These projects are not political bargaining chips - they some of the largest public works projects in the country, lifelines for millions of commuters, and essential to the economic vitality of the region. http://railpax.org/vQ2l50X5Eiy

To the best of our knowledge this is the total inventory of intercity bus routes in Iowa following Trailways’ exit. As previously mentioned, Jefferson Lines and Greyhound picked up most of the pieces, but this is definitely a very sparse network.

Looks like Iowa’s intercity bus network will mostly be preserved. A mix of Greyhound and Jefferson Lines will be taking over the old Trailways routes. Initial count shows 25 cities being served across 9 routes. Will provide more details after some more review.

Another poor month for long-distance OTP. Freight train interference and slow orders are killing the California Zephyr's OTP.

NE: Grand Islanders show interest in expanding passenger rail service www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/55...

Full build out of our rail plan, with 2 daily round trips on each route, would result in over 3.3 million annual train miles added, almost doubling the current Amtrak Midwest network.

LA Metro’s A Line extension to Pomona opens tomorrow.

So much for being “safety-first”.

Looks like Jefferson Lines will run 1 daily round trip between Chicago & Omaha starting 9/28, the day after Trailways ends all route service. This will be on top of the 1 daily RT from Greyhound between Chicago & Des Moines.

SAVE THE DATE! IARP is having its annual meeting in Des Moines at DART Central Station on Saturday, October 25th. The meeting will begin at 1:30 PM and end around 2:30-3:00 PM. We will be in the 2nd floor meeting room. We hope to see you all in Des Moines!

Day 2 of the MIPRC Annual Meeting at Kansas City Union Station. Let’s go!

We are at Kansas City Union Station today, attending the annual meeting of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission. We’re getting lots of valuable information on passenger rail in the Midwest and how Iowa may be affected. Stay tuned for updates as we pass them along to you.

Latest news on the Chicago-Moline corridor.

Burlington Trailways is ceasing all intercity services in 3 weeks.

Some good news.

For our Polk County members: DART has published their draft network redesign.

Des Moines, Washington is officially getting train service before Des Moines, Iowa. Another light rail extension in Seattle is coming online in December.

Amtrak ridership for July. Another solid month for Amtrak, and the 2 routes through Iowa continue to do even better.

Just 4 more days

If no action is taken, SEPTA’s funding crisis could torpedo Amtrak’s Keystone Service from New York to Harrisburg.

@railpassengers.org gives a fantastic take on just how impactful Amtrak’s New Orleans route will be and why we can’t keep going as slow as we have been to make new passenger rail happen: youtu.be/3J0zASgpKAc?...

The Corridor ID program’s obligation report was updated for the 1st time since January today. Out of 69 corridors, only 6 are on Step 2 of 3, and with the de-obligation of Texas Central 0 corridors are on Step 3. If there is one failure of this program, it has to be its glacially slow pace.

The last station update for now, this time at Osceola. Station improvements are scheduled to finish sometime in fiscal year 2026, but right now these platforms look a far way off from “finished”.

Another station update, this time for the Ottumwa Depot. The near-side platform and canopy are finished, but the far side still needs to be done. The new platforms & canopies are part of a $13.8 million improvement project for the station, which is budgeted to finish this year.

Mount Pleasant’s new platforms appear to be almost finished.

Always fun to stop by the Central Iowa Railroad Club when at the State Fair. Stop inside to see, among other things, a replica of Iowa’s own Burlington station. Built in 1944 by the CB&Q Railroad, Amtrak still serves the station to this day.

Amtrak’s Avelia Liberty trainsets will begin service on the Acela starting August 28th. We have never been more back.

Heading to the state fair? Consider using DART’s park & ride service.

Here is a map of current capital projects on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Keystone Corridor, and Hartford Line. These projects will be key to improving reliability, increasing capacity, and creating an environment for increased ridership on Amtrak and various commuter railroads.

Amtrak held a Board of Directors meeting yesterday on a variety of subjects. If you want to see what was discussed, both the presentation and video of the meeting are posted at the top of Amtrak's reports page (linked below).

Amtrak ridership snapshot for June. A strong month for the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief, and a fairly good month for Amtrak nationally. Still seeing some impacts on ridership due to the Horizon shortage/limited capacity. New equipment can't come fast enough.

The Iowa DOT is requesting your input as it gets ready to update its Long Range Transportation Plan. The LRTP outlines the DOT's vison & goals, and is crucial for determining future funding priorities. If you are supportive of passenger rail, please click the link below and make your voice heard.

LA Metro's A Line extension and Kansas City's streetcar extension have finalized their opening dates. Here is the new calendar for rail openings in the U.S. 8/18: Amtrak Mardi Gras begins 9/19: LA Metro A Line extends to Pomona North 10/1: Honolulu Phase 2 opens 10/24: KC Streetcar extends to UMKC

Over 95% of transportation fatalities occur on highways, with over 40,000 people dying every year. If the USDOT and Iowa DOT want to really make our transport system safer, they will need to realize how inherently dangerous driving and car-centric design are.

The draft Iowa State Rail Plan is now open for public comment.

BREAKING: The North Central Texas Council of Governments’ Regional Transportation Council approved a one-time, $3.5M stopgap to cover the Heartland Flyer until next year, buying time to find a funding program in advance of the Texas legislature’s next session. 1/2

Amtrak's on-time performance for long-distance trains in May.

Iowa transit ridership for April A mixed month for Iowa's top agencies, but overall some modest gains statewide.

Amtrak ridership for April. Solid month for Amtrak overall, but an exceptional month of growth for the Southwest Chief. The national network has still not had a month of ridership decline since 2021, even with the issues Amtrak has faced with equipment and capacity.

Amtrak on-time performance for April. California Zephyr and Southwest Chief both managed over 50%, with the Zephyr getting up to 68%. Not a bad month by long-distance standards, but still below Amtrak's target.

A very good month for the Zephyr and Chief, with both routes posting big year-over-year ridership gains in March.

Amtrak on-time performance for March. Southwest Chief comes in last for OTP on the month.

Not a great February for transit in Iowa. Ames and Iowa City the only systems with gains, and across the nation just a really stagnant month.

Amtrak Cascades resumes all trips this weekend aawa.us/news/posts/a...

HF 533 was not advanced out of committee this week (not even voted on), and was not placed on the unfinished business calendar. The bill will not be advancing any further this session.

Amtrak ridership for February. California Zephyr with a massive gain, Southwest Chief down slightly, and overall Amtrak posted a 3.3% gain. I also should mention that 2024 had a Leap Day in February, so daily ridership was actually up 7%.

Starting on Tuesday, April 1, Amtrak will restore one daily roundtrip between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia with the 8:30am northbound trip (Train Number 516) and 4:45pm southbound trip (Train Number 519) using Amfleet I rail cars. www.theurbanist.org/2025/03/31/a...

Per All Aboard Minnesota, they have been told that Borealis #1333 is expected to run tomorrow with three Superliners, and that they may get another 3 Superliners by Friday. Obviously those cars are coming from somewhere (long-distance trains), but Amtrak is working to patch this hole quickly.