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And if the seats on Brightline are any indication, I'm not looking forward to the new stuff...sigh...

No, I'm not referring to the ex-SAL line (ar least, not exclusively). I'm talking about the BBRR (and half of the RF&P). SEHSR has been snarled partly because it's split between states and partly because of federal funding being intermittent. I'd point out that service to Norfolk was put...

This is correct. When they introduced "AGR 2.0", this was supposed to be an option, but it dropped by the wayside somewhere along the line.

I would point out that, as is the case in Virginia, a solution would be to have the state buy the line and then lease it to a short-line operator. The main thing is just to get the line out of the hands of anyone who can say "No".

I would wonder about this, considering how much has gone on with shortlines over the years with most of the Class Is. [A lot of shortlines have popped out of secondary lines that were spun off.]

I mean, Amtrak/AZ could presumably just...buy the line?

"Bull on Tracks Makes Railroad Summon Cow Catcher"

Greensboro is probably alright presuming that you don't get trains terminating there (Brightline can make 1-2x/hr work with two tracks and a single platform at all the intermediate stations; Boca is the oddball because they could only use one side platform instead of doing an island IIRC). Even...

I'm not surprised that Amtrak is posting lower than the buses on a few runs - they just bumped capacity by 50%. I'm having to work off of a 2016 timetable (though I don't think they messed about much with the timecards in the last few years), but I believe the "new" trains are the 0645 and an...

Oh, an efficient cafe operation definitely can make money. The Lynchburger managed it quite early on (helped out by the head of VA's DRPT prodding Amtrak on F&B suggestions because he was a big fan of old railroad operations and so had a good idea of what would sell when). The question is how...

I'd be curious to see about making a lowball bid on an Acela where I know First is darned near empty (the 9:15 PM out of NYP comes to mind) and to see if it sticks.

That's the theory of someone else I know as well.

I have to ask if pharmaceuticals were involved in this particular bit of route suggestion. Athens is a justifiable diversion, particularly if you don't want to have to knock through the suburban sprawl on the NE side of Atlanta. It probably adds 10 miles vs a "direct" route along I-85 stopping...

Pre-Brightline versions of the project envisioned using a shared CAHSR station at Palmdale, I believe, since doing so would enable interline feed from CAHSR in the Central Valley. But there's a difference between using a shared station at a probable interchange point and "Let's share everything!"

So, in terms of raw revenue, an LD Superliner coach (72 seats, I believe) would generate something like $2.3-2.4m/yr at $100/seat with 90% availability. On that basis, the car should pay for itself in 2-3 years. That ignores costs, but it's a starting point to look at this from in terms of an...

I mean, there was a chart from a few years ago (2015, maybe?) that showed that the Meteor (then running with 3 sleepers and 5 coaches much of the time) was pretty much at break-even (it was a little short) and it implied that if a fourth sleeper got added, it would tip it over. Frankly, working...

So, I was musing over two of the rejected lines. One was Greenville, NC - I agree with Greenville as a dubious destination, but I have to wonder if re-routing some trains via the east-west line there vs going into Selma-Smithfield might not make sense (especially since any east-west traffic...

It's not quite that simple (e.g. more coaches could help), but essentially yes, especially for the Meteor.

The contract may specify those things, but it isn't absurd for the customer to want to make sure they're being billed correctly...

Revenue-wise, the Auto Train has the car charges to buffer that on a per-passenger basis. But the train has also usually run with about six sleepers.