Comments on: Breaking down the cost of Amtrak vs. commuter rail

By: Walt kienzle

Walt kienzle — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:52:43 +0000

To correct a minor point of uncertainty in the answers concerning express tracks between Elgin and Bensenville. My understanding is “express tracks” would be a third track which would not interfere with inbound or outbound Metra traffic. A third track starts about a mile east of Bensenville, just before the Mannheim stop in Franklin Park. I live along the route, in Bartlett, and use this train line. There currently is no express track between Elgin and Bensenville.

This might not really be a problem because Metra has several scheduled express runs between Schaumburg and Franklin Park. Careful scheduling would avoid a conflict, particularly with the lower speeds likely required because of the many grade crossings in DuPage and Cook counties.

By: Thomas V. Bona

Thomas V. Bona — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:08:45 +0000

Jim,

I wrote a response Friday to this, but it got lost in the ether. I’ll try to rewrite it when I get back to the office Friday.

In the meantime, check out my story about Amtrak and commuter rail and my story about Belvidere vs. Genoa.

By: Jim Wise

Jim Wise — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:18:32 +0000

Thomas,
Great work on breaking down these new revised figures. The information that I have been citing in my comments is taken from the original studies fromcompleted by TranSystems and Amtrak. Which begs the question. Where is the information that you are citing coming from? Your references are Planners, local leaders… but nothing that is published in black and white or accessable by the public.
Your breakdown details the dollar amounts for rail, equipment and operating costs. But I don’t see the comparison of costs for track upgrades between the UP and CN lines as we were discussing on the RRS business section regarding your story “Genoa puts the Brakes on Amtrak.” Has this difference in cost changed as well? In 2007, the projected upgrades to the CN line (direct to Rockford via Genoa) were $11.5 million less than the proposed route through Belvidere. Has this cost changed as well?
Does RMAP, NICTI, Growth Dimensions… actually have an engineer study, a planners study. Something to base their claims on. Or, are they just guessing?
I do appreciate your thouroughness and detail on this subject. Keep it up. Great job!
Jim Wise

By: Chris Soprych

Chris Soprych — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:47:21 +0000

Looks good.

Sears use to run a shuttle van for their employees that worked at Sears Corporate. They ran it from the Sears at CherryVale Mall to Hoffman Estates and charged a nominal fee. A good idea but they stopped doing it. If Rockford got some kind of commuter rail, I think the biggest challenge would be getting from the train station in the burbs to your place of employment. The public transit system in the collar counties isn’t as efficient as Chicago’s, but I think carpooling and shuttle vans organized by employers and/or employees would likely fill that end of the public transportation gap. Running a shuttle van from Elgin to Hoffman Estates, a 15 minute trip, would be a lot more affordable for Sears, than the hour trip from Rockford.