All Aboard: Too Many for Amtrak

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121815170729322339.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

WASHINGTON -- The number of people riding Amtrak surged 13.9% in July from a year earlier, as high gas prices caused more commuters to rely on intercity rail.

But many Amtrak trains are getting overcrowded, and a backlog of infrastructure problems stands in the way of expanded service.

Since last fall, Americans have been driving less while Amtrak usage has steadily increased. The latest figures suggest that the migration from highways to rail is accelerating.

In July, Amtrak said, only one of its services saw fewer riders compared with the previous year. Elsewhere, there were major gains, such as a 33% jump on the Capitol Corridor between San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif.

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Not through any fault of their own mind you. they do the best they can. Unless you live in a couple of their corridors they put most of their effort into it just plum sucks.

Example:

I live in Pittsburgh. An adult round trip ticket to relatives in Harrisburg costs $70. Children cost $35, so if my family of four were to go visit the grandparents it would cost us $210. Plus the trip takes over 5 hours because the train runs on old freight lines that it's forced to share, which means 5 hours is a best guess and there can be delays if a freight train is passing by.

It takes 3 hours to drive there, on at current prices for us and our Honda civic $20 in gas and about $15 in tolls.

Even if I was travelling alone it's cheaper and faster to drive. Plus I can go anytime, instead of having to catch the single train that leaves Pittsburgh heading to Harrisburg at 7:20am. With a family of four the cost difference gets to be crazy. $210 vs $70, 5+ hours vs 3 hours. Why take the train?

This country needs to make a serious investment in our infrastructure and that means high speed rail lines crossing the country and subsidies to make it worth it to use it.

:)

From Maine down through DC in a straight line it's not bad. I used Amtrak a number of times to commute between Boston and NYC when I lived in Boston once Accela was put in. I could work on the train and it wasn't the same hastle as flying, plus we got dumped in midtown, rather than out at LaGuardia, or JFK if we flew. Faster than driving too.

For rail transporation to succeed anywhere it has to be faster than driving. Pure and simple. People will pay a little extra if it's faster. But it helps if it's cheaper too. Optimally taking the train should be quicker, and cheaper for a family of four, than driving. If they can do that public transportation would succeed.

If taking the train were cheaper and faster than driving we'd take the train every time to see my family in Harrisburg. Not only would it be cheaper and faster, but probably more fun and relaxing for the kids and my wife.

I don't think that's so much the case for longer trips, for example 10 hours on the train versus 8 hours behind the wheel. But it needs to be on time, so it's not 4 hours at the station followed by 10 hours on the train. Then it gets silly. :shrug:

seriously about it.

n/t

that is to say, if he manages to avoid having the election stolen from him, and he's got the intelligence and the intestinal fortitude...

There's a whole lot of unemployed technical people here in Detroit, a whole lot of unused infrastructure: factories, etc., and this is probably true all over the country...

I've been saying for years now that the American auto companies should re-tool to make trains. We'd have a lot less unemployment if we prevented the Barons of Industry from exporting jobs overseas while creating jobs programs that would put the people back to work fixing roads, bridges, and....train tracks. Making new trains, etc.

A major hangup, I'm told, is the ownership of the rail lines and all the ensuing litigation.

Obama needs to git 'r done.

up and improving our infrastructure. Too bad ** has left such a deficit. It will make it that much harder.

I work outside DC, but many of our customers are in the city and I have frequent meetings there. I'd love to take the Marc train more often, but there are only 2 trains headed there in the early morning and then 2 trains going out at the end of the day. So I can only use Marc if I'm going to be in the city all day long. If I have an hour or two long meeting, I have to drive instead.

What I find interesting is that DC interstate traffic, which is usually horrendous, has been easing up over the last few months as more nad more people car pool or take public transportation. It gives a glimpse of how the city could be restored to sane functionality if that system were expanded even more.