MoDOT looking for more improvements for Amtrak

An improvement in mid-Missouri has greatly improved Amtrak service across the state. Now, the Department of Transportation wants to go farther and faster with passenger rail service, local media report. A new 9,000-foot rail siding at California, Mo., allows Union Pacific freight trains to get out of the way of Amtrak traveling between Kansas City and Jefferson City.

"This is the first step toward hopefully getting faster trains," Brian
Weiler, Missouri Department of Transportation Multimodal Operations
Director, tells the Missourinet.

Weiler says the $8-million project allows transportation officials to dream.

"But
in the past, the bottlenecks were still there and the on-time
performance was so bad the idea of increasing the speed wasn’t
realistic," according to Weiler.

Vast improvement of Amtrak
service in Missouri, once considerable laughable, could now be within
reach. MoDOT has its eye on $201.3 million in track improvements and
other improvements between Kansas City and St. Louis. The Missouri
Transportation Commission has applied for federal economic recovery
funds. The Federal Railroad Administration announced earlier this year
that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has made billions
available through High-Speed/intercity Passenger Rail grants. Weiler
says that so far, 40 states have requested $103 billion, nearly 12
times the amount available.

Weiler says the spur at California cleared one bottleneck.

"So,
having this in place, we will see direct benefits to on-time
performance," says Weiler, "and it will also improve the flow of
freight traffic. And freight traffic is good. That means our economy is
moving."

Weiler acknowledges that some of the improvement in
Amtrak service, particularly its on-time performance can be attributed
to a decrease in freight traffic due the economic downturn. Freight
will pick-up as the economy does, making it more difficult to keep up
the current impressive on-time performances.

MoDOT hopes it
succeeds in securing the federal funds to eliminate bottlenecks and
allow passenger trains to move faster. In its application for federal
money, the state has listed 11 projects it asserts will improve the
flow of passenger trains between Kansas City and St. Louis and allow
those trains to move faster. The costliest project totals $56.6
million. It would complete double track and signal upgrades between
Lee’s Summit and Pleasant Hill, which would allow Amtrak trains to run
from 79 to 90 miles per hour. The state is also asking for $50 million
to buy two new sets of locomotives and passenger equipment for use on
the St. Louis to Kansas City route, an application made along with
Wisconsin. A $33.8 million project would eliminate one of the biggest
bottlenecks on the route, the single-track bridge that spans the Osage
River east of Jefferson City, by constructing a second bridge and
adding crossovers.