On Monday, April 15, 2019 at 6:23:56 PM UTC-4, houn...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:   
      
   > > If Amtrak could offer quality service in high travel corridors   
   > > it could triple its ridership.  Today, highways and airways   
   > > are unable to meet travel demand in busy corridors.   
   >   
   > Amtrak is quite busy on the NEC, AIUI.   
      
   The NEC is not Amtrak's only busy corridor.  In addition   
   there are _potential_ corridors that would be busy if   
   good Amtrak service was provided on them.   
      
      
      
      
      
   > I wonder how much new rail cars would help in that regard as they have   
   > used the same ones, at least on NEC and the Empire Corridor, for well   
   > over 40 years.   
      
   The key issue is capacity.  Amtrak does not have enough cars   
   to meet potential demand.  A secondary issue is track space.   
      
      
   > > Unfortunately, conservatives and long demonized Amtrak as   
   > > evil (read a tea-party website) and have fought to kill   
   > > Amtrak altogether.  Amtrak is lucky it has managed to   
   > > survive, but lots of people see its justification.   
   > > Sadly, it has not had the investment necessary to offer   
   > > more reliable service, let alone expand.   
   >   
   > Amtrak's problem, IMHO, is that it is basically the unwanted step child   
   > -- even under the most rail-friendly Administration.   
      
   Yes.  Conservatives hate it as a matter of faith while liberals   
   just don't see it as a priority.  Indeed, sometimes liberals   
   attack Amtrak for things like kicking out homeless from   
   living in train stations.  A homeless guy attacked an Amtrak   
   employee and the police shot the attacker.  Liberals screamed   
   in protest.  (What, it's ok to assault and injure or kill   
   an employee??)   
      
      
      
   > Many US railroads got out of passenger service a long time ago, seeing   
   > that as a black hole where cash disappears. It also wouldn't surprise me   
   > if many freight railroads see Amtrak trains coming onto their territory   
   > as a pain that has the potential to completely screw up schedules and   
   > slots, thus costing more money and time.   
      
   That passenger trains once incurred operating losses pre-Amtrak   
   is not relevant now; host freight lines would not be responsible   
   for them.  As mentioned, some host railroads can't even meet   
   their own needs, and are being unreasonable with Amtrak.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)