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Amtrak begins new Acela Express advertising campaign
Can anyone offer an explanation as to why the need for an advertising campaign when occupancy rates are already so high (whatever percentage that translates to). Where will any additional would-be passenger be accommodated?
Now, if it only went where I need to travel to for work, I’d ride it! No where special… Just Cleveland, Chicago, St.Louis, Louisville, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Milwaukee…
Jeffery Guse:
Do you have any idea how foolish you appear. What are you implying? Abandon the rail line from Penn Station south? Do you actually think the N J Turnpike could accommodate 50,000 to perhaps 100,0000 additional autos per day, or who knows very likely even more? The costs of lost productivity alone of those caught in traffic congestion very likely would exceed whatever is saved by abandoning the N E Corridor. Best you begin to think in a more macroscopic manner.
What I would like to see is a comparison of numbers. How many passengers per year on the Acela vs how many individuals used the NJ Turnpike. That, I believe will never be published. Why? Because it will show the amount spend per user of Amtrak greatly exceeds maintenance and operating budget of the NJ Turnpike when spread out across the users.
Yes, but does the cafe car remain open for the duration of the trip, and during the handoff from the New Haven to The Pennsylvania Railroad in New York?
Dr. McDonald don’t waste your time trying to explain facts to someone who doesn’t understand facts.
Guse - The Acela is profitable. It pays for itself, and reduces the amount of government subsidy needed for other rail projects. The NJ Turnpike isn’t.
You don’t have a leg to stand on.
As a proud Republican, I am embarrassed by the lack of logic Mr. Guse uses to slam rail travel. It’s the same argument that has been thrown out there forever with little merit. There is not one single form of transportation besides horse and buggy that is not sponsored by a govt. Roads don’t pay for themselves. Airports and the FAA don’t pay for themselves. Yet conservative hacks have a major issue with the piddly subsidy that Amtrak gets? The post office loses more in a year than Amtrak gets.
Then let’s shut both Amtrak and the Post Office down. Those services would be better served by the privte sector anyway. And on the NJ Turnpike argument from Guse, I think he’s right (and not just politically).