http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/08/bad-trains-explained/496742/?utm_source=yahoo&yptr=yahoo
I'm not really anxious to get into this again, and we are treading on dangerous terrain because this subject inevitably will involve politics. I'll try to be circumspect.
First, toward the end, the piece mentions Amtrak's theoretical "For Profit" status, but neglects to mention that there is a sizeable number of people who believe this was a cynical move by the original legislators to ensure that the enterprise would fail. I am one of those people.
Second, yes, the great distances in the Continental U.S. create a situation in which trains are not the fastest way to get from one end of the country to another. However, the maps in the piece show that there are shorter distances where trains are a viable solution to transportation problems.
Third, costs are mentioned, but they are not mentioned in direct contrast with the actual total costs of other solutions. Current funding methods are so different from mode to mode, that the costs of airport and highway construction and maintenance, the costs of operation of air traffic control systems, inland waterway dredging, etc. are not even considered when the costs of a competing or complementary rail system are brought up.
Fourth, Amtrak's use of the private railroad facilities has been brought up. Do they interfere with freight operations? Only if the host railroad is unable to adjust its operations to accommodate the well-publicized, scheduled operation of the trains on their tracks every day, on the same schedule. It's true that there are occasional mechanical failures of Amtrak trains and occasional unforeseen delays such as grade crossing accidents, passenger illness, etc. that could delay an Amtrak train on the host railroad, and consequently delay freight trains; but these things happen as often with freight operations as with passenger operations. Maybe more so.
Fifth, the piece mentions that Amtrak is a relatively small system, considering the size of the country. If we are to assign blame, we have to look to the folks who control the purse strings. The narrator says "Amtrak never got the opportunity to build their own tracks". Maybe he should have said they never got the MONEY AND POLITICAL SUPPORT to build their own tracks.
I've barely scratched the surface. The piece is 8-1/2 minutes long. You can't adequately cover the subject in that time.
Tom
(edited)
thanks
i thought the video provided fairly comprehensive explanation of the issues surrounding U.S. train travel and the comparisions to France were very helpful.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading