Amtrak : We Just Had Our Best June Ever

[marmar]

Amtrak says 2013 was the agency's best June on record -- and its second-best month ever. But the railroad continues to be a politically charged topic in Congress.

According to an Amtrak press release, so far this fiscal year the railroad has set monthly records in October, December, January, March, May and June, with March being the best single month in its history.

But even as Amtrak touts its ridership, its federal subsidy is the subject of much debate.

Bill Shuster (R-PA), the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, has said a rail re-authorization bill is one of Congress's top priorities this year. But like his predecessor, John Mica, he wants the railroad to get less federal funding. ..........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/jul/09/amtrak/

[Lawlbringer]

1. Cut the subsidy...

and if you have to, charge for streaming services over wifi. It'd generate a LOT of money, both raising revenues, enabling them to upgrade their services, and make riders much happier because then then there's something to do other than read (not that reading's no good, but being crampd in the seat reading for 3+ hours in a clip can make someone crazy.

[Le Taz Hot]

2. Cutting the subsidy

will force Amtrak to raise it's prices which will make Amtrak travel more expensive and less available to low-income customers. Amtrak needs to continue to increase it's ridership which in itself, is a cost offset.

I've only ridden Amtrak once recently and it had WiFi for no extra charge. Also, my seat was very comfortable and no one would ever mistake me for a fashion model.

[hunter]

10. Personally, I was thinking of reducing the subsidized highway system to two lanes...

... and running two, four, even six tracks of electrified rail everywhere.

We could stop importing oil, and get rid of most of our automobiles too.

[NuclearDem]

3. Way to go, Amtrak!

I remember taking the Empire Builder home on leave. Left Spokane a little after midnight and had breakfast watching the sun come up over the Rockies in Idaho. Best vacation ever.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. I was just pricing Amtrak tickets, and I have decided against using it.

We really need a modern high speed rail system. The train is just to slow and isn't even price competitive.

For me to travel from Detroit MI to Washington DC by train it would cost ~$85.00 each way and take ~15.5 hours. Worse yet, they bus you to Toledo OH to get on the train. I haven't even checked to see if baggage is extra since I won't be traveling this way even if baggage is free.

If we figure gas costs $3.50 a gallon and I get only 25 MPG on the trip (I get slightly higher mileage than that in combined driving) It would cost me more like $77.00 each way and only take about ten hours including stops. $3.50 / 25 = $0.14 per mile times 550 miles = $77.00. (not counting tolls)


A bus ticket costs about $70.00 each way and the trip takes about 15 hours, still less expensive and faster than the train and there are no transfers.

The lowest airfare I have seen so far is about $305.00 round trip for the ~1.5 hour flight. Of course there are the endless hassles getting into and out of the airports but it still has to be faster than the nearly 16 hours the train would take.

I honestly have not decided how I am going to travel but the train has been ruled out. It really is a shame. Just FYI, my father worked for a railroad company for 50 years, and his father worked for the same company for 50 years, and his father was killed in a train accident while working for that same company in the late 1800's. Now I can't even find a way to rationalize buying a ticket. How sad is that?



Link to the Amtrak page I am referring to: http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak


^snip^


6030 Bus

Departs: 9:45 PM
Thu Aug 22 2013
Detroit, MI (DET)
Arrives: 10:50 PM
Thu Aug 22 2013
Toledo, OH (TOL)
Duration: 1 hr, 5 min
Amenities


No Checked Baggage



1 Reserved Thruway Seat

30 Capitol Limited

Departs: 11:49 PM
Thu Aug 22 2013
Toledo, OH (TOL)
Arrives: 1:10 PM
Fri Aug 23 2013
Washington, DC - Union Station (WAS)
Station News
Duration: 13 hr, 21 min




1 Reserved Coach Seat
1 Lower Level Coach Seat



and to the bus ticket site: https://www.greyhound.com/farefinder/step2.aspx?


Thu, 08/22 07:00 AM
Thu, 08/22 10:00 PM
Thu, 08/22 15H, 0M 0 $70.00

[marmar]

5. Going east from Detroit on Amtrak is tough, because all the trains go west....

...... thus the bus trip to Toledo to go east.

