Trains.com

More competition for Amtrak

4076 views
30 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Saturday, June 17, 2023 9:46 AM

That's more a competition for Brightline and, prospectively, Texas Central than for Amtrak, considering where these buses now run.

And unless you need that 21" seat width, the 18" Business Class seat has the same footrest and the same 140-degree sleeping recline.

But neither seems to have the 'hover-seat' active vertical and lateral suspension so necessary for LD buses (especially as highway infrastructure continues to deteriorate and traffic increases) and I wonder about the economy of the increased seat tracking (and probably number of seats per row) that buses with these seats would have.

I find myself wishing there were more-detailed reports on exactly how the Pickwick Nite Coach amenities were provided, particularly those with the coach in motion, and which of the Delta 'proposed' amenities would scale to bud transport.

Now this is not "competition for Amtrak" as much as it is a wake-up call for Amtrak Thruway to wake up and innovate this stuff not only for the routes it can't run with trains or railcars, but increased feeder and regional service to complement the trains it does run.

Long past time that Amtrak recognized that LD trains won't be any more financially successful at 'basic transportation' now than they were in the age of, say, Biaggini or Menk, and accept that any way to 'profitability' for them lies in making them more attractive than 'the competition'.  

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • 6,952 posts
More competition for Amtrak
Posted by CMStPnP on Saturday, June 17, 2023 9:14 AM

I would consider this as an option using their First Class bus........looks really nice.

https://www.redcoachusa.com/redcoach-experience/

 

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy