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Amtrak expands capacity on popular ‘Auto Train’
I’m wondering if this is an additional coach or if this represents more seats in existing cars? I recall reading that CSX was balking at adding any more cars. I also recall reading that an additional row of seats would be added to Superliner coaches. To produce 60 additional seats, that would there are 15 coaches on the Auto Train. Sounds about right.
This is a great train. Keep the cheese and wine reception!
Landon Rowell not only forgets what bankrupted the original private sector train, but has no understanding of where people in the Midwest don’t go in winter. Florida is the #1 place where people in the Midwest don’t go. Why? Ever go there? It is like New York City, with palmettos, southern live oaks, and spanish moss. Instead of speaking the southern dialect, everybody talks like they never left NYC or New Jersey, and are about as rude. Except for the Redneck Riviera where Northeast socialistas are threatened by all those Dukes of Hazzard types running around with old beater pickup trucks, real moonshine, BBQ, and plenty of guns and ammo to keep out the undesirables. Instead, Midwesterners go to Texas, Arizona, or Colorado.
Actually, according to airline statistics, the Midwest to Florida is one of the largest travel markets. Midwesterners tend to go to Orlando or Florida’s west coast, but some go to south Florida as well.
A Midwest to Florida service should offer Auto Train and conventional service on the same train to maximize revenue. The train should make intermediate stops though autos could only be loaded at end points and maybe 1 or 2 intermediate points (example Chicago, Cincinnati, Orlando, and Miami, depending on route chosen).
LANDON ROWELL must have forgotten what bankrupted the original Auto Train
WITH GAS PRICES THIS HIGH IS THIS A SURPRISE? AFTER MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF OPERATION AMTRAK FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT. NOW HOW ABOUT EXPANDING TO THE NORTHEAST? NYC? WHAT AMTRAK REALLY NEEDS TO DO IS REVIVE THE AUTO TRAIN TO THE MIDWEST AND NOT JUST FLORIDA TO KENTUCKY AS BEFORE WHEN GAS WAS STILL CHEAP, BUT ALL THE WAY TO CHICAGO. NOT ONLY WOULD THE AUTO TRAIN BE POPULAR, IT COULD REVIVE PASSENGER SERVICE FR4OM MIDWEST TO FLORIDA WHICH DISAPPEARED DECADES AGO, WHEN IT WAS CHEAPER TO DRIVE.
Regarding the expansion of service to NYC, north of DC, there are catenary and tunnel clearance issues on the northeast corridor. CSX also has tunnel issues in Baltimore.
My in-laws live in Sanford, Florida. If such a train would go from Chicago, I would go down by train at least once a year. Also, many High School marching bands go to Orlando to play every 4 years, and many band parents would travel by train, if available.
What did bankrupt the original Auto Train? according to Wikipedia, the L&Ns decrepit tracks, which housed their second route, as well as two derailments, lead to their demise. Sad too, because they were thinking of making a service between Chicago and Denver…
What did bankrupt the original Auto Train? according to Wikipedia, the L&Ns decrepit tracks, which housed their second route, as well as two derailments, lead to their demise. Sad too, because they were thinking of making a service between Chicago and Denver…
Apparently Gusie the troll needs to get his facts straight. The majority of Midwestern places have gone to Florida for vacation, and many go regularly.
What bankrupted the original Auto Train was subsidized highway and air competition, among other things. A Midwest to Florida service would have to be subsidized, as is its competition. It may be true that starting a Midwest to Florida service contributed to the Auto Trains demise, but this service did not have the additional revenue of a train that provides service from Chicago (and other cities through trains connecting at Chicago) nor did it have the revenue from passengers boarding or detraining at intermediate points.
Midwesterners do go to Florida! They also go to Texas and Arizona. Perhaps an Auto-Train service added to the Texas Eagle and Southwest Chief would increase these trains’ revenues more than they increase their costs, reducing their subsidies.
Also, the Midwest to Las Vegas market is hot, and Amtrak doesn’t even go there. Perhaps bringing back the Desert Wind would add more revenue (including the additional revenue for the California Zephyr east of Salt Lake City) than cost to the system also.
The key to improving the financial performance of long distance services is to find service additions that open new markets and provide at least as much new revenue as new cost.
There is only one or two amtrak trains that may stop at two places in Kentucky. The auto train should come back to Louisville. I sure would love that ride!
Apparently Auto- Train continues to gain popularity. Too bad there are trolls both politicians as well as individuals, namely the one from Chicago refuse to see the value of Amtrak.
I see auto racks in North Bergen, NJ all the time. Why can’t Amtrak extend their service up this way? From what I understand Conrail in the 90’s opened up clearances to allow auto racks.
Agree with Gus the implied point that it’s very difficult to make decisions about where to run trains using data from the 1970s, where the entire network was on the verge of collapse and passengers were experiencing terrible conditions that made otherwise viable routes simply unbearable.
I think more autotrains would be a good idea at this point. I’m kinda surprised, living here in Florida and seeing the color of the license plates change in the fall instead of the leaves, that there are no plans to introduce California-Florida and Canada(multiple termini)-Florida autotrains. We get enormous numbers of people who take their cars on those journeys. The trains could just be seasonal if need be, I’m pretty sure they’d make a mint.
It’s easy as sin to say what Amtrak or any mas transit system should do as far as expansion is concerned and I’m certainly not immune to all kinds if ideas at to what kind of expansion I think should be done but Amtrak very definitely should conuct some some seriously thorough market research on where some kind of Auto-Train expansion would in fact work. They also should look at different ways to skin a cat, so to speak, on ways to ferry cars by rail around the country and into Canada.