# Why didn't he take Acela?



## PaTrainFan (Jun 18, 2022)

His flight from Washington to New York was cancelled...

AP News: Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers' behalf








Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers' behalf


The day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline leaders to quiz them about widespread flight disruptions, his own flight was canceled and he wound up driving from Washington to New York.




apnews.com


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## Just-Thinking-51 (Jun 18, 2022)

Good question.


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## Just-Thinking-51 (Jun 19, 2022)

Why was he even trying to flying between NYC and Washington DC?


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## Willbridge (Jun 19, 2022)

Just-Thinking-51 said:


> Why was he even trying to fly between NYC and Washington DC?


Probably due to a habit of the career staff who book travel. Spending time educating knee-jerk travel bookers may not have been a priority.

That said, I once testified twice at an ICC hearing in Seattle. First off for Oregon DOT, I rode the train up from Portland the night before. Then I testified last for Oregon PUC, because their guy did the classic "we fly at dawn" to be more time efficient. His flight left Portland and orbited fog-bound Seattle for a while and then went back to PDX. I was able to do this because the support staff had concluded that my use of rail and bus travel on business would get approval from higher up as a form of research.


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## danasgoodstuff (Jun 19, 2022)

Maybe the train was sold out and he was travelling on short notice?


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## AmtrakBlue (Jun 19, 2022)

danasgoodstuff said:


> Maybe the train was sold out and he was travelling on short notice?


That was my thought - sold out...or cost was way too much, as tends to be for last minute bookings.


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## caravanman (Jun 19, 2022)

Maybe he had read all the negative comments made over and over again about Amtrak on AU?

The same folk seem to enjoy rubbishing Amtrak service in each post, over and over again?

Maybe the gripes are justified, but any first time rider reading all our "expert" AU wisdom would just assume "no, avoid at all costs" ...


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## joelkfla (Jun 19, 2022)

caravanman said:


> Maybe he had read all the negative comments made over and over again about Amtrak on AU?
> 
> The same folk seem to enjoy rubbishing Amtrak service in each post, over and over again?
> 
> Maybe the gripes are justified, but any first time rider reading all our "expert" AU wisdom would just assume "no, avoid at all costs" ...


But surely not Acela, the darling of the NEC boosters!


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## jis (Jun 19, 2022)

Maybe for a moment he forgot that he was in the Northeast and thought he was still in Indiana?


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## PaTrainFan (Jun 19, 2022)

caravanman said:


> Maybe he had read all the negative comments made over and over again about Amtrak on AU?
> 
> The same folk seem to enjoy rubbishing Amtrak service in each post, over and over again?
> 
> Maybe the gripes are justified, but any first time rider reading all our "expert" AU wisdom would just assume "no, avoid at all costs" ...


 I doubt Secretary Pete is taking the time from his busy schedule to read our esteemed forum.


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## west point (Jun 19, 2022)

PaTrainFan said:


> I doubt Secretary Pete is taking the time from his busy schedule to read our esteemed forum.


But he should have an aide(s) who each concentrate on just rail, air, Amtrak, freight RRs, highways, water, pipelines, etc. It is up to PB to get them to tell him the unvarnished truth.


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## Dakota 400 (Jun 19, 2022)

west point said:


> But he should have an aide(s) who each concentrate on just rail, air, Amtrak, freight RRs, highways, water, pipelines, etc. It is up to PB to get them to tell him the unvarnished truth.



I would be surprised if he didn't have such aides. Federal departments seem to have Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Assistant Deputy and Under Secretaries etc. for "this, that, and the other".


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