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Reply to "Amtrak's Plans to Extend Rail Service Across the Country"

@Mannyrock posted:

Until some rail road creates "non-stop" routes between major cities, you can forget it as something that a lot of people want to do.

I can remember 30 years ago, taking the Amtrack from D.C. to NYC.  Seems like there were 20 or more stops along the way.  Go 13 miles, come to a lurching stop.  Get started again, go 16 miles, come to a lurching stop. And on and on and on.

On top of that, the cars were filthy and stunk.

Want to go D.C to NYC today?   Get on a non-stop private bus that pulls up next to the curb in Alexandria, Virginia or downtown D.C., pay $40.00, and take off.  Last I checked, one leaves about every 45 minutes.

And, whatever happened to the plan to have little Smart Cars available for rent at every train stop??

Never happened

Mannyrock

How does the Amtrak of 30 years ago have any relationship to the Amtrak of today?  Especially on the NEC.  30 years ago E60s were still pulling long distance trains while AEM7s pulled largely un-rebuilt fleets of Amfleet cars on the Clockers.  All are long gone.  The Acela came and soon will go, the E60s were gone by 2003, the AEM7s by 2017, and the Amfleet cars have had at least two rebuilds since.  On the long distance trains that use the NEC all have Viewliner I and II cars mixed in with the Amfleet cars and the heritage fleet is but a memory.

I am excited to see America's railroad expand in places where it makes sense.  Not everything on the map probably does, but at least it's forward thinking.  We can't pave our way out of congestion.

Sorry, ignorance is not bliss.

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