Congress is trying to restart Amtrak service to NO

[spuwho]

Thanks Ock!

I completely forgot about that west side bypass (and it seems Amtrak did too). Great idea!

This makes total sense and completely avoids the back up situation.  If the Orlando overnight sticks, they would simply avoid our Amshack completely and traverse down the CSX route. Instead of an intermediate stop with a bus, they could literally run right through. The only possible choke point is that the bypass is single track from Beaver to Commonwealth, but double and triple track most of the way.

This would also allow NO passengers a northbound option, though I would imagine Amtrak would want northbound passengers to use a NO-CHI-NY routing instead.

As far as Amtrak goes, I see the CEO just retired. I know a lot of people who think Boardman had to go.

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/amtrak/news/Amtraks-Boardman-announces-retirement-plans--46710

[mtraininjax]

The only possible choke point is that the bypass is single track from Beaver to Commonwealth

With CTC, the freight trains manage just fine. The passenger trains would probably do swimmingly as well.