The Wind would restore service from SLC to Las Vegas & LA. Timing may prevent much in the way of local service near SLC. If it still has to meet the CZ, it places departure from SLC near midnite or later. Combining the Wind/Pioneer could open service from SLC to Ogden. It may save one trainset by not running east to Denver & Chicago? I understand the Senate passed bill may not be considered in the House till next year. Time to put some heat on Pelosi & others to get onboard.
New info for the trains that may be returning. Enjoy! Amtrak to study possible route through Missoula November 1 2007 - Missoulian (Missoula, MT) By KEILA SZPALLER Western Montana rail riders praised the passage Tuesday of federal legislation that directs Amtrak to study restoring the state`s southern passenger route. With a push from the Missoula City Council`s Dave Strohmaier and action from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007 tells Amtrak to look at firing up service between Chicago and Seattle, including a stop in Missoula. “There`s a lot of people very supportive and very excited about this,” said Michael Ackley, vice president of the Montana Association of Railway Passengers. “I think it`s going to be a benefit to the citizens of the whole state of Montana.” In a news release, Tester said he does not want to jeopardize existing service on the Hi-Line. The directive to study within one year the possibility of an active southern route is part of a $10.8 billion Amtrak reauthorization bill the U.S. Senate approved Tuesday. Sponsored by Tester and Sen. Max Baucus, both Montana Democrats, it sets rail service spending for the next five years. The amendment to examine reopening the “North Coast Hiawatha Route” came at the 11th hour. Last week, Ward 1 Councilman Strohmaier visited Washington, D.C., on a business trip. He met with Tester to remind the senator that the Missoula City Council had unanimously passed a resolution in support of the Amtrak reauthorization bill. “When I was sitting in his reception room waiting to meet with the senator, I noticed on the TV monitor the Senate was debating (the bill) that very day, which was just too ironic,” Strohmaier said Tuesday. He talked with Tester, who agreed to introduce an amendment asking Amtrak to consider rail service on the southern line, which served passengers until 1979. Tester`s staff rolled into action, and the amendment passed. “It just worked out perfectly that we were able to meet and chat about this, and just under the wire get his amendment in,” Strohmaier said. Amtrak covers the cost of the study, as it does with other similar analysis, said Aaron Murphy, press secretary for Tester. The company regularly reviews its routes, but the amendment directs it to study this particular one. “I would be delighted to see it,” said Kirk Thompson of Stevensville. “I just finished an Amtrak trip and I had to go to Whitefish to get on the train. If we had a route through Missoula, obviously I would be going to Missoula.” Thompson, who belongs to the National Association of Railway Passengers, said he ran into many people on the train who had to go all the way to Whitefish - and who would prefer to board in Missoula. According to a news release from Tester `s office, the Empire Builder is Amtrak`s most popular overnight train, and ridership went up 1.6 percent in one year. That`s more than 500,000 people riding during the last fiscal year, according to the release. A committee will reconcile the bill with a corresponding one from the U.S. House of Representatives, and Strohmaier said he hopes the final product retains all the elements important to Montana Amtrak bill clears Senate, includes plan to study Idaho route November 1 2007 - Associated Press, via Idaho Statesman, Boise, ID The Associated Press A bill to boost Amtrak funding cleared the United States Senate Tuesday, with an amendment to consider returning passenger train service to southern Idaho. The $11.4 billion bill will keep the national passenger railway running across America over the next six years. It includes an amendment from Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo requiring Amtrak to study reinstating all or parts of the Pioneer route. It had connected Boise, Shoshone and Pocatello with Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland before it was abandoned in 1997 after it lost $20 million. Last week, Amtrak`s president Alex Kummert gave Idaho assurances that if the bill passed, he would study the feasibility of the route today. It still must pass the House.
I rode the Pioneer as the "Zephyr" spin-off to Portland and Seattle the year it was discontinued. I wanted to add it to my route miles while I could. Hey, I'm a true Santa Fe fan, and nothing is going to change that. But I'll admit that the "Pioneer" route just stunned me. The Denver-Ogden run segment was at night, and the 'poor man's dome' of a lead window in a Superliner sleeper (looking over top of a low MHC at night) was just gorgeous - strobes flashing through tunnels and cuts, the kids WOULD NOT go to bed, just tranfixed taking turns at the window. Next day, going up the Blue Mountains - nobody had told me how beautiful it was. Yeah, we got stabbed by UP and had to back down the hill. Yeah, we were late. But every bit as spectacular as the Sierras. And running alongside the Columbia? Man alive, what a trip. Crossing it at Portland, then a night run up Puget Sound from Tacoma to Seattle? Magic. Pure magic. The other thing the Pioneer had was the oddball smoking policy. Every couple hours, an extended 10-minute stop for the smokers to get off. So the railfans like me could jump off, look at the depots, or run up front for a posed photo and jump back on. Wonderful. I've travelled trains since I was 8 years old and that trip, with my own 3 sons, was my favorite, and that includes a lot of Santa Fe miles in there. I think a lot of success with the train will be schedule related. If they can do the Blue Mountains and the Columbia in daylight again, I'd about knock myself out to do that route over the "Builder", having done both.
