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Refocusing Amtrak
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by tomtrain</i> <br /><br />There's an ad in the Mar.14th New Yorker mag. by a charter jet company called Avion that's offering NY-LA service at $9,899 per seat. I imagine celebrities and top officials will use it for privacy and fine, fast service avoiding the airline hassle. <br /> <br />I've also noticed several tv commercials lately have included clips of European HSR trains in them, Alavert for one. <br /> <br />As I recall, Santa Fe's Super Chief started as a train limited to 60 passengers running one, two, or three trips per week. <br /> <br />Since Amtrak is a political animal, why not lease a couple Colorado railcar units decked out for an exclusive service, and build the pride Mitch speaks of into a Washington Union - NY Penn train tailored to the travel needs of "power people/influencers" to attract them to rail travel? <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />Tom and all... <br />I think there's been several attempts at providing a "Special, business car" type of arrangement on the corridor. But, alas, they failed. It would take ,in my thinking, at least a "Flagship" type of train and service that just couldn't be messed with. No excuses for delays, no excusses for lapse in service, a train that was seen in other vendor's commercials as a source of pride. That type of thing was tried once back in '79. It was referred to sa Amtrak's "Showcase Trains." The Broadway, The Crescent, and the Southwest, were all part of that program. But the inertia of the corporate culture watered it down quickly, and it too fell. <br />I'm afraid the answers are quite complicated and would take the cooperation of all concerned to make a go of it. I remember seeing the "American European Express" equipment tacked to the back of the Capitol when that service ran every day. Being merely cars on the back of an Amtrak train caused the operation to have exactly the same on-time problems that the coach people would have. Alas, we would watch it pull into Hammond or Valpo with all the blinds drawn down so no one would see that the service was empty. We saw one couple sitting in the diner, looking quite forlorn. <br /> <br />By the by, The Santa Fe Deluxe was limited to 60 passengers and ran once a week.beginning in 1911. It lasted until the start of WWI. Extra fare was $25, which was an enormous amount back then. <br /> <br />Mitch <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
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