I agree the Essential Air Service program is a bad joke. We have four airports in North Dakota that "qualify" for EAS, and their boardings are preposterous ... a benefit for a handful of business people and government types who could well afford to make their own travel arrangements and some towns that want to feel important beyond their size. The average flying citizen in these places drives to the nearest decent-sized airport -- we also have four of those -- where he can get a better deal that does not require direct taxpayer subsidy.
WP's self-serving statements of 45 years ago aside, how do we really know whether a service can really make money, if we don't even try to provide the best, most-attractive-to-potential-customers, type of service?
We are constantly comparing rail to air passenger service. If the only service available between any two city-pairs was one middle-of-the-night flight, maybe only 3 nights a week, I am sure that it would be unprofiable for the airlines (unless subsidized by something like the DOT's Essential Air Service, which apparently pays airlines some $170 million to serve 100 or so cities).
It's more like Amtrak has no money to throw at additional money-losing trains. And it's a given that almost anything you add outside the Northeast Corridor, no matter how well patronized, WILL lose money.
Does anybody remember the despairing Western Pacific spokesman when that road was trying to convince the I.C.C. that it should be allowed to discontinue its portion of the California Zephyr?
"You could sell seats on the roof, and this train would still lose money," he said.
That's true, and it points out the difficulty of trying to serve a route with only one train. But San Antonio COULD be a major tourist attraction generating a lot of traffic; same thing for the pairing of Houston with New Orleans, especially now that so many Katrina evacuees live in Houston. But families are not going to plan a trip that begins and ends in the middle of the night, and potential tourists to the French Quarter are NOT going to begin their trip at 5:00 in the morning! I understand this schedule is the product of SP's combining the Sunset with the Golden State in the late '60's and Amtrak has never tried to fix it. It just makes me feel like Amtrak just plain doesn't give a ***.
Yes, Doug, it stinks, but on a LD route of a couple of thousand miles served by a single pair of trains, somebody's got to be in the middle of the night. Look at Cleveland, Ohio, on two routes half that long.
Schedules are set based on the Origin time and the destination time. Depending upon the significance of intermediate locations, the schedules may be adjusted to better serve the intermediate location.
Times at minor wayside locations just fall where they may. The Amtrak Incentive pay is based On Time performance at designate Checkpoint. Normally there are only a handful of checkpoints for each train. I would expect the schedule times at Alpine are not Checkpoint times and as such are more for information of the traveling public rather that operational necessities.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Sam,
I'm sorry no one ever replied to your post. What a dumb situation, Is it still the same? Just another item to confirm my suspicion that Southwest Airlines controls all aspects of the Amtrak Sunset. How else can you explain serving the biggest tourist attraction in Texas, San Antonio in the middle of the night, or Houston at 5:00 am eastbound.
Doug
On Thursday and Saturday the Sunset Limited (Amtrak Nos. 1 and 2) are scheduled to arrive in Alpine, TX at 1:24 PM and 1:25 PM. There is just one track in Alpine, which means it is impossible for both trains to be on time. Or depart on time. Why would Amtrak create a schedule that is an apparent conflict?
Alpine is a great train watching spot. It is a crew change point for UP and Amtrak. There are lots of freight trains to observe. And when the Sunset Limited calls at Alpine, one can see the Border Patrol in action. Agents have been boarding the train on a regular basis. They apper to be looking for drugs and illegal immigrants, although I suspect the primary motive is drugs. Last week I saw them pull two rather rough looking characters off the train. They put the cuffs on them and put them into a patrol vehicle.
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