5 ms·

Sections of passing track?

H8crilA 7y ago
Also, with such high costs it'd be better to just kick the "offending" passenger out. Or lock the doors 10 minutes prior to departure (i.e. plan to depart 10 minutes after the official departure time, but not let new people in during that window).
- ars 7y ago
  That's just one example. Lots of things can cause delays. And your 10 minute plan gets complicated when you consider they pick up passengers at multiple stops along the way. If they waited an extra 10 minutes at every stop they might ending up causing themselves an even bigger delay. But I don't have specific info on what things are causing the most delays.
- andylynch 7y ago
  Ten minutes?? U.K. trains will be open at the station for less less than a minute and a half at the most and that’s plenty. Tube trains will dwell for only 20 seconds and often less - but then that’s because you have 30+ per hour
bobthepanda 7y ago
Most of the American rail network is now owned by freight railroads who have actively dismantled electrification, double or quadruple track, etc. This is because unlike other forms of transportation, railways are required to pay property taxes, so they're incentivized to have as little improved property as possible.
- dageshi 7y ago
  This seems like it might be the entire crux of the issue? If taxes are incentivising people to reduce lines to the bare viable minimum then that's what you're going to get in terms of service.
- jazzyjackson 7y ago
  In all my days of Amtrak criticism I haven’t heard about property taxes, can you link me a source? (Not doubting you, I would like to read about it)
  - bobthepanda 7y ago
    This varies by state, but: Minnesota does: https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/railroad-property-tax# https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/railroad-property-tax# New Jersey does: https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/railroadtax.shtml https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/railroadtax.shtml Missouri does: https://apps1.mo.gov/stcoriginalassessment/report/CompanyReports.aspx https://apps1.mo.gov/stcoriginalassessment/report/CompanyRep... The problem was so bad at one point that one of the steps taken to arrest the rail industry's decline was to ban property tax discrimination against railroads: https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2014/dec/tax-clinic-10.html https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2014/dec/tax-clinic-10.... You never see this in Amtrak discussions, because Amtrak does not own the vast majority of the rails it runs on, and people couldn't care less about private companies. For highways and airports, they're pretty much all on publicly owned land, so they don't pay property tax because that would be silly.

Also, with such high costs it'd be better to just kick the "offending" passenger out. Or lock the doors 10 minutes prior to departure (i.e. plan to depart 10 minutes after the official departure time, but not let new people in during that window).

ars 7y ago
That's just one example. Lots of things can cause delays. And your 10 minute plan gets complicated when you consider they pick up passengers at multiple stops along the way. If they waited an extra 10 minutes at every stop they might ending up causing themselves an even bigger delay. But I don't have specific info on what things are causing the most delays.
andylynch 7y ago
Ten minutes?? U.K. trains will be open at the station for less less than a minute and a half at the most and that’s plenty. Tube trains will dwell for only 20 seconds and often less - but then that’s because you have 30+ per hour

bobthepanda 7y ago

Most of the American rail network is now owned by freight railroads who have actively dismantled electrification, double or quadruple track, etc. This is because unlike other forms of transportation, railways are required to pay property taxes, so they're incentivized to have as little improved property as possible.

dageshi 7y ago
This seems like it might be the entire crux of the issue? If taxes are incentivising people to reduce lines to the bare viable minimum then that's what you're going to get in terms of service.
jazzyjackson 7y ago
In all my days of Amtrak criticism I haven’t heard about property taxes, can you link me a source? (Not doubting you, I would like to read about it)
- bobthepanda 7y ago
  This varies by state, but: Minnesota does: https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/railroad-property-tax# https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/railroad-property-tax# New Jersey does: https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/railroadtax.shtml https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/railroadtax.shtml Missouri does: https://apps1.mo.gov/stcoriginalassessment/report/CompanyReports.aspx https://apps1.mo.gov/stcoriginalassessment/report/CompanyRep... The problem was so bad at one point that one of the steps taken to arrest the rail industry's decline was to ban property tax discrimination against railroads: https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2014/dec/tax-clinic-10.html https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2014/dec/tax-clinic-10.... You never see this in Amtrak discussions, because Amtrak does not own the vast majority of the rails it runs on, and people couldn't care less about private companies. For highways and airports, they're pretty much all on publicly owned land, so they don't pay property tax because that would be silly.