FREQUENCY, CONNECTIVITY, AND DEPENDABILITY.

We've heard that tune before.  "I've invoked that trifecta so many times I should apply for a copyright."

I'm fine with Trains contributor Bob Johnston invoking the formula.  "Second Chicago-St. Paul train shows value of frequency, capacity."  Apparently, in the first week of Borealis trips, a lot of residents of the big cities and intermediate towns alike are using that second train for day trips.

Clearly, demand for the train exists, even though the schedules for the Borealis and the Builder are only hours apart. And that demand is not just between the end points. A steady stream of passengers detrained or boarded at the many intermediate stops in Wisconsin and Minnesota. One community that will surely benefit is Wisconsin Dells, where summer boat rides and year-round water parks beckon.

Those schedules worked well enough for the Morning and Afternoon Hiawathas back in the day.  Yes, there are still troubles to be worked out.  How many times do I have to point out that trains can load and unload through multiple doors?

The first westbound trip of Amtrak’s new Borealis wasn’t flawless. A “technical problem” with a credit card reader delayed the café car’s opening. A pesky lock on the platform wheelchair lift’s enclosure at the Sturtevant, Wis., stop contributed to delay, as did the decision to open only one vestibule trap at downtown Milwaukee to let two Horizon carloads of passengers from Chicago vacate the only remaining seats on the train for the many travelers waiting to board there.

Yes, it's better to add more trains to existing routes, rather than to attempt to introduce one new train on some new route.

Can this train serve as a template for future expansion? Not necessarily. Launching Borealis was an easier lift than starting a route from scratch, because stations and route-qualified Amtrak operating crews were already available. It’s also significant CPKC has been a willing host railroad that didn’t require construction of capacity improvements, primarily through Winona, as a condition for more service.

But the Borealis does pose the question: might it be better to add frequencies that would improve utility of an existing route before developing a new one?

With Amtrak having trouble assigning sufficient serviceable stock to protect its existing schedule, sooner or later somebody is going to take a close look at the Hiawatha and Borealis diagrams.  I had an opportunity to watch the turnarounds in Chicago on the second and third days of service.  Wednesday last week, the stock that arrived, about an hour late, on 1340 from St. Paul went out, about twenty minutes late, on the final Hiawatha to Milwaukee.  Thursday, 1340 arrived again about an hour late, and a different rake went to Milwaukee, about twenty minutes late.  I have not yet worked out the rotations by which stock for 336, which used to turn off 333 before 333 became 1333 for St. Paul, lays over in Milwaukee.  The enforced idleness of an entire rake in St. Paul, overnight, when there's plenty of time to add a sleeping car and run an overnight train for and from Chicago, also offers food for future thought.

For now, let us enjoy the opportunity to make day trips along the Mississippi River and through Wisconsin.