House bill cuts Amtrak funding 40 percent

[happyslug]

54. Most "Cross Country" Rail service is regional service.

For Example, in my Home State of Pennsylvania, we have the Pennsylvania Train run by Amtrak. It connects Philadelphia to Pittsburgh via the old Pennsylvania Railroad Main line (now run by Norfolk Southern). It is used mostly by people going from one of those cities to someplace in between. This it is more then regional for by connecting two regions its served both regions.

The Capitol Limited does the same between Washington and Chicago, providing service to Frederick Maryland, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo and Chicago AND various small cities in between.

The Cardinal, runs from Washington to Chicago via Charleston and Huntington West Virginia, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Chicago and various cities in between.

There is a demand for this service, given the price of oil it has increased in recent years.

No one is suggesting high speed rail east and west in the US, for what ever service that would provide Air travel can do it faster and at less cost. It is these "Regional" trains that can go 60-100 mph (if the tracks permit) that people want, so they can pick them up at their local small city and go to another small city on the route OR to a large city. That is the service has been providing since it was formed in the early 1970s.

Yes, people can go from New York City to Los Angles by train, but plane is much faster and you do not have to stop in Chicago for a lay over. On the other hand, most riders are traveling within their region or on a train that goes between two regions (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago for example).

Many of these routes would be more heavily used if Amtrak could put more then one train a day on these routes. Most people who have studied such routes say you really need at least four trains in one direction each day to have a viable route, but Amtrak has NEVER had the funding to provide such service except in the North East do to budget problems (Amtrak can run the trains, but they do NOT have the trains to run, for example the present Train to Pittsburgh is an old DC to New York City train that Amtrak replaced with its Acela on that route and thus had a "Train" to run to Pittsburgh).

I hate to say this, High Speed Rail is NOT the Answer, what is needed is more trains of the 60-100 mph types, that Amtrak is running today, Congress needs to break down and buy them (i.e. provide the money). These should be on the order of what use to be called "Hoddlebugs" diesel one to two car passenger trains. If you get more passenger then those can handle go to a larger train.

US Railcar (formerly Colorado Railcar) has been pushing for adoption of its cars by Amtrak for over ten years, and Amtrak has supported those efforts. The problem is Congress refuses to embrace the concept that such cars would provide the needed "regional" train service needed. Amtrak can justify improvements in the Northeast Corridor for it is profitable, but if Amtrak wants to improve service elsewhere it needs money to buy the trains needed.

Outside of the Northeast, Amtrak is in many ways in a "Chicken or egg" situation, it needs new trains to increase service so it can get more riders, but it need more riders to pay for the new trains those riders want to ride.

What Amtrak needs to more "Doodlebugs" to provide more frequent service. Here is a picture of a Colorado Railcar 100 passenger rail car:




Here is the single and bi level designs (the bi level can hold over 200 passengers)


More on the Philadelphia to Pittsburgh Corridor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Corridor

The problem right now is a refusal to fund these "Doodlebugs" for use as passenger trains with one or two operators (a driver and a Conductor). These trains are design to connect back to back so you can double the passengers with the same crew.

The problem is no one will take the train today, for one train in each direction a day is just NOT usable by most people. Four trains a day would be usable by more people and once the service is established people will use it.

As I said above, it is a Chicken and Egg Situation, people will not take the train for the train service is rare, but the reason it is rare is because no one takes it. You have to provide the service before people will take the service, i.e. you have to have more trains per day and make that permanent (or at least commit to it for a year or two) and then people will slowly start to use it as they become aware of it.

This is what is needed, these smaller trains on "National lines" connecting regions and providing service to those regions. That is what Amtrak has been providing with its "Coast to Coast" trains since the 1970s. Amtrak needs to keep its present rolling stock, for some inter regional travel is best done in a Sleeper, but it should concentrate of the above Doodlebugs to provide more frequent service on most of its "National Lines".