http://my.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20080218/47b910d0_3ca6_1552620080218-2032776449
I love the line about “on time” performance being key…(since when??[(-D])
And they also say that it shouldn’t cause any passenger delays.
Except in the Northeast Corridor, they’re at the mercy of freight railroad train delayers, er, I mean dispatchers.
No, I really mean train delayers when I think about it. It’s the best description for someone who sets up a 3 way meet wherein 2 westbound freights are opposing an eastbound passenger (California Zephyr in this case). The freight holding the main had to back up about 1/4 mile to let us in to clear the freight in the pass. That train (a mixed freight) then proceeded west. We then backed up, were lined into the siding and then had to wait for the tail end of the other freight to clear the east switch since it had had to back up past the east switch to let us in to clear the other westbound.
Genius. Pure genius.
Andre
Andre
that’ll make life interesting[:)]
having travelled on amtrack i found along with not being able to smoke exept on certain stops
the bag checks will delay services. does this include commuter services as well as longhaul?
The Gov’t must have gotten another one of their “reliable” tips that the trains are going to be targets again…[sigh]
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for a major security up-grade, after the bombings in Madrid.
The news media and some in congress have been complaining about the lack of security for passenger and hazardous freight on railroads for some time now. Even with this it will still not be enough to quiet the fear mongers.
inch
“It’s designed to be an open system that can move a lot of people fast.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
that line Kills Me!!
Obviously, Amtrak doesn’t want to be seen to be in the business of “attracting passengers.” Next, they’ll eliminate all their downtown stations in favor of remote locations which are served only by infrequent shuttle busses. When you go to pick someone up at the station, you’ll be shooed away by uniformed Security goons. All food and beverages will be confiscated before boarding. Reading material will be inspected and any politically-incorrect items will be seized. Passports will be required for interstate travel.
That should help “level the playing field” so the airlines won’t feel they are being discriminated against.
It’s so sad that America no longer has the courage to be free. We now seem to prefer the illusion of security that comes with total government control of every aspect of our lives.
Remember how it used to raise the hair on the back of your neck when you saw movies of the East German police providing this kind of security at transportation terminals?
You got that right! How about the site of Nazi SS with their German Shepherds?? Now every police department in the U.S. has their own attack Shepherd’s that are direct descendants of those Nazi dogs.[xx(](but it’s for our own protection[:-^])
I saw another story on this today. U.S. railroads have received almost 60 terror threats in the last 2 years. This is what prompted the $60 million false security upgrades. Random inspections don’t do squat! Profiling does!
One more good reason not to bother with Amtrak. When the idiots mandate security screening of my pickup and SUV, I’ll quit traveling altogether.
My last flight was aboard a military contract carrier. I rather doubt I’ll take another.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Now we can model the “random screenings” on modern layouts.[(-D]
I dunno, the last time I traveled by train the security wasn’t lax. It was non-existent. Nothing in the station, on the platform, or on the train itself. I just walked up and got on in Altoona and then it was exactly the same in Pittsburgh. I’m more surprised that something hasn’t already happened than I would be if something did happen.
The government is in the unenvyable position of not being able to do the right thing no matter what they do. You beef up security and its “why did they do that, they’re just fear mongering” and then the same crowd is the ones that say “why didn’t they make more security” when something does happen. Waiting for the first train to get popped on Long Island isn’t going to save anyone’s life. Reacting after the fact to fatalities that could have been prevented isn’t the way to go. After D.B. Cooper hijacked and robbed an airliner, the government quitely required all the 727s to have their rear doors sealed shut so no one could use them in copycat crimes. But they didn’t really have a reason to do that until after someone actually did it. Probably because no one thought of it. But a train bombing? Its going to happen eventually, and we know how its done. Its downright logical to take measures to prevent that from occuring.
You have never heard me complain that a crime could have been prevented by better security, and you never will.
I, for one, am not afraid to go about my life unless the government guarantees that I will be totally safe from all things bad, which is not an achievable goal anyway.
I travel by train BECAUSE security is non existant.
I wonder if Americans will ever come out from under their beds and enjoy life again.
Simple statistics:
You stand a greater chance of being struck by lightning than you do of being killed by a terrorist, and in September 2001 more people died on the highways in the US than were killed by terrorists at the World Trade Center.
Land of the free and home of the brave my foot.
Why would the government lock a fire exit to prevent a hijacking? Did DB Cooper sneak in through the airstair door? Would locking that door have prevented the crime, or just his escape? I suspect your information is in error. I never saw that AD (Airworthiness Directive).
I wasn’t saying you specifically would. But there are people that would do that. Millions and millions of them
Cooper exited through the airstair at the back of the 727 he temporarily hijacked. The FAA then ordered the installation of a device to keep the airstair from being opened while the aircraft was in flight. But most airlines voluntary closed them permanently because no one used them anyhow.
The FAA would never permit an airline to permanently seal an emergency exit door, much less order it.
Welp, land of the Latetrack enforced by more lost time.
I guess I will start to worry when every private auto has guns and bomb sniffing dogs around it.
I loved the article when it stated that they will pat a package with something that will be sent through a machine. That is exactly how the 9-11 got through security in the first place… those little black bags patted but unopened (Blades etc inside)
Different tech. I for one don’t mind. And most of the major amtrak stations don’t handle the volume of traffic and have to check every bag, so this will go faster. al yo uhave to do is walk through a doorway. It’ll be fine. Also, keep in mind that the statisitc is something 80+ percent of the Amtrak delays, AREN’T CAUSED BY AMTRAK
As for the cause, I suspect it’s been in the palns for a while, and they were trying to streamline it as best they could. Ultimatley, it’s a black sduit pulling the money purse
Ben Franklin: “Those who give up some freedoms for security will soon have neither.”
(I’m not swearing those were his exact words, but the meaning was the same.)
i’ll bet none of those dogs were Nazis
[:)]