Chicago's Auto Train and Madison's downtown station

The Tribune discusses the benefits enjoyed by the increasing number of riders on Amtrak's Auto Train between Lorton, VA and Sanford, FL (near Orlando). The Midwest is being factored into expansion plans for the unique service. According to Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero, "We would love to go east to west and also head from Florida to Chicago."

Future routes are examined on the basis of vacation and retiree markets, according to the Auto Train's operations supervisor, Larry Vollten. Besides Florida to Chicago, Chicago to Arizona and Chicago to Texas are being considered. Routes like these will only move closer to realization as more and more passengers, and in this case motorists, shift to Amtrak.

Vollten went on to say, "The fascinating thing about this crowd is that we did a feasibility study in Chicago and it found there is the same clientele in Chicago as there is in the Northeast United States."


Meanwhile, The Wisconsin State Journal mentions the progress that is being made to bring the city's HSR station closer to downtown. Alderman Mike Verveer, District 4, says it best,“From my perspective, the closer we can get Amtrak to downtown and the campus, the better."

Amtrak has also committed to servicing La Crosse, WI regardless of La Crosse's inclusion or exclusion on the HSR route between Milwaukee and Madison.

Charlie Crist wishes a Merry Christmas with HSR

 

U.S. Rep (Florida) John Mica has stated that the finalists for the HSR stimulus funding has been narrowed down to Chicago, Texas, California and Florida. The announcement is expected to be made in late January or early February of 2010.

Fresh Squeezed Rail in 2012

Big news out of Florida late Tuesday (12/8/09) is the State Legislature's final approval to the SunRail train that will serve Central Florida passengers beginning in 2012.

Thanks to the Tribune for the news.

Florida rising

In the race for a slice of the $8 Billion HSR pie, Florida is doing it's best to get a seat at the table. The Palm Beach Post has a good piece highlighting the benefit of passenger rail for the state as, "The synergy and relationships that can be established between universities and hospitals and biotech clusters are more successful when you don't have one- or two-hour delays."

This comes on the heels of Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsing State Senate President Jeff Atwater’s proposal to call a special session to fund commuter rail projects.

France's SNCF hopes to run high speed rail in US

Via Google News - the potential of high speed rail isn't lost on the companies who provide it:

France's SNCF hopes to run high speed rail in US

"The United States is ready for a truly high-speed rail system and France's national railway SNCF would be 'very interested' in operating a network, a senior executive said Thursday.

'We strongly believe that in this country, in some of the corridors, the system should logically be profitable,' SNCF International chairman Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said in an interview on the sidelines of a rail conference in Indiana.

While detailed market analysis still needs to be undertaken, Loubinoux said the French experience has shown that high-speed rail operates most effectively between large cities that are around 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers (600 to 930 miles) apart.

These conditions exist in the east coast, California, the midwest, Texas and Florida.

'You could have more than just a corridor. You could have a system,' he told AFP.

'If the possibility (of operating a network) is open we certainly would consider it with great interest.'"