New York Amtrak Route Loses 25% Of Riders

Whats a turboliner?

I think part of the problem is the equitment, the Freight RR's and Customs for 64. Andy a Turboliner is a train like Acela but it was built in the 70's it was suppose to run in New York State but then how Amtrak stole it has started the fude.

roc wrote:There needs to be a thorough accounting of exactly how airlines are subsidized... The notion of a "discount airline" out-competing trains on short haul routes just seems ridiculous.

Nobody is subsidizing Jet Blue to compete with Amtrak in the Upstate New York market - other than the costs associated with maintaining airports, air traffic control and other elements of the aviation industry infrastructure. Jet Blue makes money flying to Upstate New York and does so because it is a highly efficient, low-cost carrier that provides excellent service.

Part of the way Jet Blue makes money is to keep its planes in the air earning income instead of sitting on the tarmac. Many of the flights from Upstate to JFK leave very early and continue on to destinations in Florida and other regions. So, instead of sitting on the ground a JFK waiting for an 8:30 departure, they are flying in from Syracuse of Rochester with a load of passengers.

Jet Blue is part of Amtrak's troubles in Upstate New York, but the bigger problems, IMHO, are Amtrak's lousy operations (resulting from CSX freight interference, which wasn't an issue with Conrail) and high fares. Under CSX, the Chicago line has become a disaster. Track conditions have deteriorated and it is plugged with trains. The high fares Amtrak charges west of Albany have no justification. They also are unfair: a OW from NYP to Toronto costs only $5 more than a ticket to Syracuse, 250 miles closer to New York.

Airlines pay fuel taxes on aviation fuel and landing, gate and other fees to the airports, so the ATC, etc. costs are at least in part paid by the airlines.

Ken W2KB wrote:Airlines pay fuel taxes on aviation fuel and landing, gate and other fees to the airports, so the ATC, etc. costs are at least in part paid by the airlines.

Actually, they don't pay fuel tax on aviation fuel ! Yet another subsidy (in effect) that the airline industry get.

As of a year ago, the airlines paid a federal fuel tax of four cents a gallon. General aviation flights which includes charters that often compete with rail, especially in the northeast US, fund their use of the system through a fuel tax five times what the airlines pay.

Don't know if the airline tax has been changed in the past year, but general aviation fuel is definitely still taxed.