Transit
Bringing crowds to a game in style, minus the traffic
Like many colleges with large football programs, the University of Iowa faces major congestion problems on football game days, when tens of thousands of fans converge on its stadium. But Iowa has come up with an innovative solution to the traffic.
A railroad runs directly behind the football stadium, which got university administrators thinking. Working with Iowa Northern Railway, the University proposed running a train from satellite parking areas to the football stadium on game days.
Iowa Northern thought it was a great idea, and the Hawkeye Express was born.
In the beginning, they leased equipment from Colorado's Ski Train. For the third season, they purchased a former Amtrak locomtove and 6 bi-level former commuter cars from Chicago's Metra, now painted in Hawkeye black and gold. The train, while owned by Iowa Northern, operates over tracks owned by Iowa Interstate Railroad (whose chairman, Henry Posner III, is a prominent passenger train advocate).
The train takes 8 minutes to get from the parking areas in Coralville to the stadium and costs fans $10. It has operated for seven seasons of Iowa football.
No other university uses special trains just for football games. But it's certainly not the only university where fans can ride a train to the game. The University of Pennsylvania's stadium is just steps from the SEPTA Regional Rail station at University City. Georgia Tech's Grant Field is just a few blocks from the MARTA subway. And these aren't the only examples.
In the past, many university stadiums were served by special trains from near and far. For many at the University of Iowa, this service hearkens back to the days when Rock Island trains brought fans from as far away as Chicago.
For most, it's just a way to avoid parking problems and congestion. And, as the film shows, it's also a fun way to go.
 | Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.    |
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by MNB on Aug 24, 2011 12:36 pm • link • report
by jfruh on Aug 24, 2011 12:50 pm • link • report
Twenty-two cabooses line a railroad track just outside of Williams-Brice Stadium - but these rail cars don't move and they certainly aren't something you would see passing by on the rear end of a train.
More than 14 years ago, a local businessman and his wife finally had enough of the railroad tracks which sit just a stone's throw from the south side of the stadium. The next season, in 1990, the beautifully-designed Cockaboose Railroad began catering to the serious Gamecock tailgater with amenities never before associated with in tailgating: running water, cable television, air conditioning, and heating, and a living room highlight each and every Cockaboose.
The Carolina Cockabooses are stationary and many are wired with closed-circuit television to watch Gamecock away games if making the trip is not feasible.
by Dizzy on Aug 24, 2011 12:51 pm • link • report
by Pelham1861 on Aug 24, 2011 12:55 pm • link • report
And Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_New_Haven_and_Hartford_Railroad#Yale_Bowl_trains) has this quote from a 1916 observer: "There is nothing which can be compared with the New Haven's football movement except a record of one of the mass-movements incidental to the European war."
by Brad on Aug 24, 2011 12:58 pm • link • report
by Joe on Aug 24, 2011 1:09 pm • link • report
by Andrea on Aug 24, 2011 1:10 pm • link • report
The Philadelphia sports stadiums are exceptionally well served by transit, as the Broad St Subway stops at the Sports Complex. Trains run there pretty much 24/7 but during sporting events they run "Sports Express" subways that run express between Center City and the stadiums. I can tell you that these trains are insanely popular; on Phillies game days all 8 subway cars will be chock full of fans in Phillies red.
I'm less familiar with NYC, but I'm pretty sure that there's a subway stop right at Yankees Stadium and that there is (or they are building) a Metro-North stop near Shea Stadium.
by Marc on Aug 24, 2011 1:12 pm • link • report
I'm all for better transportation to special events, but this just seems like a publicity stunt by the RR.
Any idea of the ridership numbers?
by John M on Aug 24, 2011 1:15 pm • link • report
It is not 10 dollars for an 8 minute train ride, it is 10 dollars (plus parking) for parking that gets you in and out of the stadium with minimal difficulties. People routinely pay over 30 dollars for parking for these types events.
by nathaniel on Aug 24, 2011 1:20 pm • link • report
It sounds like it's packed and popular, more or less justifying the price point, right? If Iowa is anything like most college football towns I've been to on game days, you can pay 20 or 30 or more to park anywhere near the stadium in some towns.
Not sure how it would qualify as a PR stunt if it's such a useful service on game days.
by Steve D on Aug 24, 2011 1:21 pm • link • report
The train is actually sitting at the siding on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/uHhRt
by MLD on Aug 24, 2011 1:28 pm • link • report
by jfruh on Aug 24, 2011 1:35 pm • link • report
As someone who has never been a football fan, and saw game days as a miserable opportunity to bemoan the temporary loss of my town, I like this; it gives fans a shorter walk to the game, and takes them off the streets of my town. I only wish that there were train service available at other times. I'd love to be able to take the train from the CR airport to visit my folks.
by Lucre on Aug 24, 2011 1:48 pm • link • report
Iowa got an HSR grant to bring Amtrak to Iowa City. The line is slated to open in 2015, and would have 2 roundtrips daily to Chicago. I presume it would stop at "downtown" Iowa City, but theoretically, they could have some sort of gameday stop, too.
by Matt Johnson on Aug 24, 2011 2:04 pm • link • report
The train has one primary advantage over buses: It doesn't have to wait in the traffic like everybody else.