[Motown_Johnny]

7. Chicago is the main hub

but not all trains go west. If so then California would be overflowing and New York would run out.





link to an old post of mine on a different thread concerning a similar subject: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022351150#post63

^snip^





63. The problem I have with all the plans like this that I see

is the dependence on the Chicago Hub.

What happens in a blizzard? Or a power outage, or some other problem that effects that hub?

I would like to see more secondary hubs so that Chicago could be bypassed if needed.

[marmar]

8. From Detroit they go west to CHicago.

I assume you knew I meant that because of the sarcasm tag.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. Yes I did... hence the "main hub" statement.

But going that way is even worse, far worse as far as time goes. ~26 hours and it is more expensive. More if you want a sleeper. This is just for a seat.


$127.00
353 Wolverine

Departs: 11:20 AM
Thu Aug 22 2013
Detroit, MI (DET)
Arrives: 3:58 PM
Thu Aug 22 2013
Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI)
Station News
Duration: 5 hr, 38 min
Amenities



No Checked Baggage



1 Reserved Coach Seat
1 Business Class Seat
(add $23.00)

30 Capitol Limited

Departs: 6:40 PM
Thu Aug 22 2013
Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI)
Station News Arrives: 1:10 PM
Fri Aug 23 2013
Washington, DC - Union Station (WAS)
Station News
Duration: 17 hr, 30 min

[MindPilot]

6. I don't know how...it is not a pleasent or viable form of transportation.

Their website should be youcantgettherefromhere.com. I rode the Coast Starlight from San Diego to Portland and back last year. The cars I think were new in the 70s. Everything was kind of shabby and dirty. The toilets were absolutely disgustingly filthy by the end of the first day, and I guess no-one to clean them. The food, which on previous trips had ranged from spectacular to pretty decent, was mediocre at best. And half the time they were out of several items on the menu.

And the "free wifi"? What a lie. It is actually a Me-Fi in the parlor car so not only do you have to be in the parlor car (accessible only to 1st class) it's spotty at best.

Took about 3 days each way, and I can't remember a rougher ride. Felt like the rails are not connected together.

For part of the trip, the signals were broken (the steward said they had been that way for over a year) so at each crossing the train stops so the crew could be crossing guards while the train passed, then stopped again so they could get back on. Took a couple of hours to go a couple of miles.

It cost more than a plane ticket and the only advantage was I didn't have to deal with TSA.

No more train travel for me -- it sucks.

ETA--you almost cannot go east from anywhere in CA without a long bus trip.

[smirkymonkey]

11. Amtrak is great in the Northeast Corridor.

I used to take it all the time from NYC to Boston and now that I live in Boston I take the Downeaster service at least once per month from Boston's North Station to Maine (my sister lives there - a great escape from the city! ).

You can even take Business Class on that route for an extra $8.00, which I will be doing this upcoming weekend as I have a broken arm and need the extra room - hopefully can get one of the single seats. I love it, since I don't like flying and it's a great options for short trips along the Northeastern seaboard. I rarely experience delays or late trains and the scenery is lovely.

[Igel]

12. Yes, it would be.

In Congress' backyard, highly visible, uniting a megalopolis so there are lots of potential riders between cities. They've spent a lot of money on upgrading and maintaining the rails. They even have newer trains. It's the flagship line, so to speak--it doesn't get better than that.

Not so great along the southern tier states. It doesn't run every day. It takes forever to get anywhere. I've gone from Houston to Tucson, and was this long layover in the middle of the night in San Antonio to wait for the connection from Chicago to show up.

It's 2-3 hours by plane. 6, counting travel time to the airport and wait time. And they give you something to drink.

It's 24 hours by train, not counting travel time to the train station and wait time. The trains can't go more than 40 mph or so because the rail's not in great shape. And it's a toss-up who has priority, Amtrak or the freight trains.

Wife and kid went to AZ recently by train. The train was to leave around 7 pm. It was involved in a car crash in Louisiana and had to stay still for the investigation. It made up time, but only showed up around midnight. Most airlines would have flown in another plane. But there's just one train that starts out in Georgia and ends up in LA.