Rail service expansion sidetracked

Nevada Daily Mail

The Missouri Legislative Rail Caucus has parked its plan on a side track to extend passenger train service to Springfield, Joplin and St. Joseph while upgrading the state's twice-a-day service between Kansas City and St. Louis.

State Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, a caucus member, said Wednesday that there is a lot of annual uncertainty about persuading the General Assembly in Jefferson City to subsidize the route; so the State Department of Transportation's May submission of a 20-year plan to the Federal Railroad Administration was scaled back to what was achievable.

However, Pearce said there is a good chance the Missouri River Runner system will get new trains in 2014. "We've got some aging locomotives and passengers' compartments that have not been replaced since the 1970s," said Pearce, representing Vernon County until the end of the year because he was redistricted out of the 31st Senate District.

"They still look good and do OK, but they're not efficient."

Pearce explained that the feds finance Amtrak lines from Kansas City to Chicago and St. Louis to New Orleans, for example, but it was up to state lawmakers last spring to sustain the River Runner with $7.9 million.

He said there is no intention to put high speed trains on the route, which runs five hours and 40 minutes one way, and that the rail caucus wants to keep the River Runners going around 60 mph.

Daily departures are at 8:15 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Kansas City Union Station and 9:15 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center in St. Louis. Round trip tickets Friday and Saturday were $204 for a family of four.

Pearce noted the districts of most caucus members, like Warrensburg Rep. Denny Hoskins and him, lie along the route. "Long range, we'd like to see service to Springfield, Joplin and St. Joseph," he said.

"But the River Runner funding is a challenge. Every year, we have that fight. We also need to focus on maintaining reliable service because we're 89 percent on time.

"I rode 30 miles Sunday from Warrensburg to Sedalia. It is fun. Every form of transportation in the world requires a commitment of public resources, from county roads to state highways and the interstate system. Amtrak is no exception."

Unlike many infrequently stopping Amtrak trains, Pearce said, the River Runners also pick up passengers at Kirkwood, Washington, Hermann, Jeff City, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Lee's Summit and Independence.

MoDOT Railroads Administrator Eric Curtit of Jefferson City said Thursday that the state is building a $20 million, 1,200-foot bridge across the Osage River east of Jeff City in Osage City and softening the curves east of the river.

"We're doing track work to give us double tracks from Jeff City to St. Louis because that's our No. 2 bottleneck," said Curtit.

"The future depends on funding. We have to work with the host railroads because we're operating on privately owned lines and the law says we can't unduly burden their operations. It would be an expensive venture to expand beyond what we have now, but the nine states of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative have created the architecture to do that in the next 10 years."

MoDOT reported on its Web site Oct. 10 that the River Runners had toted a record 192,000 people in the past year and registered a 74-percent bump in passengers since 2007.

MoDOT Multimodal Director Michelle Teel credited low fares and reliability.

"With gas prices as high as they are, many folks are choosing to enjoy an economical and relaxing trip by train," Teel said in a news release.