All too often we hear people lamenting the possible demise of Amtrak, yet I wonder how many of those same people actually support it via ridership. Do you value Amtrak? Or, if it suddenly faded into oblivion, would you shed not a tear over it’s passing?
I certainly do! If it goes where I want ot go, I will use it.
Authough I myself do not ride AMTRAK, I support it all the way. I believe that someday, people will realize that the railroad is still the best way to travel, and Highways will be lined with rail. OK, I’m dreaming, but AMTRAK may be our last chance at keeping passenger rail alive. Hey, if they can do it in France, Germany, Japan, Canada, and Britain, So can the United states.
AMTRAK - Antonym~ American Made Trains Real And Clean[:p]
…Sure I want rail travel…such as Amtrak to survive, but I believe we can all agree if it is agreed that we will continue with it, it does need some tuning up and changes to the system to do a better job of moving passengers. We all know it needs a solid method of funding too. Surely there are enough smart minds in this country to figure out how to bring that about. Perhaps it could be structured to be morphed into high speed rail when society and the country is ready for it too…
I fully support Amtrak. I know it has its problems I am looking forward to feeling better so that I can take my trip to Seattle on the Coast Starlight.
Bob from AZ
For the record: when I posed this question, I wasn’t questionning the legitimacy of Amtrak by any means. I’m a big supporter of passenger train travel in America, and I really want Amtrak to succeed. When you look at the congestion on our interstate system, plus factor in the hassle (and, for some of us, fear) of flying, Amtrak shines. Improvements are needed of course–and if given the funds necessary to implement changes, Amtrak could prove itself a most attractive option to other modes of transportation. Right now, it’s a diamond in need of polish. Let’s hope the government recognizes the gem it has in it’s grasp and opts to restore the luster it deserves. Come what may, I’ll be a loyal supporter to the very end.
I support it. That doesn’t matter though. Becasue Amtrak cannot survive if only readers of this forum support it. We need to get message through to all Americans. We if they have good enough resons to give up their RVs, motorhomes or air travel they will use our pasenger rail system.
I would be happy to see Amtrak go.
Do I support Amtrak?
YES, YES, AND YES.
If Amtrak dies there will be no other passenger service in this country. The railroads won’t allow it. We must continue to have Amtrak and improve its funding so it can compete with bus and air travel.
I have ridden Amtrak and look forward to this coming summer. (John get ready.)
YES! I do support Amtrak 100%. Where would our country be without Amtrak? Amtrak is the last remaining passenger service that can get you from one end of this country to the other. It’s late sometimes, that’s true, but so what?! Without Amtrak railfans would be heartbroken ( at least I would be ) and we would all have to fly. Do we all want to fly everyplace we go? NO! There is a terrorist threat, and some people would rather watch the scenery go by the window in a dome car then watch the scenery go by thousands of feet below them. I happen to be one of those people. Amtrak can make it with the help of all of its loyal supporters! Support Amtrak!
I support AMTRAK and will ride it when I can. I hate flying anymore. The hub system has taken me miles and hours out of my way and the arilines pack you in like sardines. The last time I flew down to Houston from Chicago, I spent the return trip with my back bent at a 45 degree angle because the guy next to me resembled Jobba the Hut and the seats on airplanes are designed for anorexics! By the time we landed at O’Hare, I was in serious pain and didn’t stop hurting until the next day.
I do think that the track and ROW maintenance ought to be publicly funded and improved substantially. I’d also like to see some more high speed corridors in other parts of the country. Right now it takes me 4 hours or so to get to the Des Moines area to visit my sis and the train station is in some little tank town. It would be so much better if the train could average 90 mph and stop in downtown Des Moines!
I use Amtrak regularly, here in the North East – e.g the Acela between Phila and NY.
Increasingly, I perceive, rail is becoming the preferred mode anywhere between DC and Boston.
Almost certainly, a majority of North Eastern voters support Amtrak and/or publicly subsidized passenger rail transportation.
Its a cultural thing, however, because elsewhere (e.g. Pittsburgh) people don’t even consider taking the train. There are two each day, to Philadelphia – but Amtrak takes over 7 hours, when flying only takes 1 hour.
Now if Pittsburghians, Harrisburgians, Lancastrians, Altoonans etc. were to agree with me, in sufficient numbers, that
(i) It actually takes at least 4 hours to fly, by the time you’ve got to & from the airports, checked in 2 hours early etc.
(ii) I don’t want to risk being hi-jacked to save 3 hours
(iii) Politicians might be persuaded to invest in faster trains.
Then Pennsylvanians and other Americans might have the option – as do Europeans, everywhere – of travelling 350 miles (by train) in well under 4 hours.
