by mtuandrew
Yep, I’ve been seeing reports of same. It’s going to keep affecting travel heavily, and I expect that especially international travel from the United States will be limited to near-nothing.
Amtrak’s plans to roll out more sleeper space (if that isn’t just railfan soeculation) will help. It would help further if the company put all of its Viewliners into service as well as any backshopped Superliner sleepers while continuing to limit coach capacity.
I’m not sure what capabilities Amtrak has personnel-wise in its shops, but this might be the time to start cycling coaches through Beech and Bear to build in dividers compartments and higher-capacity non-recirculating HVAC systems. Even with the potential of a different president willing to listen to epidemiologists America will struggle to enforce quarantines, so engineering controls will be essential to limit the spread rate. Dividing cars into separate sections of 12 (5 or 6 divisions) would keep airflow spread to a minimum. Smaller sections would be better, but perhaps too impractical.
Amtrak’s plans to roll out more sleeper space (if that isn’t just railfan soeculation) will help. It would help further if the company put all of its Viewliners into service as well as any backshopped Superliner sleepers while continuing to limit coach capacity.
I’m not sure what capabilities Amtrak has personnel-wise in its shops, but this might be the time to start cycling coaches through Beech and Bear to build in dividers compartments and higher-capacity non-recirculating HVAC systems. Even with the potential of a different president willing to listen to epidemiologists America will struggle to enforce quarantines, so engineering controls will be essential to limit the spread rate. Dividing cars into separate sections of 12 (5 or 6 divisions) would keep airflow spread to a minimum. Smaller sections would be better, but perhaps too impractical.