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TrainsMag.com Reader Poll – November 24, 2003

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Wow...as a Japanese railfan and former TRAINS reader, I am surprised to see a bit of enthusiasm from my US counterparts over Central Japan Railway (better known here as JR Tokai for the region it serves)'s maglev achievement. It certainly is breathtaking. But the sad reality is, JR Tokai's Shinkansen bullet train is under increasing assault from the skies. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways are stealing customers from the rails by the thousands...my parents and sister included...with efficient 777's, frequent-flyer programs, steep discounts, and what not. When I look at the website of the Japanese rail monthly "Railway Journal," I see lots of grousing about how JR Tokai is preoccupied with carrying as many people as possible, and not making its best effort to make the Shinkansen an attractive option. I happen to be one of them. Why, the Tokyo-Osaka route lost all food-service cars more than three years ago, and the cramped 5-abreast coach seating makes Shinkansen seem not too different from an MD-90. Lost too are the 100-series trainsets, with the double-decked first class cars that drew so much attention from the traveling public (old-time TRAINS readers may remember seeing those missile-nosed consists on a TRAINS cover back in 1989 or '90. Douglas Polinder did a pretty good job of introducing Japan Railways). This might sound like a spoiled boy grousing over not getting something better, and I do not blame those who feel that way. I lived in South Carolina 1980-85, and remember those annual battles Amtrak had to fight for mere survival. But to me Amtrak seemed possessed of a fighting spirit, perhaps due in great part to the presence of a man named W. Graham Claytor, Jr. I feel a need for a Japanese Claytor, someone who dares everyone to "get your head out of the clouds." I speak from a wee bit of experience; those Amfleet II coaches I rode on the "Palmetto" back in '85 is a match for any standard-class coach in this country in terms of creature comfort. That's why I wish Amtrak the very best of luck as it lives its 32nd year (btw, I am exactly two weeks younger than the National Railroad Passenger Corporation), and keep high hopes for the future of US passenger railroading.
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