(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-2388-dsc_0034.JPG)
QuoteMaybe I'm just jealous. Amtrak has announced the 24 winners of its inaugural #AmtrakResidency program, and my name isn't on the list. Granted, I never applied. But now there are 24 people getting free tickets for long-distance passenger rail lines, and I'm not one of them. Tickets that I might like to use. Tickets that a lot of people might like to use.
It's nothing against these specific writers—although I did feel the distinctive urge to chuck my laptop when I spotted among the winners one pick-up artist-turned-self-help guru who goes by a mononym and just bought an island. May the winners all use their long-distance Amtrak rides to write their poetry, criticism, music, letters, spy shit, and whatever else they can accomplish with a window seat and unreliable WiFi. Except that guy.
Full article: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/09/romanticizing-rail-is-no-way-to-save-amtrak/380715/
Just a couple of points. Every Amtrak long-distance train is a de-facto collection of those 'beloved' short-distance routes. New York-Washington; Washington-Richmond; Richmond-Raleigh; Raleigh-Columbia; Columbia-Savannah; Savannah-Jacksonville; Jacksonville-Miami is just a single route, of a single long-distance train. The trouble with these routes is that there is so little service that the ridership appears low overall. There are two possible solutions to this; add multiples of engines, cars and crews and serve every one of these groups with a fleet of 'money saving' short-distance trains or, conversely, simply add additional long-distance trains. The cost savings with the long-distance trains should then be apparent. The fact is, if I need to travel from Jacksonville, Florida, a city of 1.4 million people, to Savannah, Columbia or Richmond, I have a choice of just two departure times, both of which run northbound back to back in the evening. Common sense would dictate that spreading those trains apart 6 hours apart and adding just two additional trains, each with a 6 hour deferential you would be able to close those huge travel time gaps and offer a real and vital service. Next you would have to combat the effect of years of touting the 'Northeast Corridor' as the 'future of rail travel,' and the idea that highways are somehow profitable.
If I translate Ock's remarks correctly, if Amtrak aligned its biz goals around customer needs instead of political ones the service would run more effectively.
I have said it for years, Amtrak services should be based on a concession that has performance goals.
We reward highway contractors for finishing a highway ahead of schedule, why not reward a concessionaire for on time performance?
The concept of express trains needs to make a reappearance, and then I think Amtrak would become much more popular as a viable alternative to air travel. Back in the popular days of rail, it didn't take so long to get anywhere because you had major-city-to-major-city express services that didn't stop at every station in between like Amtrak does.
Quote from: spuwho on October 06, 2014, 12:43:47 PM
If I translate Ock's remarks correctly, if Amtrak aligned its biz goals around customer needs instead of political ones the service would run more effectively.
I have said it for years, Amtrak services should be based on a concession that has performance goals.
We reward highway contractors for finishing a highway ahead of schedule, why not reward a concessionaire for on time performance?
that only works if that operator also owns the tracks...right now, with the primary exception of the northeast corridor, Amtrak often has to move to the side to let freight trains pass.