Baby steps: consider a WAS-ATL train that operated exactly 12 hours opposite the Crescent, and mostly on days when the Cardinal is not running, so as to tap Charlottesville's strong demand on days that Charlottesville is underserved.
City MoTh TuFr
NYP 02:15a 01:46a
WAS 06:30a 09:53p
CVS 08:52a 07:09p
LYH 10:00a 05:56p
CLT 02:20p 01:46p
CSN 05:39p 10:16a
ATL 08:13p 8:04a
This addresses a number of obstacles:
* Long Bridge Slots: stays under the daily cap, except for 1 trip Friday
* Equipment: requires only 1 trainset per day (though creates a crunch on Friday)
* Demand: supplements & complements existing LDs targeting the opposite time of day (vs Crescent) and unserved days of week (vs Cardinal)[/list]
On Fridays, the only day that both the Cardinal and this new train would run at the same time, the northbound would serve Charlottesville 2h30 after the Crescent...decent spacing to minimize cannibalism and maximize "weekend getaway" convenience.
"Trying to solve congestion by making roadways wider is like trying to solve obesity by buying bigger pants."--Charles Marohn