MARSHALL, Texas — A wide variety of state and local officials, as well as current and former representatives of Amtrak and its host railroads, assembled last week to honor two people in large part responsible for keeping alive a proposed extension of Amtrak’s Crescent between Meridian, Miss., and Fort Worth, Texas.
Retired Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson — no relation to the former Amtrak CEO — and his wife Christina are stepping back from their roles as activists promoting the train’s mobility and economic-development potential. The heavy lifting to advance the project is being assumed by Amtrak, which recently submitted applications for two Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act grants: the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail and Corridor Identification and Development programs [see “Amtrak seeks expansion of Crescent section …,” Trains News Wire, March 10, 2023].
The “Distinguished Service” awards presented to the Andersons by Amtrak’s Marc Magliari read, “In honor and gratitude for your strategic and effective leadership of collaborative and multi-state endeavors since 2007 to establish a direct long-distance rail passenger connection between Dallas/Fort Worth and the Eastern Seaboard. We further salute your selfless hand-off of this thriving baton to Amtrak for the railroad’s authority and jurisdiction in the next steps.” The awards were signed “Thank you!” by Amtrak President and CEO Stephen Gardner.
Southern Rail Commission Chairman Knox Ross said the Andersons were among the individuals and groups “keeping the flame alive until the right set of facts and circumstances came together.”
Those conditions include the recent federal funding opportunities; Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s willingness to host service between Shreveport, La., and Meridian, Miss., when previous Kansas City Southern management was not; and interest expressed by communities and elected officials in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Southern Rail Commission has partnered with Amtrak in the effort.
Grass-roots connections
The Andersons’ grass-roots cultivation of government councils from Fort Worth to East Texas was instrumental in getting former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to help obtain a $740,000 federal grant for a 2015 feasibility study. It projected a Crescent extension to Dallas-Fort Worth would generate enough income to offset operating costs. The I-20 Corridor Council sponsored a 2017 capacity study, in conjunction with the Texas Transportation Institute and counterparts in Louisiana and Mississippi, estimated passenger service would require about $82 million to mitigate freight interference [see “Meeting explores prospects for passenger route …,” News Wire, Nov. 4, 2022].
Although those estimates will certainly be updated with new analyses, they potentially give the Crescent extension a competitive advantage for possible funding.
When Christina Anderson recently attended one a Federal Railroad Administration regional long-distance service study session, Administrator Amit Bose told her, “‘The I-20 Corridor is in a position of readiness.’ That comes from 16 years of everyone — not just Richard and me — to express their enthusiasm and letters of support,” she says.
Along with the state transportation officials, mayors, county judges, and economic development directors who were on hand were officials from the Atlanta area’s I-75 Corridor Coalition and Dallas-Fort Worth’s North Central Council of Governments — evidence of engagement from the proposed route’s most populous metropolitan areas.
Texas Eagle group’s efforts noted
Also present was former Marshall Mayor Audrey Kariel, part of a group of local civic officials who helped save the Texas Eagle in 1997. Magliari pointed out that those grass-roots efforts kept the Eagle alive at the same time the Pioneer and Desert Wind were discontinued in a funding cutback.
“You never had a last train, so now we can talk about going to the lovely Marshall depot, where I’ve been offered office space in that caboose, and see trains in two directions. That is now within reach,” Magliari said to applause.
Tom Mulligan, Union Pacific’s now-retired Amtrak liaison, reconnected with Kariel. His previous counterpart at BNSF Railway also was involved with the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization, the group created locally after the Eagle’s 1997 near-cancellation.
But former Assistant VP of Passenger Operations, D. J. Mitchell, isn’t ready to sit on the sidelines just yet. He tells Trains News Wire, “I’ve been asked by Amtrak to get involved in this project — it has merit and a story attached to it that I can just feel. There’s a nuts-and-bolts thing about how you run the trains, how you protect the freight interests — they are just as real as how you get the money.” Amtrak realizes Mitchell’s expertise can help when the subject of capacity improvements on UP and CPKC come up.
A new rail passenger route faces challenges including recalcitrant host railroads, indifferent or ideologically opposed politicians, lack of funding, and operator disinterest. Such obstacles are neutralized, though, as Mitchell told the group, with the Andersons’ “tenacity, leadership, and teamwork. That’s how you get things done.”
Thought of a better option than splitting the Crescent and extending it to Dallas/Fort Worth. Why not extend the Carolinian from Charlotte to Dallas/Fort Worth. It would make for better Arrive and Depart times from DFW. Also would give Birmingham and Atlanta a second train (though Atlanta in middle of the night). Also slightly alter departure times by an hour or hour and a half. Would allow departure from Fort Worth at 6;15 or 6:30 and allow arrival in Fort worth about 10:00 to 10:30 if train is on time.