Also, the train appears to have a crew of 3 (everybody else is a volunteer). It is made up of 6 gallery cars, with a total capacity of about 900 seats.
If it takes 8 minutes to get from Coralville to the stadium, a few minutes to unload, and 8 minutes to return, it's feasible the train could run about every 30 minutes.
Now, a 40 foot bus, will hold about 70 patrons (seated and standing). 3 paid drivers means 3 buses, for a total capacity of 210 passengers.
Even if the trip time was the same for buses and the train (unlikely with football traffic), you couldn't move as many people. The real limitation is probably the capacity of the satellite parking lots.
by Matt Johnson on Aug 24, 2011 2:15 pm • link • report
Of course, it's not really the same as a private game-only line...
by Alon Levy on Aug 24, 2011 2:20 pm • link • report
Signed,
another Iowa City native
by Miriam on Aug 24, 2011 2:20 pm • link • report
I'm not sure what Iowa Citians call it, which is why I used the quotations.
For example, Charlotte uses "Uptown" and Philadelphia uses "Center City". I meant no offense. I'm sure Iowa City has a center city/historic district that is just as downtowny as other cities of similar size.
by Matt Johnson on Aug 24, 2011 2:27 pm • link • report
Iowa Citians pretty much call it downtown, unless they're somewhere specific in downtown - the Ped. Mall, Pentacrest, Northside...
I'd actually venture to say that Iowa City probably has a more downtowny downtown that most cities of a similar size. Since it's a college town, it's more walkable than a lot of Iowa towns.
Also, rumor has it that Gov. Terry (in my house we always said "Braindead") has apparently seen to it that Amtrak to Chicago is no-go.
But specifically, I recall talk for a while of restoring passenger service between Cedar Rapids & Iowa City along the old CRANDIC (see that?) route. I remember seeing that the price tag for it was $6M, and after living in DC and seeing the price tag for infrastructure projects couldn't believe anyone wouldn't jump on that.
by Lucre on Aug 24, 2011 2:52 pm • link • report
There is a train station in downtown Iowa City about 2 miles away. (As Miriam points out the train station isn't quite downtown but is only a couple blocks away from the downtown post office, which happens to be only a couple blocks away from downtown itself.)
As to Iowa City's downtown... well it's not like it used to be. Oh, for Things Things&Things, and Bushnell's Turtle, and all the places that gave it character.
by B.O. on Aug 24, 2011 2:57 pm • link • report
by CP on Aug 24, 2011 3:50 pm • link • report
by Some Ideas on Aug 24, 2011 3:51 pm • link • report
Im going to wager than $10 a ticket barely covers game day operation. The cost of acquisition + maintenance will never be paid for by fans.
Meanwhile, on campus "what do you mean the library has to close at 8pm due to budget cuts!?"*
*Example, not real situation.
by JJJJJ on Aug 24, 2011 7:54 pm • link • report
soccer fansare strongly encouraged/forced to travel by train to away-games. Some of the larger stadiums (which are still tiny compared to American stadiums) have their ownsoccer fanhooligan-proof train stations. Some only open for soccer games.by Jasper on Aug 24, 2011 7:58 pm • link • report
by Alek on Aug 24, 2011 8:32 pm • link • report
Iowa Football is their athletic department's cash cow. According to their filings with the Dept of Ed, the football team brings in $45 million in revenue, and makes a profit of $27 million each season.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/01/30/how-the-big-ten-stacks-up-against-the-sec-in-sports-revenues/
At almost all of those Big Ten schools, football profits subsidize the rest of the Athletic Dept. None that I know of rely on student fees or tuition.
I'm guessing that the railroad paid for the acquisition of the cars (they bear the RR's reporting mark), since railroads like that will often find a use for passenger cars for chartered trains, etc.
by Alex B. on Aug 24, 2011 8:37 pm • link • report
Iowa Northern does own the cars. And they probably bought them from Metra for a song, since the cars were originally owned by C&NW (they're old).
by Matt Johnson on Aug 24, 2011 8:42 pm • link • report
Even if the University is subsidizing the train's operation, that's the cost of doing business when you want to host football games of that size. As noted above, if they didn't do this, then they'd be looking at shuttle buses or something else to move the people around, instead.
by Alex B. on Aug 24, 2011 8:49 pm • link • report
by rogerwilco on Aug 24, 2011 10:16 pm • link • report
by movement on Aug 25, 2011 9:29 am • link • report
WRT the Syracuse one mentioned, why did it stop?
by Richard Layman on Aug 25, 2011 11:13 am • link • report
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