For those who use it, it is working, far better than nothing, but not what it should be. I compare it to the local city transportation during the era after they ripped up the streetcar tracks and had not even thought about light rail and/or new subways.
You could use the buses, and people who remembered the better service the streetcars gave, which they did in many cities, were called old-fashioned. But the buses were a lot better than nothing.
It’s nice what you can do with a train AFTER you’ve already got the basics covered.
https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/luxury-trains-japan
https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/seven-stars-kyushu-luxury-train
From one of the websites:
Even before the advent of the shinkansen bullet train in 1964, luxury trains, often called “blue sleeper trains,” were a common sight across Japan. These trains were designed, not only as an efficient mode of transportation but as an experience in themselves. Getting there truly was half the fun.
In recent years, however, the use of luxury trains has largely given way to the rapid travel offered by the shinkansen. The last of the “blue trains” ceased operation in 2015. While some have called this “the end of an era,” luxury seekers are not to be disappointed by Japan’s all-new line up of first-class rail accommodations. Beginning in spring 2017, JR East and JR West launched two “cruise trains” for your traveling enjoyment.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/travel/twilight-express-mizukaze-japan-luxury-train/
(AND, narrow-gauge, no less!)
italics mine (NKP guy)
How very true.
Also: The elderly & the disabled are not “sick.” I strongly object to the disparagement in John Privara’s use of the term. The elderly & the disabled, to invoke a phrase from the movie “Boy’s Town” and a song by the Hollies, ain’t heavy; they’re our brothers and sisters.
I’m now getting into the ederly catagory and the last thing I want is to be stuck on a train for 1+ or 3 days each way while visiting my children & grandchildren in Fl and TX. Especially since I spend about 6 hours total traveling from my house to their nearest airport at a fraction of the price of a sleeper and a little less (sometimes considerably less) than coach fare.
I believe the best thing to ever happen to us LD traveling old folks is the SWA senior Want-to-Get-Away fares (still includes 2 free checked bags per person). I’ve been a RR fan for over 70 years but I also appreciate progress, convenience, and saving money.
you can f1y some can’t
Additionally, after we arrived in Inverness we were able to see the Caledonian Sleeper, an overnight rail service between a number of points in Scotland and London (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian Sleeper
[quote user=“daveklepper”]
you can f1y some can’t
Additionally, after we arrived in Inverness we were able to see the Caledonian Sleeper, an overnight rail service between a number of points in Scotland and London (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian Sleeper). It was attached to a diesel locomotive lettered for the Deutsche Bahn-
East or West of Pittsburgh? Or is he geographically challenged?
Wow, Amtraks Capitol Limited is among one of the fastest and most efficiently run Amtrak LD trains I have ever been on, last rode it about 2-3 years ago, Chicago to DC. Much better than the Texas Eagle. I would love to have a Texas Eagle run to the standards of the Capital Limited. My Aunt rode it and liked it as well. It was ontime when we rode it. When I worked in Detroit I would drive to Toledo to take the Capitol Limited into Chicago and Change trains to Milwaukee. It was up to an hour and 20 in faster than the regular Detroit to Chicago trains due to delays and all the stops the Chicago to Detroit trains made…which covered the time it took to drive to Toledo from Dearborn. Plus back then the Capitol had a dome car and you could board at 5 a.m. in Toledo, and watch the sun rise. Be in Chicago at 8 or 8:30. It really hauled azz on Conrail track back in the 1990’s.
West of Pittsburgh to Chicago and no more challenged than you.
Years ago (1986?) I rode the Amtrak Broadway from NYC to Chicago. Same deal: rough, slow, multiple times sided, and six hours late to Chicago.
Outcomes change over time. In FY18 the Capitol Limited’s on-time percentage (OTP) at its end points was 30.8 percent. The Texas Eagle’s OTP was 46.4 percent. The Capitol Limited did not have the worst OTP in 2018. The Crescent stole the show at 14.8 percent.
NS is doing their best to discourage Amtrak where the operate over NS. If you racall - a year or so ago NS was in virtual gridlock everywhere between Buffalo and Chicago - all from NS applying the wrong operating plan. While Amtraks may have gotten delayed 6 to 8 hours - NS freights were getting delayed one to two or more DAYS. NS has improved to some degree, how much is open to question.
Green. Red. Black.
Regarding Nos. 29 & 30, each morning about 6, just before I open my newspapers, I check my emails and look at my app asm.transitdocs.com to see how the Lake Shore Limited is doing, as well as the Capitol.
I have no numbers, only impressions from years of looking, that the Capitol Limited is not only never in Cleveland on time, it is often shown in red (up to 2 hrs. late) and not infrequently in black (over 3 hrs. late). It is almost never shown in green, in either direction.
(Even as I write, #30 is 4 hrs. 9 min. late at Rockville, Maryland. It left Chicago only 8 min. late, but lost an hour between South Bend and Elkhart, another hour before Sandusky, and a third hour between Connellsville and Martinsburg)
And why can’t busses serve this purpose? They’re cheaper, much more flexible (compared to trains , which only operate over fixed routes), and much more efficient than trains.
Citing passenger miles is a red herring. Carrying 1 passenger 3000 miles cross-country is a lot more expensive than 100 passengers 30 miles. And that 30 mile route can be covered more than once in a day using the same trainset.
