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Yes, and the best of the best: Japan. But, the point is that we're taking about Amtrak -- have you experienced them? The odds of Amtrak pulling this off are n
by eplanit 5y ago
Yes, and the best of the best: Japan. But, the point is that we're taking about Amtrak -- have you experienced them?
The odds of Amtrak pulling this off are near 0. They earned their poor reputation.
- dangus 5y agoAmtrak is perfectly fine. I’ve used it on overnight trips on the crummiest long distance services. Yeah, I mean, it’s no European or Japanese or Chinese rail. But the idea that Amtrak can’t do something just because they’re Amtrak is ridiculous. They’re a part of the federal government, the only thing that the federal government needs to do things is political will. This rail plan is 100% realistic because it appropriately de-emphasizes long distance rail that Amtrak is so infamous for. It targets expansion in very obviously lacking intercity regions. These new routes will be profitable for the government either directly or in lasting economic benefits.
- ghaff 5y agoYeah, the Northeast Corridor is fine. Would it be nice if Boston to DC wasn't an all-day trip? Sure. But the two halves of the route are very competitive with air travel and I'll take them over flying unless I'm connecting to another flight. I've also rarely taken other city pairs. What isn't practical except mostly as a one-off tourist thing for someone with lots of time is going Chicago to Seattle and similar routes or fantasies of drilling a tunnel through the Appalachians for a fast NY to Chicago run.
- betterunix2 5y agoAmtrak is not technically part of the federal government. It was set up as a private, for-profit corporation that is jointly owned by the government and the railroads whose passenger operations were turned over to Amtrak. The federal government's control over Amtrak is meant to end once Amtrak is able to operate independently, but Amtrak has never really been on a path to independent/profitable operations and will probably never get there. Amtrak's biggest challenge is that its service is inconvenient in most of the cities/towns it serves. For example, in Syracuse, NY, where Amtrak has 8 trains per day (four in each direction) that arrive at reasonably convenient times, the station is located on the outskirts of the city, far from the city center. Cleveland has the opposite problem: the station is near the downtown area, but all of the scheduled trains (4 per day, two in each direction) arrive between 1 am and 6 am. Where Amtrak is convenient to use (e.g. the NEC) it works reasonably well and is actually competitive with driving or flying.
- newsclues 5y agoI took a multi day trip on via rail. Also used high speed trains in Germany. I understand the resistance but there is no technical problem that prevents efficient passenger rail services in North America, we just need to do it.
- eplanit 5y agoOh, I'd love to see it. If we could accomplish a Shinkansen...! But again, with Amtrak's record, where does the confidence come from that they could pull it off? As is pointed out above, it has never really succeeded, and has been propped-up by the government its entire life.
- newsclues 5y agoGovernment has a poor track record yet they continue to have confidence. Change leadership, change direction and continually improve.