I didn't get a chance to take any photos because it was almost dark but Amtrak's contractors are really hustling with the Portal bridge replacement. Track is already being installed in some portions of the bridge.

Much to my surprise, Amtrak granted my FOIA request for the "Technical Specifications" portion of the Amtrak LD RFP. It is my understanding that once a FOIA request is granted that information becomes public. I have shared the full documents on the amtraktrains.com LD fleet replacement thread.

Amtrak is really asking for a crazy level of detail here. They are specifying everything from the type of locks on doors to the grade of steel the carbodies are to be made of. This bidding process will definitely take a while.

Thanks for posting that

VTrans begins preliminary consideration for Amtrak expansion

By Melissa Cooney
Published: Mar. 12, 2024
By WCAX

"BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont is on track to receive federal funding as the state considers an Amtrak expansion.

A million dollars could be the ticket to the Ethan Allen Express adding stops in Manchester and Bennington. The Vermont Agency of Transportation says this plan is in the very early stages and this initial funding is to study how expansion could happen.

Town leaders in the impacted areas say it would be a win for their communities..."

https://www.wcax.com/2024/03/12/vtra...rak-expansion/

I think having half the trips take the southern route and half take the northern route would be an excellent strategy.

Combine that with a dedicated Bennington to St. Albans commuter line and you'd have an excellent system.

It was a service called the Green Mountain Flyer , there was another service that went to Boston via the Northern Tier which just wrapped up its study. I would bring back the Green Mountain Flyer and Ambassador service to Boston from Montreal , running both a few times per day. I would terminate the Vermonter in Burlington and run the Ethan Allen a few times per day down to Albany. I would build a new Albany station at the Junction of the line that heads up to Southern Vermont at the Central Warehouse site.

I think this proposed Albany-Colonie station would be a better second Albany Station
https://www.esparail.org/site/assets....1000x0-is.jpg

It needs to be in Downtown , I think there should be a regional rail service from Albany to Saratoga Springs with a few infill stations added.

There was a proposal a few years back for commuter rail from Saint Albans - Burlington - Montpelier. I would have liked to have the opportunity to take that skiing when I went to school at UVM. This would have been, by far, the smallest metropolitan area with commuter rail.

https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot...on%20Draft.pdf

https://www.samessenger.com/news/stu...b5b8381d1.html

They had a short lived commuter rail called Champlain Flyer. I would bring back that route and extend it to Montpelier as an hourly bi-directional regional rail service.

Washington Union Station


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4260c387_b.jpg


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ab523fcd_b.jpg


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...82b404be_b.jpg


Station Approach


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1c3ecf16_b.jpg

I know I'm not completely alone in this, as I've seen some similar sentiments on the Washington DC subreddit. But I'm mostly opposed to the massive construction project they have planned for Washington Union Station. It's obviously wanted because of the undersized Amtrak concourse but I'd much much rather see the retail removed from the original concourse and seating restored in the grand hall. I was hoping this was Amtrak's desire as well in pursuing the eviction of the Union Station lease holder, but I'm not entirely sure that was the case. I've seen hints that Amtrak intended to support the new construction project even if the eviction went through. I hate that we've taken a perfectly good train station and reduced it to a mall and event space while we're forced to spend billions in to build another train station. The only rationale for the project would be the lack of retain space if the historic concourse was restored.

The Station project will expand Union Stations capacity and upgrade the neglected lower level in addition to a proper Bus terminal with a brand-new concourse to connect everything. The old areas are too far from departure areas but should be utilized better.

Does Union Station (DC) have current capacity issues? They have a very large platform area, and very limited commuter rail. MARC and VRE don't really run that many trains. Is the issue more on the concourse side, which, yeah, doesn't seem particularly big?

Just looking at Wikipedia, they appear to have more tracks than any station in the Amtrak system. Grand Central has many times more, but obviously not Amtrak. Penn has fewer despite many times more traffic. Even discounting LIRR and NJT (which are more than 90% of Penn traffic) Amtrak alone at Penn has more than twice the traffic of Union Station.

Amtrak will double train service between NY and DC, so I guess the concourse on the DC end would need to be bigger. And trains will have somewhat higher capacity, so overall passenger counts will more than double. I take Acela between NY-DC once or twice a year, and haven't noticed any major crowding issues on the DC end, but it would be likely in the coming years.

And yeah, as others have mentioned, DC Union is kinda weird. The renovation was glorious, but it isn't really a train station. The tacked-on concourse is inadequate, and they should have renovated the original building to be a train station. Since the mall largely failed, you have this incredible space that is super-underutilized, and the obvious use is the original, intended use.

This is great news for passenger rail in DC and the broader mid-Atlantic. The article below is paywalled.

Amtrak wins ruling in Union Station eminent domain lawsuit


By Daniel J. Sernovitz
Washington Business Journal
Apr 22, 2024

"A federal judge has ruled Amtrak acted within its legal authority when it moved two years ago to take the commercial leasehold interest at D.C.'s Union Station by eminent domain.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, in an opinion issued Wednesday, determined the national rail operator "met its burden of proof to exercise its 'quick take' authority" after negotiations to acquire the lease from an affiliate of New York's Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. broke down..."

https://www.bizjournals.com/washingt...nt-domain.html

Here are some of the projects funded by Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other funding that are going to significantly improve passenger rail in the coming years. Together, these projects will hopefully improve reliability and reduce trip time for travel along the Northeast corridor.

*Long Bridge replacement
*DC Union Station expansion
*Baltimore Frederick Douglass tunnel replacement
*Baltimore Penn Station modernization
*Portals bridge replacement
*Gateway tunnel replacement
*Walk bridge replacement in CT