Why would anyone, who does not support Amtrak as our only remaining passenger service, write or even visit these forums? Surely Amtrak is as much a part of railroading as any freight. It astonishes me.
I think the original question, when it was asked “do you support”, support was intended to me RIDE the National Railroad Passenger Corporation’s products.
Do I? Yes. Have since inception. Have introduced others to the pleasure of riding a train as opposed to driving a car, riding a bus or an airplane.
At the end of October, I took a group of 11 from Posrtland to Seattle roundtrip on the TALGO. UP split a switch in Albany and delayed the train (#500) which originated in Eugene by 1.5 hours. They all thought that it was a really great experience - I was mortified by what was going on. AMTK bussed as many of the Portland passengers as they could to Seattle since most of them were going to a Mariners game. (Mariners and Seahawks stadiums are next to Kink Street Station in Seattle) Still, the train was SRO out of Portland and return from Seattle (#509) with about another trains capacity on AMTK charted busses.
On our return, we were spiked by the Columbia Draw for a tow to pass and arrived back in Portland 15 minutes late. Had we been able to leave Vancouver OT we would have been 10 minutes early.
Point of all this? We have a situation in the US at this time of “Run the Train - THEY WILL COME” as long as the schedules are reasonable and that service is advertised and otherwise promoted well.
Where there was .5 (as in every-other-day 6 days per week) trains per day in 1972 between Eugene and Seattle and none between Seattle and Vancouver BC, there are now 12 per day - 12 PORT-SEA (includes the 6 Eugene trains), 6 EUG-SEA, 2 continue on the EVerett and one more on to BC. That is the same number of trains running in 1960. Sparse ridership in 1960, full most of the time now. State supports (US, WA and OR) is close to break-even at $11 per seat, and the runs earn their costs when they are full.
I rest my case.
YES, I ride AMTK. So do a whole lot of others.
Better believe I do! In both senses – as probably the best approach (in general – see below!) to have passenger transportation in the US, and as a way to get from place to place – if there is a train going my way, I’ll take it in preference to any other mode.
Michael’s comment on the real time involved in flying is right on – particularly from the centre of any sizable city. You have to get to the airport. You have to get your boarding pass. You have to clear security. You have to be there ahead of time. Your plane is late leaving. Then you have to do the whole thing in reverse at the other end (assuming you don’t fly to Chicago to get from New York to Miami, for instance) (does anyone but me know the airline hub joke: when you die, you have fly to Atlanta to change planes to get to heaven or hell!)
Passenger trains, however, do not and never have made money (so far as I know, anywhere in the world!). Therefore, they need public support. At the present the funding for Amtrak – not Amtrak itself, but the funding for it – is a continuing bad joke. That aspect of it I do NOT support!
Yes, for my mother, who is now in her late 80’s and for which there is no other means of long distance travel to visit family and friends. For myself, age 63 and retired, because I have the time and no longer find ANY pleasure in driving long distances. For any of the 75 million baby boomers who will reach retirement age in the next decade and be in a situation somewhere between mine and my mother’s.
I have brought up this same thing in other threads about Amtrak and passenger service. My mother is in her mid 80s, had never flown and NEVER WILL. We must keep and improve Amtrak. I believe where the tracks are crowded that the government should help add trackage. This not only would help Amtrak stay on schedule but would help the freight railroads as well.
We must do something and start now for the furute or it will just get worse.
Scottydog,
I visit this forum because I am interested in railroading. Amtrak is a hidden tax on the railroad system that never should have happened, and never would if the railroads had been allowed to quit the business in the 1960’s which would have been the case if we had a rational transportation policy, which we do not.
Now you have the government taking private property, the railroads’ capacity, without compensation. That is theft, sanctioned by your US Congress of course. Meanwhile the govt provides right of way for highways, barge operators and airlines with massive subsidies and nobody even knows what is going on.
Further, if you really want decent passenger service you will never get it from Amtrak. It is a political creature. As such its mission is to spend your tax dollars, not to provide a service that people will buy. Amtrak must go.
I hope not.i was hoping to take matt to chicago on it from toledo bryan or Fostoria.
stay safe
Joe
I ride Amtrak often. With my inner ear condition, I hate to fly. I am of an age where driving across the country isn’t a kick anymore. When I ride the trains I get rest and relaxation. When I drive I need to take a day of rest when I get there, with the trains I rest on the way there.
Of course I could take a bus. Well that’s what the folks who want to kill Amtrak say. However, Greyhound no longer serves my town with a scheduled service of once a week anymore, much less every day. So much for the bus… At least Amtrak offers daily service in both directions in a town nearby. The closest airport with a scheduled service is two hours away. The train depot is a half an hour away…
Yes, I ride Amtrak often. It happens to stop nearby, The service may not be the best, but it beats the bus.