Backshophoss wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 2:02 am
After Auto Train's failed Attempt on the Chicago-Florida routing,and today's intermodal competition between the Class ! RR's,
the Auto Train concept is DOA on any of the Transconns.
The Needed Support facilities for loading/unloading and Passengers require too much real estate.
This point is accepted wisdom around here. I'm not sure why. The Chicago/Kentucky route failed in 1980 perhaps, as the private Autotrain company was already in dire straits, the aftermath of Penn Central was very present, and overall things were much different.
Tell me what business (other than Amtrak) operates like it's 1980? Since then, we've had Microsoft, Google, the Space Shuttle come and go, Soviet Union fell, cell phones, battery cars, video calls... on the railroad, we've had umpteen mergers, DPU, HEP adoption, thirty years of prosperity, and a general upswing in passenger train usage and interest.
Yeah, the Kentucky Autotrain failed, but that's ancient history.
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.