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If I was the President of Amtrak, and it was run like a business, I would not have to worry about replacing the sleeping, dinning, and lounge cars.  Recognizing that less than 15 per cent of Amtrak's passengers ride the long distance trains, with only 2.04 per cent booking a sleeper, I would sell the long distance train business to anyone who wanted it.  I doubt there would be many takers.      I would buy equipment that would best meet the potential market for passenger rail, which is relatively short, high density corridors.  Before I worried about the technology, although it is important, I would focus on design features that would appeal to the customers and reduce operating costs.  After all, at least in a free market environment, the first objective of a passenger carrier is to entice enough people to use it.  They want a ride that is safe, economical, convenient, frequent, comfortable, and dependable.  Most passengers don't care whether the train is push-pull, active or passive tilt, turbo charged or powered by rubber bands, etc.  Equipment is only one variable in a passenger transport system.  Buying better rolling stock, without considering how it fits into the total system, will produce a sub-optimized outcome.  If passenger rail is to become a truly competitive surface transport system, management needs to make its equipment buy decisions within a total system perspective and not in isolation.  Upgrading the equipment should go hand in hand with improved stations, i.e. better parking, waiting areas, convenience features, ticketing, fare verification, etc.  Along with any equipment upgrades, I would, at a minimum, implement an automated ticketing and fare verification system similar to that at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).  Or should I say it; a system similar to what the airlines have installed.  Doing so would undoubtedly influence the design of new passenger cars.Passengers would be required to buy a coded e-ticket(s), preferably on-line, to get through the platform access gates, which they would pick up at ticket kiosks just outside the gates.  They would need to use the ticket to enter the enclosed station platform, as well as exit the enclosed platform at their destination, where the amount of the fare would be deducted from their ticket.  If the ticket was purchased for a single ride from A to B, the machine at the exit point would take the ticket.  If the ticket was part of a multi-ride ticket, the fare for the leg traveled would be deducted, and the ticket would be returned to the user.  This is the system used by BART.Passengers purchasing their e-tickets on the Internet would receive a discount, while those buying them from a ticket agent would pay the full price.  Hopefully the incentive would motivate a high percentage of passengers to buy their tickets on-line.  It could work.  Southwest Airlines sells nearly 70 per cent of its tickets on-line.  The BART concept works whether a person is traveling from the San Francisco Airport to Powell Street or from Chicago to St. Louis.  There is no reason why it would not work on Amtrak, other than resistance from people who make a career resisting change.  If fares are verified at the station, the need for on board verification goes away.  This would reduce the number of people required on the train.  For most runs, a locomotive engineer, a trainman and a café car attendant would be all the crew that is required.  One requirement for the cars would be automatic doors and entrance ways that are ADA compliant.  This means they would have to be low floor or the stations would have to have raised platforms.  Raised platforms are expensive, but some of the cost could be offset by reduced labor costs and the savings from the elimination of the long distance trains, which alone could result in a return of $59 billion by 2050.  That would pay for a lot of raised platforms or better cars or both. It might be possible to have it both ways.  When I was in San Francisco in June, I rode the light rail train (L) to the zoo.  The cars are configured to handle high level platforms from downtown to West Portal.  Beyond the Portal the high level platform access plates retract and the steps required for street level boarding appear.  Actually, they are hidden under the high level access plates.  They were there all the time.The goal would be to buy a standard car that could be configured for business and coach class as well as a café.  It could be used anywhere on the system.  Again, taking a cue from Southwest Airlines, it is more efficient to work with one design.  It simplifies staffing, training, maintenance, etc., which means reduced operating costs.  And for an organization that loses as much money per passenger mile as Amtrak, saving money should be a primary goal.
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