Overmod charlie hebdo ... a single vestibule and exit per car has been the norm on ICE trains on DB for many years. And this works despite the very short station dwell of many of the German trains. I wonder if part of this is careful 'staging' of passengers about to board so they don't interfere with detraining passengers. What typifies German equipment that does not operate from high-level platforms?
charlie hebdo ... a single vestibule and exit per car has been the norm on ICE trains on DB for many years.
And this works despite the very short station dwell of many of the German trains.
I wonder if part of this is careful 'staging' of passengers about to board so they don't interfere with detraining passengers.
What typifies German equipment that does not operate from high-level platforms?
Platforms are mixed in height, so a few (2-3?) stairs also drop down where needed, whether ICE, RE or what are left of older, more conventional, loose car stock.
Passengers seldom need to line up on platform for boarding a car to a specific location, as the old Kurswagen concept is long gone. Passengers are very orderly in boarding, stepping to one side of any door to allow disembarking first, always. The exception might be large groups of traveling football fans,
While not exactly to the original poster's concept (trying to add services without losing coach seats, as I understand it), the discussion does remind me of France's premier pre-TGV train, "Le Mistral".
In addition to 2 dining cars, it had a rather unique bar car. About 2/3 of the car was a bar. The other 1/3 was composed of a bookstall, office center, and hairdressing salon.
The "bookstall" was a small shop counter, where one could pick up last minute necessities, including a fresh tie or fashionable scarf.
The "office center" consisted of a small space with a couple of secretaries, typewriters, dictation equipment, etc. You could dictate a letter, and have it typed up for you before disembarking -- at no cost. The secretaries were provided by Kelly Girl or Manpower or some such agency, and the office equipment by Olivetti, all "for promotional consideration".
And the hair salon advertised "for both men & women" (don't recall if there was a charge for that service).
Until Amtrak trains are no longer almost full on nearly every route do not do anything to reduce capacity of any train. All these so called improvements just reduce capacity. IMO it will be 2025 or 2026 before capacity will exceed demand. That is if Amtrak does not start a bunch of additional trains.
blue streak 1 Until Amtrak trains are no longer almost full on nearly every route do not do anything to reduce capacity of any train. All these so called improvements just reduce capacity. IMO it will be 2025 or 2026 before capacity will exceed demand. That is if Amtrak does not start a bunch of additional trains.
The last time JPS1 posted some load factors on different routes they were far from 100%, more like 45-58% as I recall.
blue streak 1Until Amtrak trains are no longer almost full on nearly every route do not do anything to reduce capacity of any train. All these so called improvements just reduce capacity. IMO it will be 2025 or 2026 before capacity will exceed demand. That is if Amtrak does not start a bunch of additional trains.
Last I rode the Texas Eagle in April 2021, sleeping car was about 40-50% empty. When Trains states the train is almost full in coach I think they mean to the pandemic seating standard of only 50-60% of the coach seats available.
Yes those figures do show 50 - 60 %. However that is for the full route. Crescent is prime example. Almost always cclose to full ATL - WASH. Beyond those points rapidly emptying. Silver services Orlando is big north toward WASH. A
Amtrak used to publish the max load segment. For Crescent Before Lynchburg service that would be part of the Charlottesville <> WASH segment. Have not seen those figures in years.
blue streak 1Yes those figures do show 50 - 60 %. However that is for the full route. Crescent is prime example. Almost always cclose to full ATL - WASH. Beyond those points rapidly emptying. Silver services Orlando is big north toward WASH. A Amtrak used to publish the max load segment. For Crescent Before Lynchburg service that would be part of the Charlottesville <> WASH segment. Have not seen those figures in years.
When it comes to long distance passenger service, too many people only look at the end to end passenger number without taking into account any of the intermediate traffic that the train also handles. On some routes I suspect the intermediate traffic far out numbers the end to end traffic.
While the Amtrak route structure pales in comparison to the railroad operated networks - both from a passenger perspective as well as a mail and express perspective. Mail with both storage mail cars and working RPO's; express cars being picked up and set off along the route. Remember the days of the Pullman set out sleepers on many trains.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
There is only one non stop end to end train. Auto train. Wonder what its load factor is ? Once a route gets more than one service that does not have same end points then load factor can increase. Amtrak's Florida schedule probably had a high load factor but was zapped because of shortage of equipent
blue streak 1Thereis only one non stop end to end train. Auto train. Wonder what its load factor is ? Once a route gets ore than one service that does not have same end points then load factor can increase. Amtrak's Florida schedule probably had a high load factor but was zapped because of shortage of equipent
During most of the year, from what I have heard, AutoTrain has a high load factor - especially in Snowbird and Sunbird seasons. How the loading is fairing with the Covid restrictions on the destination areas might be troubling.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.