Amtrak, TXDOT to study new service between Shreveport and D/FW
May 1, 2012 / Updated August 29, 2012
Passenger Rail
Amtrak, its Texas Eagle seen here in Longview, TX, and TXDOT are studying the feasibility for new service between Bossier City-Shreveport and Dallas/Fort Worth. – CHRISTOPHER FOX/Cowcatcher Magazine
Amtrak and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) have agreed on the scope of a feasibility study for new Amtrak service between Bossier City-Shreveport in Northwest Louisiana and along the Interstate 20 corridor to Dallas and Fort Worth.
TxDOT and Amtrak officials joined members of the East Texas Corridor Council in March to recognize the start of work to study new service by conventional trains with a maximum speed of 79 m.p.h..
Amtrak will estimate order-of-magnitude capital requirements and operating costs needed to provide state-sponsored passenger rail service, with trains making up to seven intermediate stops and operating up to two daily round-trips.
The study will consider potential schedules, operating costs, revenue and ridership, railcar and locomotive requirements, and capital needs for infrastructure improvements.
Union Pacific Railroad, which owns much of the route, will determine rail capacity.
The rail segment between Marshall, TX, and Fort Worth is served now by Amtrak’a Texas Eagle as part of its Chicago-San Antonio/Los Angeles route with one daily frequency in each direction and intermediate stops.
On Jan. 1, 2024, BNSF Railway took over operations on the storied Montana Rail Link after a lease agreement between the railroads dating to the late 1980s was cut short. BNSF says operating as one railroad will bring benefits to customers and opportunities for freight growth in the region through enhanced capacity and stronger service. In some respects, the company views MRL's integration as a reunion.
NEW PRODUCTS HIGHLIGHT AMHERST
Model manufacturers debuted new products before record attendance at the Amherst Railway Society's Railroad Hobby Show in January. Micro-Trains announced new offerings in HO scale, a first for the company that specializes in N and Z trains.
Smaller components and Bluetooth technology are making battery operation for HO scale more plausible. See how the Texas-based CLRR has gone from DCC to deal rail.
KR Models' long-awaited skeletal logging cars arrive and make a nice impression. Also, a strong fourth-quarter finish lifts spirits for Class I railroad executives, who believe the momentum will carry over into this year. And the Denver & Rio Grande Western's Royal Gorge traversed mountains, traveled along rivers and glided through tunnels from Salt Lake City to Denver.
