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Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1558850  by urr304
 
So if Mr Biden goes from Wilmington-Washington on the 19th [or earler date] due to usual pre-inagural events, you can expect disruptions. Now that Monday [18th] is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so he probably would not travel on that day because he would be disrupting events planned and it is a Federal holiday. Then Tuesday [19th] is a regular work day and may disrupt commuting on the southern end of the NEC, possible out is to do it mid day so less disruptive to a busy short week. Maybe he will travel on Saturday or Sunday? I am trying to go through these posts and did not see a definite agenda.

Whatever, it will be almost as disruptive as if he was the President.

Presidential travel, as mentioned, is disruptive to the area being traversed and as noted not only to ground transportation but air in a moving bubble. One of the reasons that a Presidential visit to a disaster site is counter-productive and should be done only in extreme case [i.e. WTC].

A train, as much as we think better of, is an extra complication to those task is to provide security. Let's face it, it doesn't allow a lot of options, you don't see a steering wheel in the cab.

Someone mentioned the RFK Funeral Train, I am not sure but I believe Penn Central got a two day notice, and arrangements were no where near what would be today and were tragically no where needed then. IIRC, two spectactors were run over in Elizabeth NJ by a north/east bound train and another was electrocuted somewhere else by standing on a box car under the wires. That in addition to no preparation for a coffin inside a business car which was not original planned placement.
 #1558856  by Gilbert B Norman
 
This posting is anecdotal, and since I was 7000 miles away "on a one year all expenses paid tour of Southeast Asia" at the time, that's all this should be taken as.

The Penn Central merger occurred Feb 1, '68; RFK was assainated June 6 '68 and the move on June 8. At one time, the Pennsy had an office within its Passenger Department who coordinated these special moves with the various Departments on the railroad involved, Law Enforcement agencies, and the Dignitaries participating. The people in this office had years of experience handling such matters.

However, when it became "Red Team v. Green Team" and the resulting chaos, that office was disbanded and the situation reported immediately by Mr. URR came to pass.
 #1558860  by mtuandrew
 
urr304: MLK Day would be the perfect day for Joe to travel, with traffic even lower than COVID-usual on the Corridor. Could be a two-fer trip including a stop at the MLK Memorial on the Tidal Basin, then back out to temporary lodging either in DC or nearby.

(I don’t want to get too far down this rabbit hole, but 1/18-1/22 will be a good time for the Federal workforce to take vacation. If the “Proud Boy” riots in DC last night are any indication, there’s a strong possibility of both violence and high viral transmission surrounding this transfer of power.)
 #1558861  by STrRedWolf
 
urr304 wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:10 am So if Amtrak Joe goes from Wilmington-Washington on the 19th [or earler date] due to usual pre-inagural events, you can expect disruptions. Now that Monday [18th] is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so he probably would not travel on that day because he would be disrupting events planned and it is a Federal holiday. Then Tuesday [19th] is a regular work day and may disrupt commuting on the southern end of the NEC, possible out is to do it mid day so less disruptive to a busy short week. Maybe he will travel on Saturday or Sunday? I am trying to go through these posts and did not see a definite agenda.
The thread is a bit of a speculative line given Biden's support for rail travel. That said, this would be MARC it would primarily affect, with SEPTA partially affected at Wilmington. MARC is temporarily on the "R" schedule.

Round trips per day currently per MARC line:
  • Penn: Roughly 16 round trips M-F, 9 on Saturday, 6 on Sunday.
  • Camden: 4 round trips M-F, no weekend services.
  • Brunswick: 3 round trips M-F rush hour/direction only.
Go Sunday, which minimizes disruption from MARC and possibly SEPTA. Trip is roughly 1h30m (given Acela timings and non-stop save for Baltimore)... there *may* be a MARC train meet unless arranged earlier.
 #1558988  by Jeff Smith
 
mtuandrew wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:10 pm Moderator Note: removed one post and part of another as unrelated to Amtrak and presidential trains - keep in mind this isn’t 25thAmendment.net. Otherwise, carry on.
Yup. How many times do we have to say this? NO POLITICS unless it's DIRECTLY related to RAILROADS.
 #1559029  by Arborwayfan
 
A. Air Force 1 holds 71 passengers and 30 crew. Is moving 71 people from DC to NYC worth even a slot on the NEC, let alone disrupting traffic to run a pilot train, hold other trains out of the way, clear stations, etc.? If POTUS is really too big of a target for terrorists to just ride 1st-class on Acela or couple a private car on the back of a Northeast Regional, I kind of think that train travel doesn't make much sense for the president, at least on busy corridors. Train trip to the Alleghenies or the Blue Ridge or Florida for vacation, with a stop to give a graduation address at some college near a station along the way? Maybe then the fuel consumption, service disruption, and cost would compare favorably to the avoidable costs and disruptions of a presidential trip on AF 1.

