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Empire Builder moved to a more southerly route?

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[quote user="MichaelSol"] [quote user="arbfbe"]The math looks pretty good when you compare a single ticket to a lone rider.  Now it all starts to fall apart when you put multiple riders in the same automobile compared to the cost of a like number of AMTK fares.  During a multi day trip the cost of motels vs sleeping in the seat again move the balance towards the train.  If you want a bed on the train the auto again may be "cheaper".  It all depends upon how you want to factor in the options.[/quote]Using $89 hotel rooms, $6 per meal per diem, current Amtrak coach fares and roomette costs and Jay Eaton's gas prices, assuming the car trip requires four nights motel stay ...By car:1 occupant   $738 per person2 occupants  $4053 occupants $294Amtrak1 person coach   $219.00 per person2 persons coach $438.001 person roomette  $740.002 persons, roomette   $370 per personNow, add in the extra time taken by car as a cost, plus overhead and depreciation on the car ...I think Amtrak is truly missing the ad campaign for the Empire Builder ...[/quote]Ignoring the intangible benefits of driving cross country (side trips on a whim, more flexible intineries, etc.), one more apt comparison is the roomette vs motel.  Even the low budget motels like Motel 6 are roomier and more user friendly than the best Amtrak can offer.  Figure more like $45 a night for the OTR traveller on the cheap.  That cuts the four night budget by $180, and brings the auto vs Amtrak comparison to...By car:1 occupant   $558 per personBy Amtrak:1 person roomette  $740.00It still seems to me that passenger rail in general is between a rock and a hard place in these long distance corridors - Too slow to compete with air travel, too inflexible to compete with the OTR experience, and by necessity more expensive than either even with the taxpayer subsidies.  The chart I reference in June TRAINS shows that the highest ridership is between Western Montana/Puget Sound and Chicago/Twin Cities, e.g. the 24 hour/overnight experience.  That's where the prospect of a self sufficient passenger rail operation would succeed, not in the long sparse yonders which have no real visual appeal for the more leisurely tourists.  Those few who claim dependence on Amtrak for subsistence travel are simply getting special welfare treatment not afforded to those small burgs with no passenger rail service.Is there really enough of a market to justify the three day LD trains?
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