Jim,
Glad to hear you were not offended.
I've made an excellent living advising inner city elite folks, including some living in Manhattan. I doubt that they will ride trains much though.
I too have enjoyed riding the trains in Europe, but like most Americans, I am not ready to pay the very high income taxes they pay in order to get the service.
I have absolutely no doubt that Amtrak can establish long term passenger routes, from big cities to big cities. What I tend to doubt, though, is that they will make a profit based on passenger service for those routes. They will have to continue to get our tax money to survive, and will probably have to haul 50 cars of cargo behind the passenger cars to make ends meet.
Trinity, in the 1970s, Trailways offered the "Golden Eagle Line," than ran really nice new buses, on a non-stop basis, between major cities that were about 250 miles apart. The seats were really great, and they had a "Stewardess" on board, who wore a nice uniform and served box lunches and cold drinks. I use to ride it from Durham, NC, to D.C. about 4 times a year.
Rail and bus service will have to be fully integrated to make the system work.
Mannyrock
