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Amtrak says this but the freight disagree. At this point I assume both sides are lieing.

crooked-v 1y ago
Amtrak isn't lying. You can see that the freight trains are too long by literally just watching one.
manquer 1y ago
Having a enforced max length on any route especially those with commuter service is not a bad idea, it is the tendency of freight to scale up the number of cars as much as possible for efficiency, passenger services work better shorter with more frequent services. Yes there are myriad other reasons Amtrak gets delayed, it is not like this is the only bottleneck they have, but that doesn't mean this is not also a key problem.
- tacticus 1y ago
  long trains are great for reducing cost and reducing total profit by delivering slower less frequent services :\
DrewADesign 1y ago
From what people in the industry have told me, freight train management is no less scummy than any other kind of freight transportation management, and they continually make trains longer and longer despite nearly everyone’s objections. Some are miles long so there’s no way engineers can see the front of the train even with a gentle curve, and they’re taking hazardous cargo through populated areas. I’d take Amtrak’s word on it.
- mcv 1y ago
  Wasn't there a big train crash with hazardous materials on an understaffed train a few years ago? And a strike for more sensible working conditions that was struck down by Congress? I love that the US moves so much freight by train rather than truck, but everything I hear about how trains are run in the US sounds terrible.
  - supertrope 1y ago
    The East Palestine, Ohio crash can’t be directly blamed on lean staffing. Biden for all his pro-union talk intervened to prevent a strike, valuing consumers and capital over the union. https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-13/tracking-productivity-in-line-haul-railroads.htm https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-13/tracking-productivity...
    - DrewADesign 1y ago
      Yeah, kind of like when they put ‘style’ on the end of a product that copies the aesthetic of something without functionally being that thing— like a kosher-style deli or a professional-style stove— the mainstream democratic leaders are pro-labor-style politicians.
  - queenkjuul 1y ago
    The infrastructure is horrifying and the railroads do everything possible to defer any and all maintenance. Practically every train arrives late, but the customers can't really do much about it (how else are you going to move 4 million pounds of coal?)
    - bluGill 1y ago
      The main infratructor is in great shape. There are a lot of little used lines in terrible shape
- bluGill 1y ago
  Those in the industry includes those who benefit from calling management bad. As such it is hard to know if anyone is telling the truth. everything I've heard doesn't add up. So I know someoneeis lying but not who or how much
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - DrewADesign 1y ago
    Do you have any reason to believe amtrak would lie?
hamdingers 1y ago
What does Amtrak have to gain by lying about this?
- fknorangesite 1y ago
  I am skeptical that Amtrak is outright lying about this, but of course I can imagine the motivation: they get to blame delays on an external factor.
  - bluGill 1y ago
    I don't think anyone is outright lying. I think they are just not telling the full story. What that full story is though I have no idea, nor do I have any way to figure it out. (Any investigative reporters want to spend a year or two tracking this down? Beware that there probably isn't enough interest to pay for the time you spend)
- Rebelgecko 1y ago
  No idea how true/false the comments are, but one reason to lie would be to scapegoat someone else for Amtrak's problems. If an airline's flights were regularly delayed by 6-24 hours, they'd go out of business
queenkjuul 1y ago
I worked for a freight railroad. Amtrak is correct.
- bichiliad 1y ago
  Hang in there, I hear it’s anything but easy working for freight rail.
  - queenkjuul 1y ago
    I've been out for a couple years and was just a code monkey anyway. But they did treat me poorly, and it was quite shocking seeing how the sausage was made.

Amtrak isn't lying. You can see that the freight trains are too long by literally just watching one.

Having a enforced max length on any route especially those with commuter service is not a bad idea, it is the tendency of freight to scale up the number of cars as much as possible for efficiency, passenger services work better shorter with more frequent services. Yes there are myriad other reasons Amtrak gets delayed, it is not like this is the only bottleneck they have, but that doesn't mean this is not also a key problem.

tacticus 1y ago
long trains are great for reducing cost and reducing total profit by delivering slower less frequent services :\

DrewADesign 1y ago

From what people in the industry have told me, freight train management is no less scummy than any other kind of freight transportation management, and they continually make trains longer and longer despite nearly everyone’s objections. Some are miles long so there’s no way engineers can see the front of the train even with a gentle curve, and they’re taking hazardous cargo through populated areas. I’d take Amtrak’s word on it.

mcv 1y ago
Wasn't there a big train crash with hazardous materials on an understaffed train a few years ago? And a strike for more sensible working conditions that was struck down by Congress? I love that the US moves so much freight by train rather than truck, but everything I hear about how trains are run in the US sounds terrible.
- supertrope 1y ago
  The East Palestine, Ohio crash can’t be directly blamed on lean staffing. Biden for all his pro-union talk intervened to prevent a strike, valuing consumers and capital over the union. https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-13/tracking-productivity-in-line-haul-railroads.htm https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-13/tracking-productivity...
  - DrewADesign 1y ago
    Yeah, kind of like when they put ‘style’ on the end of a product that copies the aesthetic of something without functionally being that thing— like a kosher-style deli or a professional-style stove— the mainstream democratic leaders are pro-labor-style politicians.
- queenkjuul 1y ago
  The infrastructure is horrifying and the railroads do everything possible to defer any and all maintenance. Practically every train arrives late, but the customers can't really do much about it (how else are you going to move 4 million pounds of coal?)
  - bluGill 1y ago
    The main infratructor is in great shape. There are a lot of little used lines in terrible shape
bluGill 1y ago
Those in the industry includes those who benefit from calling management bad. As such it is hard to know if anyone is telling the truth. everything I've heard doesn't add up. So I know someoneeis lying but not who or how much
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- DrewADesign 1y ago
  Do you have any reason to believe amtrak would lie?

hamdingers 1y ago

What does Amtrak have to gain by lying about this?

fknorangesite 1y ago
I am skeptical that Amtrak is outright lying about this, but of course I can imagine the motivation: they get to blame delays on an external factor.
- bluGill 1y ago
  I don't think anyone is outright lying. I think they are just not telling the full story. What that full story is though I have no idea, nor do I have any way to figure it out. (Any investigative reporters want to spend a year or two tracking this down? Beware that there probably isn't enough interest to pay for the time you spend)
Rebelgecko 1y ago
No idea how true/false the comments are, but one reason to lie would be to scapegoat someone else for Amtrak's problems. If an airline's flights were regularly delayed by 6-24 hours, they'd go out of business

queenkjuul 1y ago

I worked for a freight railroad. Amtrak is correct.

bichiliad 1y ago
Hang in there, I hear it’s anything but easy working for freight rail.
- queenkjuul 1y ago
  I've been out for a couple years and was just a code monkey anyway. But they did treat me poorly, and it was quite shocking seeing how the sausage was made.