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Amtrak resumes regular service between Baltimore and Wilmington
Amazing how that private sector highway based alternative transportation module always becomes available whenever Amtrak has a systems failure. I bet the highway users didn’t even notice the extra burden shifted their way due to Amtrak’s failure.
Yea, right! Highways are private sector? Highways are built by the taxpayers through taxes. That is private sector?
In 2011, my wife and I couldn’t take a Pacific Surfliner from Anaheim to LA to connect with the Coast Starlight because of signal problems (BNSF’s) at Fullerton. All Surfliner and freight service was suspended. Amtrak could have left us stranded. Instead, they sent us to LA in a taxi. Amtrak had to pay the driver $85 for what would have been a $28 train fare for two. That “private sector” taxi, by the way, drove on very public sector, tax supported freeways and streets - not on its own private ROW. Amtrak lost money but gained good will.
Yeah but the highway users sure notice all the huge commercial trucks absent from their public highways when shipped by rail.
I suspect Jeffery Guse has not spent much time on that stretch of I-95. In the middle of the night like this, sure, no problem. Any other time, though: Ugh.
(I know, he hates Amtrak and posts his vitriol in every article.)
I wish you all would stop responding and/or reacting to Jeffery; that’s exactly what he feeds off. You cannot reason with someone who is unreasonable. Thank you.
There is no private sector interstate highway system in the US. All of it was either a state toll road that was bonded by the state with the bonds being paid for by the users or they were built under the original Federal state partnership where the Feds paid 90% and the state paid 10%. Since then “some” states have sold or have tried to sell their toll road to private companies. Both amounts came from the Federal and state gas tax revenues. Now the formula is 50/50 and the Federal highway trust fund has been broke for 3 years and is in fact funded out of the US general fund. Unless an interstate highway is a full funded toll road then it fails to earn it’s rate of return because no one pays to use it.
I believe this is the first time in my life that I have read about the system having such a major malfunction. I used to live in Elkton in the seventies; and I remember the line being very dependable. Oh, yes, occasionally, the kids up in South Philly would drop shopping carts onto the wires; but that was a pretty isolated problem.Something weird must have taken place. However, having commuted to Wilmington, I do remember the Delaware Turnpike ( I-95) having its share of delays dfue tp accidents, traffic and weather.
It was partly fortunate for Amtrak that this did not happen during the prime time of rush hour. I would not be surprised that this may be due to the aging infrastructure along the NEC.
As for traffic, no doubt it would have caused more congestion on area roads for the day. The smart commuters who are reliant public transit would have resorted to driving partially to point past the closure and continued by rail from there, or probably would have taken an earleir bus that morning to get to work.
I’d like to ask Jeff what he would do if a major road closure occured, like an overturned tanker truck, an overpass collapses, or a road floods out because sewers are backing up? No transportation system is totally foolproof. It 's good to have both options available in case one fails, the alternative is available. It would certainly help for our nation’s mobility if we had just as many passenger rail lines as we do major highways.