Re: Amtrak Passengers Stranded in Woods in Georgia

>> There aren't enough parallel tracks to be able to maintain schedules,
>> because the private railroads aren't building them and are shutting >> some tracks down. The existing tracks are not being properly >> maintained; trains going into Richmond, VA, for example, have to slow >> down to a crawl because of the poor condition of the tracks. But it's >> CSX that is responsible for those tracks. > Interestingly the Boston to Washington, D.C. corridor is one of the > better maintained sections. They recently electrified from Boston > through Providence out to New Haven, CT though to D.C.

Yes, it's pretty amazing taking the train from here in Williamsburg, VA to Boston. The trip to DC takes forever and is basically done at a crawl at several points because of the bad track. Often the train gets stuck behind a freight train which has right of way, and travels at a slow speed for hours on end.

Then we get to DC. The lights in the train go out for a half hour or so while they take off the diesel and put on an electric locomotive. We then proceed at a much more reasonable pace to northward. With no interruptions.

This is why I think we should regionalize mass transit. MTBA now runs > through RI, MA and NH. Why not extend into CT, NY, etc. Run high speed > bullet trains for those willing to pay for it. The current high speed > trains are a joke. Apparently Bombardier isn't the greatest > manufacturer when it comes to building commuter trains.

This works well in places with high enough population density. Here in Tidewater, Virginia, however, the local governments have been fighting strongly against getting local commuter rail for reasons I don't really understand. And out in the midwest, it's quite impractical. I think having regional commuter rail is an excellent idea in most places (including here in Tidewater), but you still need a wide-area train infrastructure to connect them together. That's what Amtrak is in the northeast corridor and what it's supposed to be everywhere.

scott

"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."