Anderson possible changes: Dismantling LD, Corridor, Etc.

frequentflyer wrote:Breaking things and traditions are never popular, but at times needed.

That may be true, but I feel that taking a "trust me" attitude when he's de-staffing stations, severely downgrading long distance service & amenities, and is working for the political party that has had elimination of Amtrak as part of its ideological dogma for decades would be naive at best.

Matt Johnson wrote:

frequentflyer wrote:Breaking things and traditions are never popular, but at times needed.

That may be true, but I feel that taking a "trust me" attitude when he's de-staffing stations, severely downgrading long distance service & amenities, and is working for the political party that has had elimination of Amtrak as part of its ideological dogma for decades would be naive at best.

Yes, the PR coming out Amtrak needs to improve, and one should be skeptical. Regarding which political party is in office, Amtrak seems to fare the same no matter who controls the Congress or White House.

frequentflyer wrote:Regarding which political party is in office, Amtrak seems to fare the same no matter who controls the Congress or White House.

Can't really say that when I could not replicate my 2013 cross country journey today, given that it included real meals on the Capitol Limited and the Pacific Parlour Car on the Coast Starlight.

Matt Johnson wrote: That may be true, but I feel that taking a "trust me" attitude when he's de-staffing stations, severely downgrading long distance service & amenities, and is working for the political party that has had elimination of Amtrak as part of its ideological dogma for decades would be naive at best.

Nice try, but Anderson was a Hillary donor.

The point is he's finally running Amtrak as a business. Had that happened 20 years ago, we wouldn't be having these debates.

eolesen wrote: The point is he's finally running Amtrak as a business. Had that happened 20 years ago, we wouldn't be having these debates.

Hard to run it like a business when it exists as a subsidized utility.

Then stop treating it as a subsidized utility?...

I can think of very little that the government runs today that can be labeled a success.

Someone on another group pointed out today that both the NYC and PRR were able to successfully build their own tunnels into Manhattan without any government interference/involvement aside from the building permits...

100 years later, government still hasn't been able to build their replacements.

Brightline was able to launch service three years after getting all of their approvals, and will be built out six years from their approval date.

Meanwhile, there's been talk of adding a Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque train for over ten years, and it's still yet to get beyond the broken promises stage.

Matt Johnson wrote:

frequentflyer wrote:Regarding which political party is in office, Amtrak seems to fare the same no matter who controls the Congress or White House.

Can't really say that when I could not replicate my 2013 cross country journey today, given that it included real meals on the Capitol Limited and the Pacific Parlour Car on the Coast Starlight.

The two largest rounds of LD cuts (1979, 1994-1997) both occurred when a Democrat was in the White House. Amenities and meals take a back seat to actual trains.

Anderson's goal could be cutting "the fat" that's unprofitable...goodbye LD. Expanding regional corridors is all well and good. Putting on my tin foil hat temporarily, is the ultimate goal of this after new equipment is procured and remaining online ROW's are upgraded (with our subsidies) to eventually privatize and sell what's left of the Eastern corridors to low hanging fruit like Pan Am? PAR could bite in that hypothetical it seems, Midwestern and Western RR's despite the privatization mantra might not.

Amtrak is growing marketshare on various routes. There has been numerous new stations built or under comstruction.

I don’t expect the elimination of the national railroad but I do believe routes could be tweaked more for efficiency and Positive Train Control and electrification added via a method such as the one I mentioned so no electric lines need to be run which would save on operating costs. The key is more automation and reduced costs including personnel and energy costs.

I believe the days of higher speed rail are coming. Many areas are seeing upgrades across the nation. The change is happening gradually but the projects are all underway across the system.

mtuandrew wrote:Michigan Service is exactly the type of routes that Anderson wants to have DMUs on, if the states haven’t provided their own equipment already.

VIA did a demo with RDCs on the London-Sarnia route, not sure what the results were.

mtuandrew wrote:Michigan Service is exactly the type of routes that Anderson wants to have DMUs on, if the states haven’t provided their own equipment already.

Really now, anyone about to ride 270 miles Chicago - Detroit on this?

Sorry, I'll be on I-94, listening to the Premium Audio in my buggy and making a stop off at Schuler's in Marshall for a good hunk of cow.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Really now, anyone about to ride 270 miles Chicago - Detroit on this?

Sorry, I'll be on I-94, listening to the Premium Audio in my buggy and making a stop off at Schuler's in Marshall for a good hunk of cow.

I have nothing against a good DMU or even a mediocre one on a commuter run, even if I prefer more exotic propulsion.

Hopefully Amtrak will not try to reinvent the wheel , or rehash a 1950's design, but go for one of the latest European or Asian designs.

David Benton wrote:Hopefully Amtrak will not try to reinvent the wheel , or rehash a 1950's design, but go for one of the latest European or Asian designs.

The feature American passenger railways most lack is SPEED. Their long distance trains are horribly SLOW. Solve that problem and people would want to use them in huge numbers.

george matthews » Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:05 am

Their long distance trains are horribly SLOW. Solve that problem and people would want to use them in huge numbers.

Amtrak equipment is capable of faster service. The problem is they are running behind slow freight trains. The freight haulers own the tracks and dispatch all trains. Their priority is to keep the the freight moving and not stopping a stuff train to let a people train pass. Many historic routes that were multi-tracked were down graded to single track and lower quality track in the 70s and 80s. Now with freight traffic at an all time high, the existing infrastructure is not capable of all the demands made upon it. Perhaps Amtrak needs to find a way to make it more profitable to the Class 1 railroads to prioritize Amtrak trains (as mandated by Congress at the beginning of Amtrak) and improve infrastructure to maximize speed.