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I suppose airlines do adjust their schedules from time to time, but I think it's fairly limited. As far as I know, most airlines fly approximately the same total number of planes summer and winter. Like Amtrak, airlines are much more likely to adjust supply to demand by raising or lowering fares...

It's certainly a longshot. It's possible suppose that some of these lines will come to fruition one way or another.

I think the assumption here is that the Canadian portion of this route would basically be one of VIA's existing Windsor-Toronto runs. So it might be that the only extra cost would be the link between Detroit and Windsor.

They may have offered some supportive comments, but from a practical aspect, they did very little to expand or improve long distance service.

If I recall correctly, it was Claytor who suggested to Congress that if Congress provided a steady stream of capital, Amtrak could fund operations out of its regular revenues. While that promise probably won him some Congressional support, it was probably the origin of the "glidepath to...

That is basically true, which is why I said "virtually," but not even Claytor could go beyond modest expansions of long-distance service. And even during his tenure, Amtrak released financial reports showing the long-distance trains losing money. Given the realities of the situation, there was...

/ Virtually every Amtrak management team over the past 50 years has been accused of failing to support the long-distance trains, and of allegedly "cooking the books" to make long-distance trains look bad. financially Changing managers has not had any substantial effect in the past, and it's...

Either demand for sleeper space will remain high, in which case Amtrak -- which needs every penny it can get -- will have no incentive to lower the fares. Or demand for sleeper space will fall, forcing Amtrak to lower sleeper fares. My bet would be that demand will fall as we get into the...

IF it is indeed necessary to downgrade to one food service car, it would make much more sense to ditch the diner and keep the Sightseer Lounge, which is much more versitile.

That apparently varies, depending on the individual contracts between each railroad and Amtrak. But it appears obvious that most railroads consider Amtrak a negligible source of revenues. If Amtrak paid higher fees, perhaps the freight railroads would be more anxious to host and retain Amtrak...

Seems to me there are two different things here: coach service, which can be viewed as an essential public service warranting a government subsidy, and sleeper ("first class," if you prefer), which probably doesn't warrant a subsidy, but hopefully justifies itself by bringing in more revenue...

I would be in favor of a Milwaukee Airport stop for the Empire Builder. I frequently visit the Madison area, and if I could fly into Milwaukee and hop on the train to Columbus (the Madison stop), I would do that.

Where would you put crew members if you eliminated the dorm space? If you're just shifting them to other rooms on the train, that doesn't really expand passenger capacity.

Running the Crescent via Mobile would require substantial changes to its overall schedule in order to avoid some very strange arrival/departure times in New Orleans.

if you read between the lines, it looks to me like Amtrak is telling CSX it "intends" to start service, but CSX has not yet agreed to host the train. I wonder is this is the prelude for a court fight.

The question I've always had is, if they're charging these outrageous prices and still losing money on each room, wouldn't they lose even more on each room if the lowered the prices? Or would the economy of scale be so dramatic that it would make up for the lower fares?

I did not accuse you of lying, but if you do have that material and could scan it, I would love to see it!

The PTC requirement does not cover many freight-only lines, (only mainlines that handle hazardous materials) so expanding passenger service to some freight-only lines could require the additional expense of installing PTC.

If you're talking about the proposed Atlanta-DFW train, that service was proposed, but it was never announced or advertised.

If, as you suggest, eliminating complimentary meals would not result in reduced demand, then it's hard to make a business case for providing the free meals in the first place.