Does anyone outside the Northeast Corridor (Boston/Washington D.C.) really give a crap about Amtrak anymore?

Meh, Canadian junk anyway...

No more trains? :(

I like trains. Wish I could afford to take a trip on one.

My daughter takes the train between Wisconsin and North Dakota regularly (she goes to college in ND). It is substantially cheaper then flying. It is also often sold out, which if you think about it, doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. But then it is run by the gov't.

We're talking about an organization that used to be run by Michael Dukakis.

Passenger rail travel is a fine idea. The only problem is that governments are not exactly renowed for their abilities to run businesses profitably or effectively.

With regard to the dispute between the Canadian manufacturer (Bombarier, who had built high-speed rail systems in other countries) and Amtrak, some pretty vicious allegations were made about Amtrak's conduct. Like, intentionally subverting Bombardier's attempts to perform its duties under the contract so that Amtrak could withhold payment.

Anyway, I'm not surprised the brakes have issues. It took years -- and several tries -- to get the bathroom doors to close securely on the Acela, prompting rather salty commentary from Amtrak executives subsequently embarrassed (and not just professionally).

Ace:

Did you say "romantic"?

Maybe that Polyhedral Dork-Die quiz is more accurate than some of us believed.

The railroad industry is near the top of the list of examples of government fucking things up. Railroads became wedded to government money and regulation from the beginning. The end result is that the technology was driven straight into the ground.

Railroads were also where we were first blessed with the modern federal regulatory state. The justification for heavy-handed control of the railroad industry came from the fact that short-hauls cost more than long hauls. So, to "fix" this non-existent "problem," the gov't stepped in and started fixing prices. When that happens, it's all over.

The consequences are still with us. The federal interstate highway system was built because the rail system was so lousy. The proper solution to the lousy rail system would have been to get the gov't out of the rail industry. But instead, they created yet another massive federal subsidy to replace the old one, thereby increasing their control over people's lives.

Government creates two problems for every one it purports to solve. The solution is to repeal the measure that caused the problems in the first place. But invariably the response is to add yet another layer of gov't on top of the first one, and the cycle repeats itself.

Did you say "romantic"?

Ever strangle a drugged hobo while a gleaming train roars by in the bleached-bone moonlight?

That's my idea of romantic.

I have a hunch that if the government deregulated enough to make commercial passenger rail feasible in America, it'd also probably find a few dozen ways to make it as unpleasant as airline travel.

My fence gate closes securely - uses a very "hi tech" hook-eye contraption. I'm sure Home Depot would be glad to sell this $.99 sure-fire "technology" to Amtrak for $100.

Fuck yes on throttling the hobos, and if you lay them on the tracks just right, you can just imagine their relatives trying to identify them through a torrent of puke.

Fuck yes!

I say we invest in a monorail! We're twice as smart as those Japanese and Europeans.

Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail!

What'd I say?

I once had to kill a drifter just to get an erection

Fuck yes on throttling the hobos, and if you lay them on the tracks just right, you can just imagine their relatives trying to identify them through a torrent of puke.

Fuck yes!

I see why you call yourself spongeworty (ACE).

At least they're not pouring gasoline on them while they were passed out and lighting them up like they used to do in NYC.

I'm sorry to se the trains go personally, but I'm damn glad I don't live in an area that is so over crowded that they are a good economic alternative over air. Our country outside of the NorthEastern seaboard is just to big and just to spread out for trains to be feasible. I still think there are corridors where they could work, like LA to SF, Portland to Seattle, DC to NY, but come on. Portland to Chicago via bum-fuck Egypt in only seven days? I can hitch-hike there faster.

Or, say... Hobo there, as long as I can avoid Ace and Spongeworthy. ;^)

I had a bunch of screed written here, ready to fling at the government for wasting billions upon billions of dollars on a program the market simply won't support, when I remembered there could be *one* saving grace for passenger rail. I have a friend who puts his car on a train from Florida to DC every time he comes up. He loads up, goes to the dining car, and relaxes while he and his ride are transported in style, and for a reasonable price to boot. Family vacations could choose between the price of airfare+rental car, or simply dropping the family wagon^H^H^H^H monstrous SUV on a train car for, hopefully, about the same price. This is a niche market, and that alone couldn't save the rail system, but combine this with a high-speed train that goes coast-to-coast (if that's possible), alongside the current medium-distance runs between adjacent population centers (northeast and southwest corridors, etc.) and you might actually have a return on your investment. I think that rail *is* going to die, but there might be viable ways to save it, if the effort is made. Either way, I think it should leave government payroll and never come back.

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