FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway this week placed 12 additional miles of second main track into service on its Emporia Subdivision in Kansas as part of its Southern Transcon double-tracking project.
The new section of double iron, which runs between Augusta and Rose Hill, Kan., includes the seventh and eighth segments of the nine-segment project that’s been in the works since 2019.
Work is still under way on the final segment of the 50-mile project, a 3.5-mile section between Rose Hill and Mulvane. As long as the weather cooperates, BNSF aims to have that stretch completed by the end of November.
The cutover of the 12-mile stretch was done in two phases, BNSF spokeswoman Kendall Sloan says. On Friday, Oct. 18, all traffic was moved over to the new main line (Main 2) between Augusta and Rose Hill. Then crews worked through the weekend to prepare the old single main track to be converted into new Main 1. The final cutover for segments 7 and 8 occurred on Tuesday.
The first revenue train over the new trackage on Friday was a westbound Z-train bound for San Bernardino, Calif., from Willow Springs, Ill.
“Multiple years of expansion investment have opened up an additional 12 miles of double main track capacity near Augusta, KS – putting BNSF Railway’s one of a kind 2,200 mi Southern Transcon between LA and Chicago at 99.995% double, triple or quadruple tracked,” Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s group vice president of consumer products, wrote in a LinkedIn post today.
“This commitment to growth through investment over the past several decades is one way we make intermodal service more “truck-like”, as just like a highway, we can run traffic both directions simultaneously with passing lanes when needed,” Gabriel wrote. “This unmatched capacity is how we run multiple priority intermodal trains per day in and out of SCAL between key markets like Chicago, DFW, Kansas City, Memphis and beyond…no need to stop a train every 10 miles to meet another throughout the trip.”
Once the Emporia Subdivision project is complete, the Southern Transcon will have just two short sections of single-track: About 1.5 miles at Sibley, Mo., where BNSF crosses the Missouri River, and about 3 miles at Alva, Okla., the crossing of the Salt Fork River.
I sure doubt that 100 MPH on the Texas Eagle. Train is late a lot.
It’s on the UP between Joliet and Alton, IL.
Our government spent around $2 billion to get the UP there up to 110 MPH.
I consider that to be a waste of $2 billion.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe sets a fine example of a private railway not beholden to stock holders. Both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad were noted for their multiple-track main lines.
Amtrak’s ‘Southwest Chief’ is the fastest long distance passenger train outside the Northeast Corridor and the Chicago hub corridors (where the ‘Crescent’, the ‘Silver Meteor’, and the ‘Texas Eagle’ exceed 100 mph) as it cruises upwards to 90 mph on BNSF, retracing much of the route of Santa Fe’s original all-Pullman ‘Super Chief’ which was even faster.
Will this result in less traffic past the web camera in Wichita?