Re: (erielack) Railroads "That Should Never..." A&GW

["Jim Guthrie" <jguthrie_@_pipeline.com>]

Martin writes:

> Let me first say that from one on the other side of the pond......(in the
> UK)who has a growing interest in EL and trying to learn more.... I've been
> enjoying all the correspondence I've been reading. Thanks very much!

It is fun, but I think we'll soon have to stop before the modelers and 
rivet-counters rise up and smite us all.

> to not driving.  If Amtrak and the bus companies want to attract more of 
> the
> car-driving public, they need to lower their prices to complete with

Don't look for logic in U.S. transportation policy. Congress is always 
saying Amtrak should be run like a business, but then refuses to let it do 
so. Amtrak inherited the PRR network of power lines covering a fair amount 
of territory in the mid-Atlantic  states -- and then Congress wrote 
legislation prohibiting Amtrak from using that asset "like a business" to 
distribute electricity. The latest was to prohibit Amtrak from selling seats 
at less than half of full price. Imagine if an airline had to do that --  
There wouldn't be a one-way domestic ticket for less that $650 anywhere in 
the U.S. and close to $900 in transatlantic service.  So by Congressional 
mandate and at the behest of the Bush administration, Amtrak operates with 
empty seats because they're not allowed to sell them cheaply at the last 
minute or otherwise use demand pricing schemes.

It should be noted that the most efficient rail system in the United STates 
is the NY City Subway system. Excluding the Staten Island operation (it's 
essentially free), farebox recovery on the rail operation is about 88% the 
last time figures were broken out (They're generally not because it makes 
the buses look really terrible).

I still say, let the NY State Thruway Authority subsidize a revived Phoebe 
Snow -- even if the trip were a land cruise taking two days to Buffalo due 
to track conditions <g>.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie 


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