Amtrak, Brightline, VIA Rail Canada, Ontario Northland Railway and Mexico: 2024 is looking good for passenger trains

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; January 4, 2024 A remarkable year is over and we are at…

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U.S., Amtrak and Others: Will Brightline work in places such as New England, and is Boston really the Hub of the Universe?

By William Lindley, Guest Commentator; December 2, 2023 Brightline in Florida has refuted the naysayers of profitable intercity trains. As…

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U.S., Amtrak and others: The first stages of a new 21st Century Golden Age of passenger train travel, including Night Trains

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; September 12, 2023 There are many of us in the passenger train…

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U.S.: Note to Amtrak, FRA – Chicago is NOT the center of the passenger train world; start thinking about new night trains

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; August 16, 2023 Note to those conducting the FRA Long Distance Study…

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U.S., When it comes to Amtrak competition, we know for sure we don’t know what we don’t know

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; July 13, 2023 The idea of Amtrak having competition on long distance/inter-regional…

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U.S.: Welcome to the revolution; Amtrak’s first intercity higher-speed private sector competition is about to begin service

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; June 27, 2023 Welcome to the revolution. Amtrak and Brightline are friendly…

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U.S.: Amtrak will have competition on both existing and new routes as Congress has mandated

By James E. Coston, Executive Chairman, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; March 8, 2023 Congress has spoken, and given specific instructions…

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U.S., Amtrak and Others: In this time of opportunity, go big, or go home

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; February 28, 2023 For the few Americans who know there are passenger…

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U.S., Amtrak and others: For 2023, bring back parlor cars, reinvent sleeping car lounges, remember that train cars have couplers, plus Brightline ridership skyrockets

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; January 13, 2023 Woulda Coulda Shoulda Those three well-established definitions of what…

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U.S.: Looking at Amtrak, Brightline, Caltrain, West Central Wisconsin and Montana’s Big Sky Rail at the end of the year

By James E. Coston, Executive Chairman, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; December 20, 2022 CHICAGO – Those of us with just…

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U.S., Amtrak: The potential of the Meridian Speedway all the way to Fort Worth and El Paso . . . it’s about time, and a new approach

By Russ Jackson and Anthony Lee, Guest Contributors; December 2, 2022 Think about it: 66 billion dollars. In the bill…

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U.S.: After the federal government mortally wounded passenger trains in 1967, Amtrak was created to clean up the mess

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; October 18, 2022 Here is something to consider: Amtrak wasn’t created totally…

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U.S., Amtrak: How can America get to Phoenix again by train?

By Russ Jackson, Guest Commentator, with Anthony Lee, Richard Strandberg, and William Lindley; October 7, 2022 It’s now been 27…

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U.S., Amtrak: The modern saga of the famed Sunset Limited; facts, dates and conclusions

Editor’s Note: The article first appeared on this platform on August 25, 2021. It has been updated with photos and…

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U.S., Amtrak: The baggage car has the potential to revolutionize passenger train travel with a better way of creating supporting revenue

By William Lindley, Guest Commentator; September 9, 2022 The lowly, lonely baggage cars. They have the potential not just to…

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U.S., Amtrak: What could have been for the California Zephyr and fondly remembering the Spirit of California overnight train

By Russ Jackson, Guest Commentator; September 6, 2022 Recently Bruce Richardson wrote an article on this platform about the resumption…

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U.S., Amtrak and others: Night trains once efficiently and successfully moved America; it’s time to do that again

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on January 19, 2021. It has been updated and photographs and…

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U.S., A Sporting Event: How would you improve Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak scheduling and equipment utilization? Plus, Amtrak is seeking 4,000 new employees

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on March 26, 2021. It has been expanded, updated, and photographs…

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U.S., Amtrak and others: A primer of best practices for how to plan passenger train expansions

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on March 29, 2021. It has been updated with photographs and…

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U.S., Amtrak: What is required from Stephen Gardner’s leadership to move the company forward in these critical times

By Russ Jackson, Guest Commentator; July 22, 2022 How do you define Leadership? Let’s take a crack at it before we…

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U.S., Canada: Beyond Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak, glimpses of hope for future passenger trains

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on April 15, 2021 and has been updated with photographs added.…

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U.S. and Canada; Amtrak, Brightline, VIA Rail Canada, and Rocky Mountaineer: Passenger trains come in all shapes, sizes and colors

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on August 21, 2021. It has been updated and photographs added.…

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U.S., Paul Theroux – ‘Anything is possible on a train: a great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night’s sleep, and strangers’ monologues framed like Russian short stories’

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; June 30, 2022 There are moments in time defined by unexpected events…

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U.S., Canada: Exploding the myth trains must be very fast to be attractive to passengers

By William Lindley, Guest Commentator; June 16, 2022 Key points: • Convenience of use is more important than train speed…

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U.S., Amtrak: Imagine what it’s like for train travel in 2032

By Russ Jackson, 2022 Guest Commentator for 2032; June 13, 2022 Imagine! “Back to the Future?” Cool! That about describes…

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