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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by radivil [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan Canada is rather distributed too. Not all of our population centres around southern Ontario and Quebec. VIA does have a great deal of passenger service concentrated on the Windsor Corridor route but there is also dense population in both West and East. There are a few trains that are centred in just those areas with a set going cross corridor (Ocean, Canadian). Most is targeted for tourism which is quite profitable to us.[/quote] But its all in one band across the southern border. The US is a series of belts and that prove most difficult to connect with inflexible or low service rail lines. You can't travel from the south half of my state to the north half by rail at all. And that's two seperate population belts. [quote]QUOTE: The U.S is quite fortunate in that everywhere is potentially a great passenger service. You have the east (NEC already), the west (Cascades et al already), the south (Texas to Florida), the North (Boston to Chicago to Seatle) and Centreal.[/quote] And there's more than plenty of places outside those that don't need or can't justify passenger rail at a national level. The corridors are all good and fine for the people that live there. But why should I be helping to finance communter rails in California? That's the job of California's government. [quote]QUOTE: The U.S has the greatest amount of major cities in the world as far as I know and so the commuter possibilities should be profitable enough. The U.S has great amount of scenery including the Rocky Mountains which our nations share. The tourism possibilities should be profitable enough.[/quote] Great for all those places. They should have to fund it themselves. [quote]QUOTE: There is so much lucrative possibilities with Amtrak and not enough brains in the White House to see it. [/quote] The White House does not set policy. And if they were so lucrative, this situation wouldn't be happening in the first place.. [/quote] PA is no more impassable than B.C. We have CP line and then the CN line; both are really busy with everything from unit commodities to intermodal. VIA and the Rocky Mountaineer manage to get access no problem. PA is a little more easy to get around with CSX and NS. There is also routes of potential with the BLE, W&LE and other shortlines using former Conrail tracks. VIA runs a train on Goderich and Exeter line between Brampton and London, Ontario. If you are an American and Californians are Americans and Amtrak is American own as it is an American transportation entity, of course you and other Americans should pay for it. VIA runs some trains that just stay in B.C or in Quebec. Do I complain? No. Why? Because it is owned by the people and it doesn't make a heck of alot of money so it might as well at least be convienient and get Canadians wherever they need to get to. It is not so much a money thing that a convient alternative to driving without taking bus that might get delayed on a busy highway or spend lots of money waiting for a slow and delaying Air Canada flight at Pearson Airport. It is much more convienient for me to take a train to Toronto than a Bus depending on where I'm going. The train doesn't get slowed from an accident on the highway which closes the highway down to two lanes from 6 or 8. I get to where I want with in an hour and not several plus if I need to use the bathroom, the LRC cars have decent ones. Who has bathrooms in their cars?[:D] [/quote] The lines through Pennsylvania, particularly the western half as that's what I know best, aren't designed for passenger train speeds. Going 35 mph isn't going to sell many tickets. "You mean it'll take me TWICE as long to get there?" Plus passenger rail died there before there was even an interstate system. There's nothing there because no one wants to use it. And hasn't for decades. There are few towns. Everyone lives all spread out in teh country. If I'm going to have to drive an hour to a station to get on a train to ride for three hours to get where I need to go and its only a two hour drive to begin with, why even bother with the train? I don't want to pay for California because I live in Pennsylvania. We have states for a reason. If Philadelphia wants something, ok go for it. They're in my state. I know it sounds stupid, but that's the way I think. They're part of my local group. Its why we have states in teh first place.
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