B. The Obama-Biden train ride into DC was an event, not mostly practical transportation. There was a pilot train and the train with Obama and Biden, and hundreds of guests were on the train, and lots of people went to watch the train go by and wave. And it ran in the middle of the day on Saturday, when it didn't disrupt much other traffic or many people's commutes.

C. For the same reason that Warren Buffet doesn't go by special train even though he more or less owns a railroad: special trains for one person or one person and entourage are more or less obsolete because of planes and cars. 100 years ago all those very rich people traveled by private car and sometimes special train, whereas now only railfans would do that.
 #1559065  by eolesen
 
It's already been publicized that this will be a COVID friendly inaugural, which means minimal attendance and that also means a lot less pomp and circumstance than past years. Running a special train seems to run counter to that....

I also suspect that vaccine or not, Biden will be bubble wrapped until after 1/21. Getting on a train would present its own issues in that he'd have to transit too many public facilities, versus being airlifted directly from Delaware to DC.
 #1559116  by Ken W2KB
 
It is my understanding that the US Secret Service strongly discourages train travel as it is far more susceptible to successful attack than travel by aircraft. Additionally, the time enroute is much greater which exposes the President to a much longer period of time for attack. Another reason is that a railroad route is fixed while an aircraft route is not, thereby making planning and executing an attack much more difficult. Part of the planning and protocol is to be able to move the President rapidly to a command center should a national emergency occur; air travel best can accomplish that goal.
 #1559120  by wigwagfan
 
Arborwayfan wrote:For the same reason that Warren Buffet doesn't go by special train even though he more or less owns a railroad
Having been a guest aboard the BNSF Business Train, I received confirmation from the crew that Buffett has very much travelled aboard the BNSF business train multiple times.

However, it is also well known he dislikes overnight trips and prefers to return home each night. Thus he also has at his disposal another company he owns: NetJets. And having formerly worked for one of his companies in Oregon, he did make an appearance at my office. He flew in and out back home in the same day.
 #1559277  by Gilbert B Norman
 
While this Times article does not address how PE Biden will make his way to town to "hire on", it certainly suggests it will be an "Inaugural Lite". Limited attendance at the ceremony, no parade, no "Balls".

It would fall into place; no train ride.
 #1559282  by Arborwayfan
 
wigwagfan wrote:Arborwayfan wrote:
For the same reason that Warren Buffet doesn't go by special train even though he more or less owns a railroad
Having been a guest aboard the BNSF Business Train, I received confirmation from the crew that Buffett has very much travelled aboard the BNSF business train multiple times.

However, it is also well known he dislikes overnight trips and prefers to return home each night. Thus he also has at his disposal another company he owns: NetJets. And having formerly worked for one of his companies in Oregon, he did make an appearance at my office. He flew in and out back home in the same day.
Thank you for the correction. I've been wrong before, too. Maybe if I thought before I wrote.... :-D But what I really meant was "if Warren Buffet the individual wanted to go to LA on vacation or to Portland on non-railroad business by himself or with a couple other people he'd fly instead of ordering up a special train." I bet that is closer to correct than what I wrote, even if not quite correct. I assume when he's take the business train it's been at least partly to inspect part of the railroad, meet railroad officials, etc.; not quite the same thing as Collis P. Huntington using a special train for personal transportation.
 #1559283  by Arborwayfan
 
Much as riding the train was the simple, obvious way for a Senator to work on Capitol Hill and live in Wilmington and get some work done during the commute, plane + helicopter or even just a motorcade is the simple, obvious way for the President-elect to get to Washington, or for the president to get most places.
 #1560669  by GojiMet86
 
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/politics ... index.html
Biden to take train to Washington for inauguration, moving forward to 'not be deterred' by violence or virus

By Jeff Zeleny, Senior Washington Correspondent

Updated 1:55 PM ET, Fri January 8, 2021

Wilmington, Delaware (CNN)Joe Biden will begin his new journey as the 46th President of the United States in a familiar way: riding Amtrak from Wilmington to Washington.

A day before he is sworn into office, Biden is planning to make his way to the nation's capital on a family train trip that will be part of the festivities leading up to the inauguration on January 20, people familiar with the plans tell CNN.
While plans for the inauguration were shaken this week by the violent attack on the Capitol, along with unrelenting complications from the coronavirus pandemic, Biden and top advisers have instructed their team to keep moving forward, without being deterred by the steep challenges.
"He was elected during a pandemic. He will be inaugurated during one," a Biden ally said. "We will have a safe and historic inauguration and not be deterred."
...
Last edited by Jeff Smith on Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:06 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Redacted political reporting not related to train travel. No harm, no foul.
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