGW, and WP) and Amtrak's CZ have always run on the BNSF (ex-CB&Q) line from Chicaco to Omaha; when WP ceased operation of it's portion of the CZ, the "Q" and DRGW continued to run tri-weekly trains (California Service on the CB&Q; Rio Grande Zephyr on the DRGW with service extended from Salt Lake City to Ogden to connect with SP's City of San Francisco) on the remainder of the route. When Amtrak started service in 1971 it began running the San Francisco Zephyr over the CB&Q route from Chicago to Denver, then on UP through Wyoming to Ogden, then west on SP; DRGW opted out of Amtrak and continued to run the Rio Grande Zephyr until 1983, when the Rio Grande joined Amtrak. Amtrak then discontinued the San Francisco Zephyr and replaced it with a new California Zephyr which follows the original route from Chicago to Wells, Nevada. Amtrak simply chose to follow the original route; again, UP had nothing to do with that choice.
It also might be worth noting that Alexander Kummant, Amtrak's current president and CEO, held several VP jobs at Union Pacific and certainly isn't interested in pulling all Amtrak trains off of UP or any other railroad (which would be both expensive and pointless), particularly since Amtrak's problems with UP are due to UP's own management problems (which affected UP's own operations as much as Amtrak's) and are now being dealt with by the railroad.
Statr doing some research before you post next time, Coleman, and take your UP-bashing elsewhere.
