BusTalk

[thaitransit]

This is probably going even more off topic.

I had a friend who used to live in the US in the west side of the country. He basically said 3 things i found very surprising.

1. Few people actually live in the innercity/central areas of major US citys (except New york).

2. That Bus and rail mass transit services were generally low frequency in the western and middle parts of the USA but ok in the north east.

3. Intercity rail services were not common and where existed often could not be used for a day return trip due to less than daily trains.

Is this true and does it still apply today the information was at least 10 years old?

[HwyHaulier]

[thaitransit]

That Amtrak service seems quite nice as per there website and you can see alot of the USA by using it. But its very slow alot of the trips are more than 18 hours long. Also these trips seem to only operate every other day or once a day.

Making it hard to get off for a few hours takes some pics and visit a local area and get the next train onward.

Are these Amtrak trains the only long distance/intercity services in the USA or are there alot of other "rural commuter" trains eg stopping all stations between regional centres while the main Amtrak train runs express?

A while back I had considered visiting the US and using the train to get around but the complex ticket system with what seems reservation only trains made it hard to organise. As the only air service from south east asia are to LA SF and New york. Thus meaning every other trip within the US would be by rail or bus.

What are the long distance "intercity" bus services like to ride on in terms of comfort and frequency?

[timecruncher]

Yes and no. Amtrak is the sole provider of intercity rail service. Here and there state-supported trains operate regionally, but the frequency of service varies widely.

For example, out in California, service in the Sacramento - Bay Area corridor and from Santa Barbara through Los Angeles to San Diego are state-supported (for now), fairly frequent and operate in the 60-80 mph range on tracks shared with lots and lots of freight trains. The tracks are owned and maintained by Union Pacific or Burlington Northern Santa Fe, but Amtrak has its own trains and crews. Commuter services operate in these areas as well, geared more to the weekday commute business.

Up in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington states support mediocre service on UP and BNSF tracks between Eugene, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Again, speeds are in the 60-80mph range, and the service is provided by Amtrak with standard Amtrak equipment or with Talgo trainsets purchased by Washington state for the service. As I type this, there are three daily trains from Eugene to Seattle, a fourth Portland-Seattle train, and two more between Seattle and Vancouver with dedicated buses scheduled to connect with other trains in the corridor.

North Carolina, of all places, has been quietly adding service to its mini-corridor between Charlotte and Raliegh to where there are now three trains daily (the third one may not yet be running - a dump truck full of gravel got in the way of their regular train a few weeks back and trashed an engine and two or three of their second-hand coaches. Amtrak may have stepped in to supply coaches and a cafe during the interim.

The state of Illinois supports rail service out of Chicago to St. Louis (5 trains daily plus one Amtrak long-distance train), Carbondale (2 plus one Amtrak long-distance train), Chicago and Quincy (2 trains plus two long-distance trains).

Finally, Michigan supports its 3 daily trains between Pontiac, Detroit and Chicago and one daily round-trip Chicago-Grand Rapids.

California, Illinois and Michigan are all in bankruptcy for all intents and purposes, so it is anybody's guess whether those services will survive much longer.

Our rail passenger service has struggled since public takeover with inept, government-micromanaged management, lack of funding, outright animosity on the part of various members of Congress and most presidents since 1971 when it was formed.

Welcome to America! If you have a car, you can get there. If not, 90% of the country has inadequate urban or inter-urban transit available, public or private. Even Greyhound has pretty miserable service outside of the east coast.

timecruncher

[HwyHaulier]

[timecruncher]

Interestingly enough, the Pennsylvania Railroad could get you from Louisville to Chicago in under six hours in 1945 with steam power and an engine change during the 3-minute dwell time at Indianapolis.

It now takes almost that long for Amtrak's miserable Hoosier State (4 days a week) or Cardinal (the other three days) to get just from Indianapolis to Chicago.

Track is the problem. The former PRR north of Indy is about 90% gone entirely, abandoned by Conrail. The former NYC line via Kankakee and the Illinois Central speedway has been gone since Penn Central days. The former Monon line from Indy north was pretty fast, but it was ripped up in segments by L&N's successors. The current route involves a secondary line formerly owned by the Peoria & Eastern as far as Crawfordsville, then the former Monon line from there north to just north of Dyer, Indiana, then a hodgepoge of Grand Trunk, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, Metra (the Chicago rail commuter agency), then Norfolk Southern again to Amtrak-owned trackage at 16th Street.

Confused?

T&E people on this line have to be qualified on four railroads plus Amtrak and spend as much time changing channels on their handheld radios as they do calling signals and running the train!

timecruncher