They already have 'em.
Posted on 03/18/2010 4:31:56 PM PDT by Willie Green
All things being equal I would LOVE to see the return of the passenger train. I have cut my travel to zero because I don’t like to fly and it’s a PIA to drive these days. I would like to make the 500 mile trip, one way, to see my sister in Mobile and would certainly take a train if it were available.
Maybe the thing to do is make a casino train, like the boats that used to sail from Florida every day. I go to the casino here in Tampa from time to time and it is filled to capacity, you can’t even get to a slot machine without waiting. Have a train that has casino cars and sleepers, plus a good dining service. Most of the people I see at the casino are senior citizens. It’s hard to believe how crowded that place gets. You can’t even find a parking place on Sat. night, and there are two huge parking garages, five floors high, plus a huge parking lot.
Just a thought.
They want to make them run on time.
If they did, Amtrak would be running near capacity and at least one light rail system would have paid its construction and operating costs through fare collections.
In the early 20th century, the government started to build roads. It was a no-brainer. People all over the country were buying cars -- it was easy to see that highways needed to be improved.
The same goes for airports.
Rail subsidies come to you favor of the we-know-better-than-your folks.
They already have 'em.
bttt
Kind of a one-track mind...
Note: I love trains and would ride them when ever I could.
I want cross country network of government subsidized, tax payer funded passenger blimps. And I want to have free wi-fi while traveling by blimp. And free pie.
Hey, in some ways I don't really blame Willie. I utilize trains myself when it makes sense.
The ~$2 train one-way fare from O'Hare to downtown Chicago is a bargain and I use it -- no more $25+ fares from Chicago's cabbies whom I long ago learned to distrust. The $3.20 roundtrip light-rail fare I paid yesterday from Baltimore airport to the convention center is probably less than the gas used by a rental car, and that's even before you consider the rental and parking in the city. (I stayed at a hotel by the airport because it was half the price of being downtown, and in this case being downtown overnight had ZERO pluses for me.)
Boston's underground system, in memory dirty and noisy, could be extremely cost-effective and much quicker than ground transport (including taxis) especially to/from Logan airport. Haven't run into "Charlie" yet though... did he ever return?
In Europe trains from airports are usually even more a bargain for all the fares can be a bit higher than the U.S.
Sure, they're all heavily subsidized and I don't pretend I'm paying anything like the full cost of the ride. But incrementally I'm helping more than costing. (But then again, I'm adding to ridership levels...) If they've built it (at their expense) I'll usually ride it.
Though Seattle has been so monumentally stupid with its light rail I'm not likely to use it. If my Sunday morning flights out require me to be at SeaTac airport at least an hour before church, family drops me off at the nearest transit center and I take the bus (also subsidized). At least I get to see views I don't usually see -- "views" can be very nice in Seattle at the right times of year. even on the bus.
The question to be asked is whether the subsidy can be justified -- and on what basis? If, like Atlanta's Marta, it was built for something else (Olympics) but now it appears to mean more jobs for people of possibly low income (because they can get there!), it might be a good thing. I use it too, if it goes where I need to be in Atlanta.
OTOH, when it recently looked like TSA rules were going to take a major step downward I priced a trip from Seattle to Orlando for a week of meetings. Amtrak with two changes cost several times more than Alaska Airlines' non-stop prices and took 3 days vs 5 hours.
So much for seeing the country by rail on the company dime. *\B^|
Willie likes rail. So do I. I don't know his reasons, but you have mine. And though it seems he might not have ever encountered a project/system he dislikes, I have encountered a few in the U.S. I dislike and that generally do not deliver on the promises given when the sale was made.
(I know too little of the economics involved to judge the European systems I encounter and regularly use.)
New Orleans still has the Sunset Limited to/from Los Angeles, the City of New Orleans to/from from Chicago, and the Crescent to/from New York.
If we’re going to go backward we may as well do it right and build a network of canals all over the country.
Oh, covered wagons aren't good enough for you? You're so high and mighty with your "canal network," then?
I guess you think the pioneers and the western expansion was just a good laugh!
Well go on with your "canal network," we don't need the like of you now!
I’m holding out for horesless carriages. Crazy I know but I’m a dreamer.
I can’t say I blame you. But you must admit; nothing beats riding a brontosaurus to work.
Oh oh oh
I changed my mind!
I want a brontosaurus!!!
If the people who want these crappy trains would fully pay for themselves...go for it. If not, shut up.
That doesn't mean I want my tax money thrown away on bogus public rail systems.
The only person pushing for 19th century transportation on this forum is YOU!!!
Back in the early 1970s, I saw what I believe were Pullman cars, resting on a siding near the West Oakland Southern Pacific train depot (16th and Wood Streets, Oakland, California).
The passenger trains are long gone. Southern Pacific was bought out in 1996. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed the freeway (which was rerouted in such a way that the rails were moved away from the old train depot) and the train depot was severely damaged, and eventually closed.
i am completely with yiu on bogus rail systems. sadly, seattle seems to have set up a bogus system. why is beyond scope of this post...
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