Amtrak Celebrates 47 Years

[neroden]

Time to fire Anderson. He doesn't know what he's doing. This is completely pathetic.

I should have known it when he muffed the easiest question from Jim Matthews about economies of scale.

 

[neroden]

This is certainly the year in which the transition to Amtrak 2.0 commences.

No. This is a year in which Amtrak takes a stupid backwards step to Amtrak 0.5, much like the stumbles under Thomas Downs.

I think we'll have to wait for a future year, with a competent CEO, to take a step towards Amtrak 2.0. Probably under the next Democratic President.

 

[Lonestar648]

Everything suddenly seems to be going backwards, like how can the passenger count be reduced and look like getting closer to profit status.

 

[the_traveler]

Time to fire Anderson. He doesn't know what he's doing.

Well, I can see he does know the rule made by Congress that Amtrak must not lose money. And until that rule is changed, Anderson and all subsequent Amtrak presidents must comply with that rule. So even if you get rid of Anderson, the next Amtrak president MUST also comply - or (s)he will not be doing the job required!

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

Time to fire Anderson. He doesn't know what he's doing.

Well, I can see he does know the rule made by Congress that Amtrak must not lose money. And until that rule is changed, Anderson and all subsequent Amtrak presidents must comply with that rule. So even if you get rid of Anderson, the next Amtrak president MUST also comply - or (s)he will not be doing the job required!

My opinion (and it's just an opinion) is that Amtrak shouldn't have to be "profitable" but should "cover 100% of its operating costs with revenues" (it's around 94.7% right now). I had posted a separate thread in the discussion. You can say Amtrak provides a national service but it's not national, a lot of the nation doesn't have it and a lot of the nation has a lot better service than others. If Amtrak is truly a "national service", then they truly need to expand it to make it national so that it can serve "everybody". Amtrak in its current form isn't "national". So the goal should be to reduce if not eliminate the taxpayer burden on the American public and if certain routes favor certain people/regions than the burden of those routes should be more heavily on those who benefit from those routes.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

While it doesn’t mention the EB directly, I’ve seen it rumored on another site that the idea was/is to make the EB tri-weekly, but run between MSP and Chicago 3x a day.

If they actually had stand alone CHI-MSP service maybe the EB west of MSP would be expendable. If there was no Pennsylvanian (and/or Capitol Limited), do you think they would have canceled the Broadway Limited and have no service between Philly and Pittsburgh? I'd think a few more trains to CHI and a few less trains to SEA would be a good trade for Minneapolis.

 

[Seaboard92]

Don't forget that the Empire Builder does really good intermediate traffic. North Dakota, Glacier Park, and Spokane being prime destinations. I would say the seats turnover a few times.

 

[Rover]

No mention of the first major thing Amtrak did to improve service (tongue in cheek) was to eliminate about half the existing lines they took over.

Texas should just run their own trains for intrastate travel... and Veto the Hell out of all Texas "moneyfor any Amtrak spending on their precious NEC!!

https://www.texascentral.com/

Kind of already happening.

Yes, the first steps....

I'd like Texas to be re-untied with Colorado again.

Ski Train from Dallas

Untied is right....not re-united...

I remember that fiasco when a bunch of wealthy Texan's tried unsuccessfully to actually establish a Texas State Park in Colorado, only for Texans....

That did not go over too well.....

I can see why . . .

 

[railiner]

If Colorado were flattened out, it would be bigger than Texas...!

And lookout...they're talking about cutting Alaska in half....that would make Texas the Third largest state....

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

While it doesn’t mention the EB directly, I’ve seen it rumored on another site that the idea was/is to make the EB tri-weekly, but run between MSP and Chicago 3x a day.

If they actually had stand alone CHI-MSP service maybe the EB west of MSP would be expendable. If there was no Pennsylvanian (and/or Capitol Limited), do you think they would have canceled the Broadway Limited and have no service between Philly and Pittsburgh? I'd think a few more trains to CHI and a few less trains to SEA would be a good trade for Minneapolis.

Not a good 'trade' for the rest of the route (west of MSP), though. Remember... national. As much as possible. Just add more trains to Chicago, once Wisconsin becomes more train-friendly.

 

[Lonestar648]

Though Amtrak does not touch all 50 states, it does touch 46 states (missing South Dakota and Wyoming in the lower 48 plus Alaska and Hawaii).it does provide coast to coast, border to border service, Amtrak serves the highly populated NEC, Chicago, and the LA area plus many other metro areas plus the rural needs of many living remotely. Those with lower incomes have the possibility to travel to see family many states away. Those with medical conditions that prevent flying can travel throughout the country/ The Amtrak system is a service for this nation that serves the nation.

 

[Rover]

A lot of "NEC" talk here...not much for the rest of us!

Oh yea, "Contemporary and fresh dining choices and amenities for sleeping car customers".

From the Amtrak blog...

http://blog.amtrak.com/2018/05/amtrak-celebrates-47-years/

We'll likely NEVER see this again on LD trains:

 

[Rail Freak]

Enjoyed that very much!!! Thanx

 

[NSC1109]

From the NARP [SIZE=12pt]https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/hotline/hotline-1063/[/SIZE]


While it doesn’t mention the EB directly, I’ve seen it rumored on another site that the idea was/is to make the EB tri-weekly, but run between MSP and Chicago 3x a day.

Chicago and MSP should’ve been a corridor from the start. Why it’s not is beyond me. They’re literally two of the biggest population centers in the Midwest.