Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 8695669)

amtrak is redoing the dining cars:


https://nypost.com/2019/09/22/millen...on-trains/amp/

Originally Posted by k1052 (Post 8695682)

Blaming it on millennials when it's the railroad (run by airline guys) who just wants to save the money is bullshit.

Originally Posted by RCDC (Post 8695739)

Are you saying they did that to increase profits?

Originally Posted by electricron (Post 8679406)

Beijing to Shangai is 811 rail miles, and the fastest one stop, at Nanjing South, trains take 4.5 hours to travel that far, averaging 181 mph.
China spent $32 Billion to build it, the initial projections was as low as $16 Billion, a year later projections rose to $25 Billion. So even in China they experience a doubling of the costs to build, where all the land is owned by the government and there are no property taxes to pay, and costs of labor are significantly lower than in Europe or America.

The good news to report is that they report a profit of $1 Billion a year, with 165,000 passengers daily, which is 25% lower than the projected 220,000 daily passengers. 80,000 daily passengers still take the old slow trains between these two cities, so not everyone is willing to pay extra for the faster service.
FYI, 165,000 passengers x 365 days = 60.225 million passengers each year on this one HSR line. That's twice what Amtrak gets nationally.

I do not foresee Amtrak being able to run the 959 rail miles between New York City and Chicago with just one station stop. If it is going to cost CHSR between $63.2 billion and $98.1 Billion to build a 525 rail miles HSR line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, what do you think it would cost to build a HSR between New York City and Chicago? Twice as much as CHSR because it is twice as far? That could be six times more than China's $32 Billion between Beijing and Shanghai, potentially as much as $196 Billion. Would anyone believe any dollar figure Amtrak or anybody else would suggest?

All the $$$$ amounts written in this response was found at Wiki for CHSR and Beijing to Shanghai HSR or calculated from them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califo...igh-Speed_Rail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijin...-speed_railway

Originally Posted by k1052 (Post 8695751)

Decrease losses more accurately. They'd like to kill every last long distance route but politically it's not possible. Making it more miserable is the next best option.

Originally Posted by k1052 (Post 8695751)

I got a revenue raiser for Amtrak: Move to assigned seating and let me board the train instead of standing in a stupid line inside the station when the trainset is just sitting there empty at the platform. I'd pay real money for that.

Originally Posted by electricron (Post 8679406)

I do not foresee Amtrak being able to run the 959 rail miles between New York City and Chicago with just one station stop. If it is going to cost CHSR between $63.2 billion and $98.1 Billion to build a 525 rail miles HSR line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, what do you think it would cost to build a HSR between New York City and Chicago? Twice as much as CHSR because it is twice as far? That could be six times more than China's $32 Billion between Beijing and Shanghai, potentially as much as $196 Billion. Would anyone believe any dollar figure Amtrak or anybody else would suggest?

Originally Posted by Crawford (Post 8696517)

The long-distance routes are Amtrak's biggest financial burden. I think Amtrak probably needs to be split into two companies; one for the leisure routes, and one for actual functional routes, where timetables matter.

Originally Posted by redblock (Post 8696654)

A writer for International Railway Journal lays out and critiques Amtrak's Plan to remake itself.

https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth...m3BZ3OOH83bijY