Well then, I hope that DC and the states from Maryland to Massachuetts don't expect the rest of the country to pay for the Northeast Corridor via federal taxation.Let these pay for immense capital expenditures needed that are not included in evaluations of Northeast Corridor financial viablity that show "millions of dollars of profit." Garbage.
It is my opinion that one of the primary reasons the Sunset Limited does not have the ridership of some of the other LD trains is that it remains tri-weekly. Example: I get to New Orleans on a Friday night from San Antonio. I can return from New Orleans Saturday morning (arriving S.A. early Sunday AM) or I have to wait until Monday morning (arriving in S.A. early Tues AM). Saturday is too soon to leave and Monday is too late.
It's the old vicious circle. If you have more frequent and convenient service, more people would use it. If you don't have many people using it, you can't justify the expense of more frequent service. Meanwhile, enjoy the weekend in N.O.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
The once a year trip of a wounded veteran to visit his family across couintry made possible by Amtrak and its hadnicapped room on long distance trains should be as important as the several-times-a-week business trip in the NEC.
Agreed.
It has also been stated recently that the NEC has about $20+ Billion in deferred maintenace, aka capital expenditures. Packaged up in a P3 bond that might be about $1400 million a year, there go the "profits".
That is typical New York thinking. Everything is not just about the City. There is a big country out there way past Queens and the people who live there actually travel from state to state. Some even go beyond New Jersey! We can not just depend on air travel its too precarious and not everybody can get on an airpalnce. besides that it sucks and they beat you up if you dont obey their orders.
daveklepperThe once a year trip of a wounded veteran to visit his family across couintry made possible by Amtrak and its hadnicapped room on long distance trains should be as important as the several-times-a-week business trip in the NEC.
But it isn't, for any reason regarding money or national priorities, and in particular that 'once-a-year' visit won't pay for lugging that handicapped room across America what might be the rest of the year, as opposed to the marginal revenue from the example number of NEC trips.
It also doesn't tell how the veteran got to the train, doubtless from somewhere reasonably distant, or will get to his actual destination address.
Far better to give him a couple of thousand, link him up with Angels Flight, and provide Uber vouchers or limo service at both ends -- then publicize how we care for our vets. It would be cheaper!
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