NS cuts Amtrak speeds to 25 MPH, 90 minute delays expected

[Richard]

They are their tracks I believe that they are saying to take the money and build your own tracks,NS detests any passenger traffic on their rails and rightly so.

If I had a house that I bought and paid for what right would the GOV have in forcing me to accept a tenant.

Look at the amount of lobby dollars in congress in rail verses other transportation ventures and we wonder why the rail system is in the state it is in.

[jsmyers]

scott is partially incorrect

NS can cut the train speed by issuing slow orders, which are temporary speed limits. Basically every line has a table that tells the engineer and conductor how fast they are allowed to go [[among other things). Issuing a slow order is effectively pasting over the speed limits with slower ones. They do this because track inspections reveal that the tracks are no longer up to the standards required for the published speed limits

NS hasn't spent money on maintaining those tracks for some time now. And NS doesn't want to own the rail line anymore. The state of Michigan is going to purchase it and start to rehab it [[with the money mentioned earliers).

It is pretty much a forgone conclusion at this point that the line will be owned by the state and either leased over the long term to Amtrak or operated by Amtrak in the short term. NS will probably continue to be a secondary tenant [[by having trackage rights) but it will cease to be a "freight line." It isn't really a freight line now. It gets up to 8 passenger trains a day and very little freight.

[iheartthed]

They are their tracks I believe that they are saying to take the money and build your own tracks,NS detests any passenger traffic on their rails and rightly so.

If I had a house that I bought and paid for what right would the GOV have in forcing me to accept a tenant.

Look at the amount of lobby dollars in congress in rail verses other transportation ventures and we wonder why the rail system is in the state it is in.

I believe when the rail companies purchased the tracks from the government the agreement was that Amtrak would have priority. I have to go look that up again, but I think Amtrak has priority use on all tracks which it operates passenger service, whether or not the government owns it via federal law.

[drjeff]

I believe when the rail companies purchased the tracks from the government the agreement was that Amtrak would have priority. I have to go look that up again, but I think Amtrak has priority use on all tracks which it operates passenger service, whether or not the government owns it via federal law.

In my experience that is certainly not the case. The trip from Ann Arbor to Chicago usually takes at least 5 hours, usually because at some point in western Michigan the Amtrak train sits on a siding while a freight train passes.

I enjoy taking the train but currently it is far too expensive for the time it takes to get there. When it was under $50 roundtrip to go to Chicago I could deal with a delay. Now it's $75 each way- no thanks. You can fly for cheaper than that.

[iheartthed]

In my experience that is certainly not the case. The trip from Ann Arbor to Chicago usually takes at least 5 hours, usually because at some point in western Michigan the Amtrak train sits on a siding while a freight train passes.

I enjoy taking the train but currently it is far too expensive for the time it takes to get there. When it was under $50 roundtrip to go to Chicago I could deal with a delay. Now it's $75 each way- no thanks. You can fly for cheaper than that.

That's because the feds don't enforce the rule:

[[c) Preference Over Freight Transportation.— Except in an emergency, intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation provided by or for Amtrak has preference over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing unless the Board orders otherwise under this subsection. A rail carrier affected by this subsection may apply to the Board for relief. If the Board, after an opportunity for a hearing under section 553 of title 5, decides that preference for intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation materially will lessen the quality of freight transportation provided to shippers, the Board shall establish the rights of the carrier and Amtrak on reasonable terms.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/us...8----000-.html

[Hermod]

In my experience that is certainly not the case. The trip from Ann Arbor to Chicago usually takes at least 5 hours, usually because at some point in western Michigan the Amtrak train sits on a siding while a freight train passes.

I enjoy taking the train but currently it is far too expensive for the time it takes to get there. When it was under $50 roundtrip to go to Chicago I could deal with a delay. Now it's $75 each way- no thanks. You can fly for cheaper than that.

As a general rule, the railroads do give priority to the AMTRAK schedules on their lines and try to run their freights around the passenger schedules. This is only true if the AMTRAK train remains on schedule. Once the AMTRAK train gets "off schedule" then it begins to interfere with the freights that the railroad planned around the AMTRAK schedule. In those cases, the AMTRAK train becomes the dispatcher's "red-headed stepchild" and no longer has priority. AMTRAK often gets behind schedule due to their own late starts or overlong stations stops.