It's been a while since I discussed this with any railroad types. With regard to the L.A. to Las Vegas portion of the route. UP wanted to put in some additional sidings to accomodate freight traffic and allow the Desert Wind passage over it's rails. Plans were made and at first everything seemed to be a GO. The EV's and Tree Huggers heard about it and started the usual threats of litigation. UP simply backed off into a unresolvable stale mate. Since then, Environmentalist have changed their attitude toward trains and see it as a viable solution to increased car and truck traffic and the smog they create. Hopefully, UP and the EV's can sit down and work out a plan that benefits both sides. Don't give up. Times they are a changing.
New info about the Pioneer. Could Amtrak service through southern Idaho return? January 28 2008 - Associated Press Could Amtrak service through southern Idaho return? THE ASSOCIATED PRESS POCATELLO, Idaho -- The stars may be aligning for a return of the Amtrak Pioneer passenger train to make a comeback in Idaho, politicians and an Amtrak official say. The Pioneer route between Salt Lake City and Seattle was discontinued in 1997 after losing $20 million the previous year. Although Amtrak has never returned a discontinued route to service, Don Saunders, Amtrak`s vice president for state and commuter partnerships, said passenger rail expansion is more likely now than it has been during his 20-year career. Legislation will soon be presented in the U.S. House of Representatives to bring back the Pioneer, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, told the Idaho State Journal. Simpson said the House version calls for continuation of the route, rather than to simply study the route that was contained in a version approved by the U.S. Senate last year. ``I`d like to do more than just the study,`` Simpson said. ``I`m optimistic we can move this along and one day, hopefully not far from now, we can get the Pioneer route back.`` Under the Senate version, Amtrak would receive $11.4 billion over the next six years. The House version might involve a different dollar figure and require the resurrection the Pioneer and other routes Amtrak has eliminated through the years, Simpson said. Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant has voiced strong support for the Pioneer feasibility study. Legislation to bring the Pioneer back could be completed this year, Simpson said. Amtrak started the Pioneer in 1977, about six years after Union Pacific got out of the passenger rail business. Simpson said Congress has changed its mind about requiring Amtrak pay for itself as the cost of gasoline continues to rise and airline ticket prices soar. ``The Pioneer went away because the ridership didn`t measure up to the cost to do it,`` Simpson said. ``But that was back when gas was a buck a gallon. I`d think that now you`d see an increased use of the Pioneer from when it was there last.`` Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said he would prefer legislation to bring back the Pioneer, rather than a feasibility study of the route. ``If the House can succeed in including language that directs a reopening of the line, it`s a much preferable solution and I`m very supportive of that,`` Crapo agreed the climate toward passenger rail is different than in the 1990s, when Congress put funding restrictions on Amtrak, resulting in the rail service cutting the Pioneer and other routes. Retiring U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, U.S. Rep. Bill Sali and Gov. C.L. ``Butch`` Otter do not want to bring the Pioneer back without a feasibility study. Otter might be the toughest sell. The governor`s position on mass transit is that it needs to pay for itself, Otter spokesman Jon Hanian said. Saunders said if Congress passes legislation to bring back the Pioneer, the passenger service could return in the next three to five years. It could take three years just to get the engines and passenger cars needed for the route, he said. ``We don`t have the cars for the Pioneer service. We don`t have any extra equipment left,`` Saunders said. ``Our equipment demand is at full capacity.`` Restarting the Pioneer would involve examining the old route and possibly making changes to it, he said. It would take a cooperative effort from the federal government, communities and states along the Pioneer route, Amtrak and Union Pacific, Saunders said. And it would likely require state funding, as well as federal dollars, he said. Saunders said Amtrak is interested in the Pioneer because of the two corridors that make up the route Salt Lake City to Boise, and Nampa to Portland, Ore. Amtrak believes there`s enough growth potential along both corridors to warrant further study, he said. Passenger rail is a more energy efficient form of travel than automobile or airliner, Saunders said. Coupled with congestion on U.S. hi ghways and the inconvenience of air travel, it is the right time to push for new passenger rail routes, Saunders said. Among the others who feel the time is right for the Pioneer`s return are Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, a GOP candidate for the Senate seat Craig will vacate when he retires. Risch said bringing the Pioneer back is a great idea that most Idahoans would support. McCall Democrat Larry LaRocco, Risch`s opponent in the Senate race, also wants the Pioneer to make a comeback
