Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Speaking for the 99.7% of Americans who either don't use or can't use Amtrak, I will say this: I don't "hate" Amtrak per se, what I hate is...... 1. I am a railfan, and I would love the opportunity to legitimately travel by rail on a business or leisure trip if the opportunity came up, but the fact is my part of the country is not served by passenger rail, and other nearby parts of the country that are served by passenger rail are not served in a fashion convenient for utilizing it, and I have no incentive to go out of my way just to use it. Scheduling station stops at 2 am and going places other than where I need or want to go is no incentive to go out of my way just so I can say I rode the train. 2. It isn't Amtrak so much as it is the way Amtrak exists. Trying to run a 21st century train with 19th century logistics just doesn't cut it. Constanty feeding a bottomless pit with taxpayer dollars for an entity that has no real incentive to change for the better or provide a service that the other 99.7% of the nation can use doesn't cut it. As has been pointed out in other posts on this topic, the ideal of rail travel is the late afternoon boarding, a fine meal, cocktails, partying till 1am (or reading, quietly conversing, working out, watching a movie, etc), then off to your own room with your own bed, waking up and having a good breakfast, and then arriving at your destination by 9 am. That is the image that would attract a clientele, and that ideal should be the focus of Amtrak's resources, but tell me, where in the Amtrak Nation does this ideal ever exist? On the NEC? the LD's? Can an airline or a bus line compete with that ideal? NO! Instead, Amtrak just has to compete with puddlejumpers on the NEC and Greyhound on the LD's, so instead of focusing on the comparatively advantageous niche where there is no other real option for the traveler they waste their time on the competitive disadvantage, where there is a viable option for the traveler. 3. I have argued for reorganizing Amtrak into a National Rail Passenger Service oversight agency, wherein the proper incentives are put into play for the Class I's to take back the operation of passenger trains, and then sit back for 10 or 15 years and see if the private sector can come up with the necessary innovations that would make rail passenger service viable. A transferable tax credit for each passenger/mile served should be incentive enough to intice the Class I's to try it. If that doesn't amount to anything after a decade or so, then maybe a true national passenger rail service should go the way of the riverboat. If the Northeast states want the NEC to go on, then let them pay for it. Same for California, Florida, et al. If it's true that non-railfans are the ones who demand rail passenger service on a national scale, those same people may also support it on a state by state basis. At least then the 0.3% are forced to pay a greater share for their niche subsidy, which may cause them to rethink their support for this concept of rail passenger service. If not, then more power to them!
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag