-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd Here are some stats I pulled from NARP site and US Census. Look like Amtrak peaked under Bush I and is at lowest normalized useage now. Amtrak's recent growth has been slower than overall population. Capacity constrained? Demographics? What?
QUOTE: Originally posted by PNWRMNM Interestings stats. I especially like passenger train FEET per year per person. ATK is irrelevant everywhere byt the NEC. Mac
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton May we check the numbers again? Column 2 is 1000 passenger miles and in 2003 the table then says that there were 5,503 times 1000 or 5,503,000 total passenger miles? According to that remarkable statistic that means some 24,000,000 passengers boarding Amtrak only traveled an average of a of about 1200 feet on each of their trips. You might want to do something about figuring in the very signifcant growth of traffic on shorter runs.
QUOTE: Originally posted by ohlemeier Amtrak ridership IS AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL E-V-E-R. Hear that? That means more people - on short distance AND long distance trains - have ridden Amtrak than any other past year. I don't know how many times this has to be said. It's up. And ridership has also increased while air travel hasn't increased at the rate Amtrak's ridership has gone up, according to past NARP information. Here's more evidence, from NARP. http://www.narprail.org/default.asp?p=hot%2Ehtm Amtrak has set yet another ridership record for fiscal 2004. Over 25 million riders were carried on the nation’s passenger rail system from October 2003 through September 2004. Leading the way were the Cardinal (23.1%), the three Michigan Corridor services (Wolverine 12.2%, Blue Water 16.7%, Pere Marquette 19.6%), Heartland Flyer (16.8%), Capitol Limited (17.4%), Texas Eagle (9.5%), and Southwest Chief (6.1%). Overall, corridors were up 4.4% and National Network (long distance) trains were up 3.3%. These numbers, especially National Network, are even more impressive given several long-term and high profile service disruptions this past year, particularly the four hurricanes to strike Florida, the Republican and Democratic conventions, and the two month long service disruption to the Silver Service due to CSX Transportation trackwork
QUOTE: Originally posted by ohlemeier So there's MORE train routes now than 30 years ago??? How come I rode trains in the late 70s that aren't running now? Was I on another planet?? You must be looking at the wrong maps, pal.
QUOTE: Originally posted by ohlemeier Overall ridership - I'll say it again - IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH. You can't ride a train that isn't there.
QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd [I said early 70s. The map sprouted like crazy under Carter. Try 1972, not 1979.
QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper Again, a healthy Amtrak is necessary for National Preparedness.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd The "national" network is another story. The original Amtrak map had LESS routes than there are now - much less than in 1979. In 1972, there was: no Adirondak no Lake Shore Ltd. no svc west of Buffalo on PC (no Toronto or Detroit train) no svc between Jax and NO only one route across Montana no Desert Wind no Pioneer no Hilltopper no Shenendoah no Capital Ltd. no Atlanta - Mobile train no Pt Huron Train no Grand Rapids train no KC Mule The Crescent is a good example. It's roughly the same size train as in 1980 even though the population of Atlanta, Greensboro, Charlotte and other points along the route have doubled in size since then.
QUOTE: Originally posted by ohlemeier That's only at the very beginning of Amtrak. The system is much smaller today. Nearly half of the routes you name are gone. The Pioneer, Desert Wind were ordered to stop by Congress during the 1990s. The last three cited are all state-funded, and all three of those almost went awaythis year, thanks to backwards-looking state governments. The system NEVER "sprouted like crazy." Sprouted like crazy implies there were trains that weren't necessary. That never happened. There has never, under any year or any administration, been enough passenger trains. The Crescent is the same size because there's no money to buy more equipment. Never has been enough money. Nor has there been any money to run a needed second train on that sane route - one that would run DC-Atlanta in the daytime, serving the large Carolina population. QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd The "national" network is another story. The original Amtrak map had LESS routes than there are now - much less than in 1979. In 1972, there was: no Adirondak no Lake Shore Ltd. no svc west of Buffalo on PC (no Toronto or Detroit train) no svc between Jax and NO only one route across Montana no Desert Wind no Pioneer no Hilltopper no Shenendoah no Capital Ltd. no Atlanta - Mobile train no Pt Huron Train no Grand Rapids train no KC Mule The Crescent is a good example. It's roughly the same size train as in 1980 even though the population of Atlanta, Greensboro, Charlotte and other points along the route have doubled in size since then. Why is this?
QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd The "national" network is another story. The original Amtrak map had LESS routes than there are now - much less than in 1979. In 1972, there was: no Adirondak no Lake Shore Ltd. no svc west of Buffalo on PC (no Toronto or Detroit train) no svc between Jax and NO only one route across Montana no Desert Wind no Pioneer no Hilltopper no Shenendoah no Capital Ltd. no Atlanta - Mobile train no Pt Huron Train no Grand Rapids train no KC Mule The Crescent is a good example. It's roughly the same size train as in 1980 even though the population of Atlanta, Greensboro, Charlotte and other points along the route have doubled in size since then. Why is this?
Jock Ellis Cumming, GA US of A Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers
QUOTE: Originally posted by jockellis Don - fellow Atlantan -- et al: A commuter's car at speed on I75, 85 or 20 will take up at least 50 feet and should be more. As I pointed out in my column in the Atlanta Constitution back in March, the 1,800 cars that DOT exp[ects to take off the road when the Griffin to Atlanta red line is opened would be two lanes wide by three miles long. I believe AMTRAK's NEC trains carry a total of much more than that so it does help. What is really needed is a Rail Appreciation Day whereby all passenger rail takes a holiday and the US road systems get to take up the slack and see how they like it. I don't think Atlantans and interlopers realize how many of their fellow cubicle dwellers take MARTA. They would add about 100 cars per minute past a given spot if they were unable to take the trains which during rush hour cram about 85 people (I count) into each of the six cars on each run. Jock Ellis
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
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