Missouri River Runner

Missouri River Runner

A Missouri River Runner at Kansas City in 2010.
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
Locale Missouri
Predecessor Mules
First service January 28, 2009
Current operator(s) Amtrak
Ridership 546 daily
199,470 total (FY13)[1]
Route
Start Kansas City
Stops 8
End St. Louis
Distance travelled 283 mi (455.44 km)
Average journey time 5 hours, 40 minutes
Train number(s) 311, 313, 314, 316[2]
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
Track owner(s) Union Pacific Railroad

The Missouri River Runner is a 283-mile (455 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak running between Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center in St. Louis and Kansas City Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Four trains operate daily (two round trips) on this route: 311 and 313 westbound, and 314 and 316 eastbound.[2]

History

The Missouri River Runner route was formerly operated as part of the Missouri Service train network, which included the Ann Rutledge, Kansas City Mule, and the St. Louis Mule.

The new route name was announced in January 2009 as part of the “Name The Train” contest held by the Missouri Department of Transportation.[3][4] The winning name was submitted by Keith Kohler of Glendale, Missouri. Service between St. Louis and Kansas City is financed primarily through funds made available by the Missouri Department of Transportation.[5]

In November 2009, Amtrak and Union Pacific completed an $8.1 million 9,000 feet (2,700 m) siding near California, Missouri, designed to improve performance along the route. The siding, funded by the state of Missouri and the Federal Railway Administration, was credited with helping improve Amtrak's on-time performance.[6][7] Due to these improvements, on time performance has increased from less than 70% to 95%.[8][9]

During fiscal year 2013, the service carried a total of 199,470 passengers, a 1.8% increase from FY 2012's total of 195,885 passengers.[1] The trains had a total revenue of $5,617,913 during FY 2013, an increase of 9.3% from FY 2012's total of $5,139,069.[1]

As of October 1, 2013, provisions of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 prohibit Amtrak from using its federal operating grant to share the cost of the Missouri River Runner route; the 2008 act prohibits cost-sharing on any route shorter than 750 miles (1,210 km).[10]

Equipment used

The Missouri River Runner consists of the following:[11]

Route

Amtrak Missouri River Runner (interactive map)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Amtrak Sets Ridership Record and Moves the Nation's Economy Forward" (PDF). Amtrak. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 Amtrak (October 14, 2012). "Amtrak Service in Illinois and Missouri" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  3. Amtrak - Missouri River Runner
  4. MoDOT - Name The Train
  5. "Missouri Amtrak trains get a new name". USA Today. January 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  6. Miller, Kermit (December 8, 2009). "State officials dedicate new rail to AMTRAK". KRCG. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  7. "New siding eliminates Amtrak, UP bottleneck in Missouri". ProgressiveRailroading.com. December 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  8. "Missouri River Runner". Amtrak. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  9. "AMTRAK DELIVERS A 100 PERCENT ON-TIME PERFORMANCE DURING BUSY HOLIDAY WEEK". Missouri Department of Transportation. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  10. "Amtrak Expects to Continue Route Between St. Louis, KC". Washington Missourian. May 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-07. ...effective Oct. 1 Amtrak won’t be able to use its federal operating grant to help share the cost of routes that are shorter than 750 miles with states, due to the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which Congress passed in 2008.
  11. "MISSOURI RIVER RUNNER". TrainWeb. Retrieved 22 October 2010.

Route map: Bing / Google

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, September 29, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.