Some states begin restoring Amtrak corridor frequencies; others continue planning (updated)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Anticipating rail travel demand comes with dual challenges: incur costs running trains with initial low patronage, or risk not providing enough options to build revenue and transportation relevance.

Amtrak will begin restoring daily departures for its long-distance trains in late May, after receiving directives and $1.7 billion from Congress [see “As Amtrak restores daily long-distance service, best prices are on ‘new’ dates,” Trains News Wire, March 11, 2021].

State-supported regional operations, however, can remain an inscrutable patchwork of limited service to the traveling public, with no published schedules or any hint when additional round trips might be restored from the sharply reduced levels resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are exceptions. Trains News Wire discussions with regional operating authorities and state departments of transportation reveal plans are being developed to restore service. Firm decisions await vetting with host railroads and Amtrak, should crew requalification be required, before they can be formally announced and displayed in the reservation system. Here are regional overviews, with information on where things stand this week in the table below.

West

Beginning Monday, March 29, One Capitol Corridor round-trip is being extended from Oakland to San Jose as part of an extensive reshuffling of departure times based on the way customers now use the trains.

“We’re about at 15% of where we were in February 2020,” Capitol Corridor Managing Director Rob Padgette says, “but we are looking to have a more robust service by September. We’ve seen more demand spread throughout the day, and this has allowed us to improve the efficiency of how we use our equipment by (temporarily) going from seven to six consists. We’re then going to see where people are riding after the schedule change to determine where we add back the seventh consist.” Pagette expects an eighth trainset will be added later.

The extended round trip to San Jose now originates in Auburn, Calif., because there appear to be increasing numbers of “super commuters” who ride 80 miles or more to their jobs. Capitol Corridor ridership trends during the pandemic reveal that if people are less likely to travel every day, more will opt for less-costly housing further away from the Silicon Valley.

Elsewhere in California, the San Joaquin Corridor has been running with four of five Bakersfield-Oakland round trips and expects to add the fifth one in the fall, but the two round trips to Sacramento aren’t scheduled to return “potentially” in early 2021, according to Brian Schmidt, the joint powers authority’s director of equipment services. He adds, “These plans are contingent on a stable, ridership-positive environment, and we are prepared to work with Amtrak to be as nimble as possible throughout the service restoration process.”

The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency’s Manager of Programs, James Campbell, tells Trains News Wire, “We are looking to restore one Pacific Surfliner round trip between San Diego and Goleta, Calif., this July or August; an exact date will depend on budget availability, which we should know more on in early April.”

The three California corridors will be hosting a virtual “Passenger Rail Leadership Roundtable” event this evening (March 25), featuring discussions and presentations by Managing Directors Padgette (Capitol Corridor), Stacey Mortenson (San Joaquins), and Donna DeMartino (Pacific Surfliners). Registration is available here. The event is free.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Amtrak Cascades corridor has been operating with one Seattle-Eugene, Ore., round trip since last March. The Washington State Department of Transportation is targeting mid-May to add two more round trips between Portland, Ore., and Seattle, “with hopes of one continuing on to Eugene,” according to spokeswoman Janet Matkin. Trains News Wire will cover restoration plans in more detail once schedules are finalized.

Midwest

Though yet to be announced, full Hiawatha corridor restoration to seven round trips is set to occur on May 23, accompanied by an extensive advertising push and social media activity, says Wisconsin Rail Division chief Arun Rao. Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri plans are still indefinite.

For Illinois Service, “We anticipate resuming full service no earlier that mid-July; the final decision on that timeframe will be made in April, approximately 12 weeks prior to resumption of service,” Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Speegle tells Trains News Wire. “Among the factors used to determine this are increasing ridership and revenue trends, anticipated costs, and the level of federal support.”

The same decision factors are in play for Michigan’s Wolverine Corridor, according to MDOT Rail Director Peter Anastor, but he says, “I don’t know yet whether that would be back to two round trips or three. The CARES Act and the second stimulus bill helped fill the gap caused by fixed costs that stay the same whether you have 10 or 100 riders.” The state kept the Chicago-Port Huron, Mich., Blue Water running throughout the pandemic and restored the Chicago-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette last summer after a several-month hiatus. New Venture coaches are expected to make their Midwest debut on one of the Wolverines this spring.

Whether the second St. Louis-Kansas City, Mo., Missouri River Runner is restored will depend on budget negotiations which aren’t yet finalized [see “Digest: New MBTA subway cars have derailed six times …,” News Wire, March 24, 2021].

East

On April 5, a fourth round trip returns to North Carolina’s Raleigh-Charlotte Piedmont Corridor, the first multi-frequency state corridor to be fully restored. The state took an incremental approach when adding service, with the second and third round trips coming back last August and December, respectively. Trains News Wire will focus on the mechanics of the restoration and promotional plans in a subsequent interview with Rail Director Jason Orthner.

In Maine, the Downeaster will add another round trip sometime in May after schedule adjustments are worked out with Amtrak and Pan Am Railways, says Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority Executive Director Patricia Quinn.

“The schedule is a little different, though. Instead of just plugging two midday trains back into their old slots, we’re adding a 10:30 a.m. departure from Brunswick, which will turn as a 3:00 p.m. departure from Boston,” she says. “Given the change in commute patterns, we decided to try something different, assuming we won’t need two trains leaving Boston for the evening rush hour, but the additional round-trip means we will again have a flex schedule for the late-night train from Boston to accommodate sports fans and concert goers.” Quinn adds that weekday and weekend schedules will now be identical, “so we remain as consistent as possible in these ever-changing times.”
Elsewhere, New York state’s plans for the Empire Corridor are indefinite, with the continued Canadian border closure keeping the Maple Leaf to Toronto and Adirondack to Montreal sidelined. And the Vermont Agency for Transportation did not respond to inquires about when the Ethan Allen or Vermonter might return, though observers have recently spotted crew qualification runs on one of the routes.

These websites for state-supported services offer schedules:
— Capitol Corridor

— San Joaquin

— Pacific Surfliner

— Hiawatha

— Downeaster

— Piedmont

— Updated March 25 at 6:15 p.m. CDT to reflect new date for restoration of Hiawatha service in story and table, correct spelling of name Padgette.