Yeah, I lost a lot of time on the Cascade train my last visit to the US. I’ll not take it again–my vacation time is finite, and I don’t need to spend more than is necessary sitting in a damn train.
Last time I took Amtrak from NJ to Boston, not only were they late, but they ran out of beer on a Friday afternoon. I can live with being late, but how hard is it to stock enough beer!
DH and I took Amtrak to DC from NYC earlier this month for long weekend and we really did not have any issues. It was more convenient then paying for 3 nights parking in a downtown DC hotel. The train arrived in DC about 30 minutes late but one of the reasons for that was passengers getting off at BWI had to exit through the rear but they only announced that when we arrived there… since it is only a short trip to get there from Baltimore or even from Wilmington, maybe announce it ahead of time??
Just sat with D for 54 minutes waiting for her late train, while she ranted for 54 minutes about how the train will probably be two hours late by the time it arrives in her town.
The Cascades run on lines owned by (I believe) BNSF, a freight railroad company. Amtrak has just a few slots to run passenger trains; freight trains, which are slower, fill the rest of the track capacity, and there are plenty of road grade crossings, where cars and trucks mix with trains.
If we want better train service, it takes money–and in the case of passenger rail, tax dollars, to build new tracks for passenger trains only, free of interference by freight trains and road traffic.
Amtrak has no competition, so if they publish their on time rates, they are always in first, second, and last place. As others have said, they don’t own the tracks and don’t usually have priority on the tracks.
Railroads are king. Have you ever had to negotiate with one? You will not win. They will not sell. They will not grant the simplest of requests. You can ask, they will tell you they will consider it, and they will come back in a few weeks and say no.
@twoinanddone, yes, I have negotiated with large Class I railroads. They are like big banks–they have a lot of power. If you pay them enough, though, they can be very accommodating–and Amtrak has to pay them for track rights.
Everyone keeps coming back to this point. Well, duh-- build dedicated tracks already. That’s how the Japanese Shinkansen system works: dedicated tracks.
And don’t excuse Amtrak by saying the land doesn’t exist. Much of the Shinkansen tracks are elevated.
Money is a huge obstacle. There isn’t much budgeted for the train system and folks are only willing to pay up to a certain amount for train tickets. Most other countries spend a lot Lenore on their train systems.
Then PRIVATIZE it the way Japan has.
How do we compare countries the size of one of our states? And with different revenue and social systems? Where do you prioritize, when everyone’s already aggravated about taxes and costs?
Ever think of what it would take to improve the entire network?
Now please explain where the right-of-way will come from to build the tracks. Also give us a clue where the money will come from.
I already addressed that. Where land is scarce, build an elevated track over the existing freight track. The Shinkansen has elevated tracks. Then privatize the system the way the Japan has. Japan Rail (private sector) has been paying for the expansion of the network.
Why does the US government have to own & operate commercial rail? It doesn’t operate commercial airlines.
My daughter travels home from school via Amtrak 3x a year (round trip VA to NJ.) She has only had a delay once over these past 2 years. We were all annoyed, but after reading this thread, I’m feeling blessed!
@MaelstromMonkey :
The US government doesn’t own airlines, but they/we (the ‘people’ ) heavily subsidize them. For example, airports are not private ventures, commercial airports are run by government or quasi government agencies. Here in the NY area it is the Port Authority, and the airports are subsidized by things like bridge tolls and the like. Airports are basically non profit ventures, they are subsidized, and airlines are not charged anywhere near the cost of their use of the airport. The Jet fuel the airline uses is subsidized, the road network that feeds the airport is subsidized, the cost of running the air traffic control system to a large extent is paid for by tax dollars as part of the FAA budget.
Rail Japan may be private, but they are heavily subsidized as well, as are most passenger rail systems in the world.
That doesn’t mean a public/private partnership might not work with rail travel. Like air travel, without subsidies train travel would likely be unaffordable to many people . A model where the government or government(s) use their bonding authority to build the rail infrastructure while a private company operates the rail service (with subsidies likely) might work out. One of the problems is that there is the myth that for example airlines make a profit as a ‘private business’ and that the ‘government has nothing to do with it’, and that isn’t true. Subsidies have been part of air travel since there has been commercial air travel, for the very reason that operating without them would be difficult if not impossible if the goal is to have air travel affordable.
One of the guys on a model trains forum I belong to who like many is a train buff, said that the rail right of way might not be a problem on most routes, that there is a lot of abandoned right of way that could be redone for high speed rail but the big factor is going to be making it suitable for high speed rail, which means separate right of way, no rail grade crossings, rail designed for high speeds, a computerized train control system and the like.
The problem is not freight infrastructure per se, since the 1980’s the rail industry has been transformed, say what you will about the government but they rescued all the northeast railroads as conrail, did a serious modernization effort on it, to the point that it was sold off to two different private rail carriers (CSX and Norfolk Southern) who get pretty serious profits out of their conrail package. The problem is that Amtrak has the right to run on the freight rail network but the freight rail gets priority (where Amtrak owns the tracks, that is not a problem), this was part of the agreement when Amtrak took over rail passenger service from those companies ancestors, that they had the right to use the trackage.
The other problem is that Amtrak is forced to serve routes that cost a lot to maintain, but generate relatively little rail travel, I could name politicians who are always complaining about Amtrak, how it costs the government money, but who also over the years have screamed bloody murder when Amtrak proposes stopping service to Podunkville and Calico Corners. If we rationalized rail service in this country and had it where it truly was needed, which would be the heavily travelled routes, it potentially could be run as a private/public entity, with the current rail network no private operator would go near having to maintain service to lightly traded whistle stop towns.
No simple solutions for a country- and a network- this large. We aren’t talking about one state or one route. Nor what to do with that extra money we found in a drawer.
And the handful of times I’ve taken it from the SF Bay Area south I’ve been delayed three times because some unfortunate souls decided to take their life on the tracks 
The station agents were very nonchalant about the whole thing and just stated no accurate departure time could be estimated. Decided the whole travel by rail thing was becoming too depressing!
I’ve heard Amtrak on the east coast is more spot on as a form of real transportation?..
Regarding elevated tracks, pretty sure the people whose property the raised tracks are built over would raise a ruckus (understandably so). Wouldn’t want it going over my house, even if they could legally do so.
Hope I’m not cursing myself but right now I’m on Amtrak Richmond, VA to Boston and we’ll be in 3 minutes early.
Just boarded Amtrak in Philadelphia. 15 minutes late, and it’s unbusy on this public holiday day.