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this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
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If Amtrak is the best we can do we should all be embarassed.
what’s wrong with amtrak?
Frequent delays. Poor frequency. Weird routes. Slow average speeds that can barely compete with a bus. Always getting bogged down by track-sharing with freight.
The Northeast corridor is the only section of the entire system that is even remotely decent and is basically subsidizing the crappy lines that they are congressionally mandated to run so it’s not even that cost competitive with other modes.
To be fair, most of this isn’t Amtrak’s fault but just a reflection of the fact that America doesn’t care about passenger rail.
I live in the northeast and used to use it semi regularly (2-3 times per week).
Delays were insane if it was so much as sprinkling out. But the real problem was that it wasn’t much of any cheaper if you already owned and insured a car.
Also for the rest of the country, it’s hard to care about something you don’t have access to and won’t be able to experience in even the remote future.
The US needs to nationalize the railways. The US has done it twice before and many unions are calling for it now.
My cousin visited Texas from Germany and took a train from Dallas to Austin. The track sharing with freight was insane, the trip took 9 hours due to freight having right-of-way on the tracks. It's only about a 3.5 hour drive. He was not impressed at all.
yah the north east corridor is great.