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., Amtrak: What’s the overall best value for passengers, a ‘land cruise’ or sea cruise?

By Andrew Selden, Guest Commentator; June 6, 2023 We recently saw an amazing Amtrak fare on Amtrak’s Empire Builder for…

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U.S., Amtrak and before: Serving the Pacific Northwest with the Empire Builder and multiple transcontinental trains

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; April 19, 2023 If you wanted to get from here to there…

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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.: Is Amtrak advertising too warm and fuzzy or even necessary?

By Russ Jackson, Guest Commentator; December 30, 2022 Editor’s Note: Russ Jackson taught broadcast advertising at a California college and…

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U.S., Amtrak and before: The City of New Orleans and Panama Limited on the Main Line of Mid-America, the line of Casey Jones

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; December 6, 2022 The famed-in-song-and elsewhere The City of New Orleans is…

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U.S., The big railroad Amtrak forgot: The Chicago and North Western System was a huge granger railroad and operated lots and lots of passenger trains

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; November 23, 2022 The Chicago and North Western System was a major…

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U.S., Amtrak; Rivals California Zephyr, City of San Francisco and San Francisco Chief: Prolific dome cars, luxury service

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on March 18, 2021. It has been updated and photographs 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., 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.: Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak Empire Builder in past better days competed spiritedly with the North Coast Limited, Mainstreeter, Olympian Hiawatha and Western Star

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

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U.S., The goodness of secondary passenger trains before and during Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak: Rock Island and Southern Pacific’s Imperial history and more

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on March 24, 2021. Timetable times quoted are from March 2021…

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U.S., Amtrak: A word about the Southwest Chief’s passengers and crew members

Message from James E. Coston, Executive Chairman, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; June 27, 2002 CHICAGO ‒ Everyone in the passenger…

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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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U.S., Ohio: Understanding for Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak and beyond the critical national implications of a Cincinnati route hub with car-lines to both east and west coasts

Editor’s Note: Guest Commentator William Lindley illuminates the concept of a new George Washington as a useful replacement for Stephen…

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U.S.: Several years in the future, Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak Cardinal is retired and Cincinnati becomes a major hub again – as it should be

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on April 21, 2021. It has been revised and updated with…

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U.S., Montana: Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority is doing many of the right things for new passenger train development

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on December 5, 2020. It has been updated and has new…

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U.S., Amtrak: Stephen Gardner’s ongoing scandal commonly known as the Texas Eagle

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; April 8, 2022 How much abuse should one named, inter-regional train have…

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U.S., Amtrak: Stephen Gardner’s hospitality desert Capitol Limited was once a great, premier train

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; April 5, 2022 The once-great Capitol Limited, first a premier inter-regional passenger…

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U.S., Amtrak: Remembering the man who changed passenger rail journalism, plus two voices on how it was and could be today

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; March 31, 2022 Word has come from several sources that Jim Wrinn,…

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U.S., What If – Another View: Thinking about the future of the Midwest through Chicago and Louisville

(Editor’s Note ― In another What If look at the future, William Lindley of Shelbyville, Kentucky shares his thoughts about…

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U.S., Pre-Amtrak Pennsylvania Railroad: Will There Be Another Broadway Limited?

Holiday Season Rewind: We are featuring reader favorite articles which previously appeared in this space earlier this year. This article…

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U.S.: Riding the Santa Fe’s Famed “El Capitan” … Christmas … and those Hi-Level Deluxe Chair Cars With Every Seat At Dome Car Height

By Russ and Susan Jackson, Guest Commentators; December 9, 2021 The author Paul Theroux wrote many stories about train travel.…

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U.S., Santa Fe Railway: The Grand Canyon Was Not A Great Train, But A Nice Train Right To The Last Day Before Amtrak

Editor’s Note: Guest commentator David Peironnet has provided an outstanding view of how a secondary train can still be appealing…

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