AAAOOOW!
If 1,700 people were being paid government wages to make grits, they should have been fired long ago.
I would NEVER have guessed 8 hours by rail from Pittsburg to DC. I’d have thought half that at most.
the long-long-short-long warning whistle
The Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago is a great trip provided you go first class (sleeper). It’s a forty-five hour trip through great country scenes.
Obviously this particular rail line is antiquated. It takes twice as long as driving and there is only one inconvenient departure time. The government, via Amtrak should not be in the business of providing inefficient service and this line really should be cancelled in view of the bloated Federal budget and the shutdown.
If this guy wants an authentic rail experience, there are many privately operated tourist trains to choose from throughout the country. Many offer gourmet meals and special themes. I’m sure there is a nice on in WVA that showcases the beautiful scenery.
Why should the American Taxpayer subsidize her hot grits, white tablecloths and otherwise quaint experience?
Stop funding Amtrak.
Nice tax payer amusement ride you got there.
Ping for Willie Green
AAAOOOW!
I agree with the premise, rail cannot be an airline... If you treat people like they are on a cattle care, you will lose...
Amtrak however, just seems like it just wants to fail...
It can’t compete with the airlines on speed... but where it can blow them away is service... It doesn’t even have to be GREAT service... just ANY SERVICE will be better than domestic cattle soul crushing experience that is commercial air travel today.
However, Amtrak has to attract new customers as well... and this is where I just don’t see the effort. Maybe I am missing it, but can anyone tell me the last time they even saw ANY marketing for Amtrak?
Lord knows I can’t...
What’s the main reasons do not make money?
They are almost always full.
They sell ya $2 of food for $8.
There’s no dining car on the Amtrak between Los Angeles and San Diego but you should go anyway. The train goes right by the ocean, and the stations at both ends are pretty.
What’s the main reasons TRAINS do not make money?
They are almost always full.
They sell ya $2 of food for $8.
The airlines have forced the government to produce slow service. Even the big train companies which now love the Amtrak fees they receive to let their trains ride their tracks are pro-Amtrak. But they are against the trains receiving any type of priority. The reality is that Amtrak’s service is so bad that even people like me who would take it if it were even twice as long as flying, can’t do it. Its not dependable, for no good reason. Its not cheap for no good reason. And its unbelievably slow, for no good reason. So there is no good reason for the service at all. Other countries around the world do a much better job.
Cut them off 100% from any form of funding or Federal guarantees. If they can’t make their slow-assed choo-choo train profitable, eff ‘em.
My wife and I took the Autotrain to Florida last Summer. The sit down dining was surprizingly good, better than many resturants with good reputations. The whole experience, the sleeper car, the service, and the lounge car with huge windows, was impressive.
Privatize it.
The author is lamenting the end of an age gone by. Imagine how the article would read if the train tickets were priced at what it really cost to offer the service they’d come to romanticize!
Face it, Amtrak is already subsidized (i.e. - direct revenues do not cover direct expenses). It is also not as fast as flying or driving. I’d venture to guess that the trains use as much (if not more) energy than a plane connecting the same 2 points.
The measure of its worth should be whether people would be willing to pay the real cost or not. The taxpayer should not be subsidizing antiquated modes of transportation just because some are nostalgic for them.
A bucket list goal of mine has been to experience the Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint train scenes from North by Northwest. Is that possible in 2019?