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Fire Whomever Runs Amtrak.

Whomever runs Amtrak should almost certainly be fired.

I need to go to visit my sister in Philadelphia... so I'll do the energy-conscious thing and ride the train.

Amtrak tickets: $76 each way == around $150.00. Mileage: 380 miles (approx). About $0.40 per mile.

If I were to take my car, the equation would be something like this: 380 miles @ 25 miles/gallon = about 15 gallons. A gallon of gas is about $1.60 these days. Total cost: $24.00. About $.06 per mile.

Of course, I could relax on the train, where I can't in the car, so there's that. But you gotta weight that against the time I'll spend on the platform waiting for the thing to show up (if it shows up; this particular train has an "on-time" percentage of 63% within half an hour of the schedule). This particular stop also has no monitors, and no live people; Amtrak provides no way to know whether the train will be there, even via its website. It's either gonna show up or it's not, and either way I'll be sitting there waiting.

Why would anybody but a total sucker take the train? It's pretty hard to be green under this set of circumstances.

Created by chrism
Last modified 2008-12-24 09:51 AM

comment by john de rosa

Posted by chrism at 2008-12-24 01:25 PM
John de Rosa asked me via email to add this comment:

"""
I wanted to comment on this, but I can¹t, because commenting is disabled on
plope.

Your car math is way wrong. A car¹s cost per mile is far more than the cost
of gas. You have to consider depreciation, service, insurance, parking, etc.
If you own a relatively new car, the cost/mile to drive is easily
$2.00/mile. If your car is around 10 years old, it might be $1.00/mile if
you¹re lucky.

So, Amtrak is a clear winner.

I keep meticulous records of my vehicle, which is 12 years old. I¹d be happy
to share numbers from the past couple of years, if it would help to convince
you. And I encourage you to review your past year¹s auto expenses (It¹s easy
if you use Quicken or some such...) and reconsider your Amtrak comparison.

Could you put this up as a comment on your post?

Regards,

John DeRosa
"""

You'd be firing the wrong guy

Posted by philikon at 2008-12-25 04:32 AM
It seems to me like it's hardly Amtrak's fault. Train tracks and trains are essentially infrastructure as are roads and freeways. It basically comes down to a political choice which one you make more profitable and more reliable. You should really fire whoever makes your national transport policy (don't forget to fire the auto and airplane lobbyists at the same time, too).

America used to have one of the most impressive railroad networks in the world, but it seems it hasn't actually invested anything in them since those times. There are 200 MPH trains (Japan and Europe have both had them in operation for years) that would make easily give the car and even the plane a good bashing. You'd just have to make them.