Flying like an Eagle: New Fort Worth-Dallas route to improve Amtrak reliability
December 17th, 2015
December 17, 2015 - TRA Newswire
Amtrak Texas Eagle now uses Trinity Rail Express corridor - Texas Rail Advocates thanked for stakeholder support
FORT WORTH, Texas - Amtrak has successfully concluded negotiations and changed the route of the Texas Eagle train between Fort Worth and Dallas. There are no missed stops or public schedule changes at this time for the daily service of Trains 21 & 22 between Chicago and San Antonio via St. Louis; Little Rock, Ark.; Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, Texas.
"This change puts Amtrak Texas Eagle passengers on a better route shared with Trinity Rail Express (TRE) commuter trains and avoids the freight train operations that were challenging our trains every day on the previous routing," said Mark Murphy, Amtrak Senior Vice President and General Manager of the business line that includes the Eagle. "This route simplifies our movements through the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center and will improve reliability for more than 100,000 Amtrak passengers who use our Fort Worth gateway every year."
Amtrak's Texas Eagle trains had been required to do cumbersome backup moves across Tower 55, which was noted as the worst rail traffic congestion crossing in the Western U.S., to reach the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center. Those 'traffic tie-up' moves delayed freight trains crossing Tower 55, which is just southeast of downtown Fort Worth. Improvements at Tower 55 last year through a public-private partnership increased throughput at the multi-track level crossing used by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway by over 30 percent.
Mike Chandler, Amtrak Deputy General Manager responsible for the Texas Eagle, attended an event in Fort Worth to thank the team that worked through the complicated talks involving TRE, its parent agencies in Fort Worth and Dallas, Union Pacific and other carriers. Murphy and Chandler credited constant support for this improvement from TEMPO, the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization, and Texas Rail Advocates.
Amtrak Texas Eagle now uses Trinity Rail Express corridor - Texas Rail Advocates thanked for stakeholder support
FORT WORTH, Texas - Amtrak has successfully concluded negotiations and changed the route of the Texas Eagle train between Fort Worth and Dallas. There are no missed stops or public schedule changes at this time for the daily service of Trains 21 & 22 between Chicago and San Antonio via St. Louis; Little Rock, Ark.; Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, Texas.
"This change puts Amtrak Texas Eagle passengers on a better route shared with Trinity Rail Express (TRE) commuter trains and avoids the freight train operations that were challenging our trains every day on the previous routing," said Mark Murphy, Amtrak Senior Vice President and General Manager of the business line that includes the Eagle. "This route simplifies our movements through the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center and will improve reliability for more than 100,000 Amtrak passengers who use our Fort Worth gateway every year."
Amtrak's Texas Eagle trains had been required to do cumbersome backup moves across Tower 55, which was noted as the worst rail traffic congestion crossing in the Western U.S., to reach the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center. Those 'traffic tie-up' moves delayed freight trains crossing Tower 55, which is just southeast of downtown Fort Worth. Improvements at Tower 55 last year through a public-private partnership increased throughput at the multi-track level crossing used by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway by over 30 percent.
Mike Chandler, Amtrak Deputy General Manager responsible for the Texas Eagle, attended an event in Fort Worth to thank the team that worked through the complicated talks involving TRE, its parent agencies in Fort Worth and Dallas, Union Pacific and other carriers. Murphy and Chandler credited constant support for this improvement from TEMPO, the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization, and Texas Rail Advocates.