I love the idea. But is no one mentioning the fact that Amtrak management seems to be trying their best to make the Texas Eagle as undesirable as possible? They haven’t brought back traditional dining despite having the power to hire staff and despite the fact that the Texas Eagle makes for part of the western long haul network. The sightseer lounge car, taken off during the pandemic, has still not been returned all while a bunch of lounges as well as sleeping cars, dining cars, and coaches remain parked at the Beech Grove shop thanks to management continuing to fail at prioritizing the return of it’s long haul rolling stock into the long haul network. Why is Amtrak talking the possibility of an expanded long haul network when it won’t offer the right product on some existing lines, the Texas Eagle being the perfect example.
Mr. Johnson: The answer to your question is that Amtrak’s top management isn’t serious about this initiative. They are just trying to make people believe they are.
I wonder where the extra equipment will come from, and who will want to ride. The Crescent travels the 200 miles between Meridian and New Orleans in approx. 4.5 hours. It’s 495 miles from Meridian to Dallas and 525 miles to Fort Worth. At the average speed of the Crescent it’s over 11 hours to Dallas and nearly 12 hours to Fort Worth. Southbound the Crescent stops in Meridian around 4:15 PM. Unless the Crescent schedule changes significantly who wants to arrive in Dallas at 3:30 AM or Fort Worth at 4:15 AM? Northbound isn’t any better, the Crescent arrives at Meridian around 1:30 PM, so who is getting on the train in Fort Worth at 1:30 AM or Dallas at 2:15 AM? Will Amtrak have extra sleepers and food service cars available to makeup the DFW section, or divert one of the sleepers and the dining car or cafe/lounge to DFW, or will it be a coach only section to DFW? I understand at this point details are in short supply, but the devil is in the details.
And how much did those Rock Island trustees net from driving a hard bargain with the Santa Fe ? How much the world has suffered by the terrible combination of greed and stupidity.
I would like to see the numbers to back up the statement that extending the Crescent to DFW would generate enough income to cover the operating costs. In FY22 the Crescent had a fully allocated loss of $37.8 million.
Fully allocated costs?? A red herring. Read the arguments. Add another route and fully allocated for all routes go down. Now above rail costs is what needs to be divulged.
When I started as a KCS train dispatcher in 1995 the line from Meridian to Shreveport had just been purchased by KCS. It was low speed dark territory. With financial assistance from Norfolk Southern, KCS rebuilt the track and installed CTC. The recent CSX interchange agreement will mean more traffic coming onto the line at Meridian. CPKC will undoubtedly be looking at making some capacity improvements. Perhaps some federal money could become available if CPKC agrees to cooperate with Amtrak on an extension of the Crescent to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Do not forget it will probably be UP westward from SHE. KCS route to Wylie is a very inferior route as no NS investment.
Yes. I was assuming a UP routing west of Shreveport was a given.
Yes Charles, many lines should not have been ripped up. SOME of it was understandable at the time but not all of it. Even those that survived and were downgraded are still treated like redheaded stepchildren. Best example is the former Pennsy from Chicago to Pittsburgh. NS has downgraded it even more over the portion it controls. The Cleveland Line from Alliance to Conway continues to suffer from proper maintenance. Would have been an excellent reroute around the E. Palestine mess if it was maintained to a higher standard.
It all boils down to squeezing more traffic on fewer lines with little or no options available when problems occur.
Some years ago there was an article in TRAINS MAG listing the lines that shouldn’t have been aadoned. Obviously the north end of the SAL/ SCL/ CSX “S” Line south from Richmond. Also listed, less obvious, was the Rock Island line east from Oklahoma, across Arkansas into Memphis.
If this Rock Island segment had been kept and upgraded, maybe not all that traffic would be crammed into the Meridian route via Vicksburg.
The RI’s Sunbelt Line was a hidden gem. Interestingly, the railroad started to upgrade portions of it post-bankruptcy in one of the very few (IMO) smart and prescient moves of the Ingram administration. Those of us in Illinois wondered why the road was laying ties and precious welded rail “down there” instead of the Illinois Division. Ingram and crew saw the migration of business to the Sunbelt and determined that all those goods would need a way to travel between east and west coast ports. The line was perfectly situated for this. When the railroad went into liquidation, the Santa Fe was extremely interested in buying it. Unfortunately, the trustee wanted too much money and wouldn’t back down. Now, only segments remain.
Congratulations and thanks Mr.and Mrs. Anderson for promoting passenger rail. Hopefully the route will be up and running in the not to distant future. Now that the Meridian to Montgomery line is to be upgraded by CSX maybe one day the route could be extended to Montgomery. On the other hand this reroute by CSX will soon put more freight trains on the Meridian Speedway. And this might increase the mitigation cost for Amtrak.