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<p><em>I would imagine that you could fit only a very few Texans onto two daily trains, yes. Do they have to be standing-room only and people piled on the roof before train service should be expanded?</em></p><p>Texans have demonstrated overwhelmingly a preference for the airplane for distances of more than 200 miles and the car for distances of less than 200 miles or for family outings. There is practically no market for passenger rail service in Texas, outside of commuter rail in the state's major cities. And a play on words will not change this fact. </p><p>The state legislature will not consider funding rapid rail between the Lone Star state's big cities. There is a good reason for their stance. They know that it would lose buckets of money to support the travel preferences of a handful of people. It is also the reason why private investors are not lining up to fund passenger rail in Texas.</p><p>The number of people who ride Amtrak's trains to and from Texas could be handled with a couple of buses. In fact, given the one constant for the Texas Eagle - it is usually late; putting people on buses to complete their journey is a common occurrence. </p><p>For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, the Eagle sold approximately 51 per cent of its available seat miles. The Sunset Limited sold approximately 52 per cent of its available seat miles, and the Heartland Flyer sold nearly 38 per cent of its available seat miles. Moreover, in the case of the Eagle, the the load factor was considerably higher north of St. Louis than south of there. Not to worry; it will be a long time before anyone has to stand on Amtrak's or any trains in Texas. </p>
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