Most of us have noticed the improvement and credited the big shift to a steady economic decline resulting in less freight train interference.
Could it really be all that track work on the UP? We really like UP spokesman Mark Davis here at TFA, so I will only leave you to decide for yourself.
The GJSentinel Online in Grand Junction, Col. (I spent a week of my radio career there back in ’79) also noticed the stark improvement.
In March 2007 only 18 percent of the Amtrak trains that came through the Grand Junction station did it on time, according to Union Pacific, which handles track operations. That number jumped to 44 percent in March 2008, and hit 92 percent last month.
Amtrak, which is owned by the federal government, operates passenger service around the country on the tracks of privately owned railroads.
“There has been effort by Union Pacific to reduce delays,” said Marc Magliari, Amtrak spokesman.
Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific, said track maintenance has greatly helped trains run on time.
“All the track projects we’ve done over the years are starting to pay off,” Davis said.
Other improvements have allowed dispatchers to move freight traffic at constant speed and flow, which gives railroads more flexibility and the ability to give Amtrak trains priority, he said.
Filed under: Amtrak, Regional USA Passenger Rail
Trains For America 
This story which is duplicated on NS and BNSF is the biggist ignoored railroading story of the last decade and a huge credit to Kummant. Quite a legacy.
This is not a flame and no disrespect is meant. I am wondering how you would apply this improvement to Kummant. The Sunset has been padded to death and the same is also true with the Zephyr. It may be that the Zephyr’s schedule has been adjusted to previous running times after the track work. I cannot say.
The train that serves Little Rock, the Eagle, has been badly extended and the arrival time in Chicago misses many of the important connections.
Pat Lynch
[…] Twin Cities Streets for People reports on a drop in crime near a new greenway in Minneapolis; and Trains for America digs into the reasons for an improvement in Amtrak’s on-time […]
Pat – Yes indeed, the padding that has happened in Amtrak timetables is astonishing, especially for the true long distance trains. This has made arrivals and departures at some important intermediate cities very inconvenient, thus reducing patronage and allowing Amtrak to shorten trains and use fewer (sometimes too few) locomotives – as false a savings as there ever was. Amtrak really needs a board and executives who can work together WITH the railways and WITH some experienced travel hospitality professionals to bring the company up to minimal standards of consistency in food service, presentation, cleanliness and staff professionalism. If Hilton or Hyatt or Sheraton were run the way Amtrak is run, they’d be out of business.