The OTP numbers for the Capitol Limited and Texas Eagle, as tends to be true for all of the long-distance trains, are worse for passengers boarding at intermediate points along the route.
The average all stations OTP for the Limited during the fourth quarter of 2018 was 27.8 percent. For the Eagle it was 29.5 percent.
Limited customers were late on average by 105 minutes; Eagle customers by 124 minutes.
Prior to 2018 I rode the Eagle from San Antonio to Dallas or vice versa three or four times a year. No more. Sitting around Dallas Union Station - Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station - for two or three hours waiting on the Eagle is not a lot of fun.
Long-distance passengers declined 3.9 percent from 2017 to 2018. Given the paltry OTP of the trains this year, I suspect the trend will continue; it may even accelerate.
Passenger-miles is the measure of the actual work done by a passenger train, anything else is derivative. And you think carrying a lot of passengers 30 miles is cheap? Commuter lines like NJT recover about 30% of their costs at the farebox. Quite a bit less than Amtrak.
Public commuter lines structure their fares voluntarily to maximize ridership vs cost recovery. A very large part of this reason is local commuter agencies get breaks on EPA environmental pollution requirements to the larger cities that sponsor them. If they have a mass transit system in place that carries a lot of riders. Not really sure how that all works and someone with an Urban Planning degree might be able to explain it better.
Amtrak does the same with it’s LD fares or used to (hard to tell so far if those days are behind us or not). Corridor fares depends on the Corridor what Amtrak does. Chicago to Milwaukee fares for example are fixed and do not use yield management. They have only started to recently charge an extra $1-2 in fare for rush hour trains…which is not a lot on a $50+ RT rail fare. When Amtrak took over the LD train system in the 1970’s one if it’s goals was to make the train more affordable to the masses and you see that reflected in the accomodations, fare structure, lack of amenities on board, onboard menu choices, lack of real First Class Accomodations, etc. What private railroad do you know of back in the 40’s and 50’s would only have a hamburger, a pasta selection and maybe baked chicken as the only menu options in the dining car?
You’ll also notice that Public Commuter lines do almost nothing to enhance revenue, one class of service on one type of car is pretty much all you get these days. Long gone are the extra fare cars and in some cases bar cars (which were a holdover from the private railways running things earlier in the 1900’s).
That may be the case but the revenue capture opportunity of a single passenger captive on a train for 3000 miles is probably substantially higher than the group of 100 traveling a mere 30 miles. Just because you do not see Amtrak taking advantage of it doesn’t mean it is not out there.
I think if you check the basic rail fare between the two groups is correspondingly cheaper as well for the shorter route because the fixed costs are lower.
Last your previous statement that buses can suppliment trains and be cheaper is based on density of passengers on the route. Had this discussion with family in Milwaukee concerning the Milwaukee trolley (The Hop). Apparently someone up there is stoking opposition to the trolley saying buses are cheaper. Actually again depends on the riders. Buses have issues in that they have a much shorter life cycle than a trolley car #1. #2 Your limited to how many passengers a bus driver can haul with one vehicle due to size and road limits. #3 fuel economy with just a moderate load of passengers the bus loses as well. Last but not least, been shown again and again that some rail passengers will refuse to ride a bus no matter if it is the only alternative. The figure is fairly decent though I do not remember what it is but I think it is at least 30% of rail passengers will not ride a bus and will seek either an automobile or an earlier termination of their trip vs riding on a connecting bus.
One more comment on how Amtrak runs long distance trains. The most cost recovery you see on a lounge car is what? Someone in the lower level selling $
In FY17 the farebox recovery ratio for Trinity Railway Express, which is a 32-mile commuter heavy rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth, was 21.4 percent. The FY18 recovery ratio was 14.8 percent.
The average subsidy per TRE passenger in FY17 was $5.98 per ride. In FY18 it was $6.51.
Amtrak stopped showing ticket revenues in 2018. For the corporation as a whole the ticket revenue (farebox) operating recovery ratio in FY17 was 66.5 percent. NEC ticket revenues were 156 percent of operating expenses. For the state supported trains ticket revenues recovered an average of 58.0 percent of operating expenses. For the long-distance trains, it was 48.7 percent.
As per Amtrak’s Operating Financials, “Adjusted Operating Earnings is defined as GAAP Net Loss excluding: (1) certain non-cash items (depreciation, income tax expense, non-cash portion of pension and other post retirement employment benefits, and state capital payment amortization); and (2) GAAP income statement items reported with capital or debt results or other grants (project related revenue/costs reported with capital results, expense related to Inspector General’s office, and interest expense, net).
Operating Revenue is defined as GAAP revenue excluding: 1) non-cash revenue items (state capital payment amortization); and (2) GAAP income stateme
Elderly and other limited mobility who cannot fly; buses serve the same purpose?
To some extent they do. However, anyone who has taken a long-distance bus trip, anything more than three hours, knows they really do not. The comfort level is less, the amount of space per seat is less, the restrooms are far less adequate, the ride as bumpy as bad track, much even most of the time. What about meal and beverage service? Greater problem to leave the bus for a roadside diner than moving to a dining café car, and most meal stops are not at places with great food. No 1st-Class service or handicapped room.
But, clearly, with the freight congestion and Amtrak LDTs’ poor time-keeping and reduced meal options, they aren’t doing their job either.
I believe my fix, station restaurants with home delivery, take-out service, and on-board sevice just a fraction of that business. can solve the food and b