Why does the Amtrak train still look like a 1950's body style design ?

[Political Junky]

Looking at the news about the latest crash of an Amtrak train, and I couldn't help thinking about how old that train looks in design. How about the high ground clearance for one thing I noticed? I mean come on America... Wow. Where is our sleek modern day safer designed trains already ? My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims who died, and for the hurt people that were involved also in the crash. What a sad situation as always when see these sorts of reports.

A couple of things. First Amtrak runs on corporately owned track, not it's own. So who is going to clear the debris as a lower ground clearance would require?

Secondly, there is the matter of budget. There isn't much sympathy for Amtrak in Congress.

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

 

[MaryL]

Trains lose money, true. We deconstructed trollies back in the fifties for buses constructed by GM? Contractors. Contractors, they are always ignored, funny how that works. They wanted to get rid of trollies for buses, now it is trollies (light rail) For Busses. Make sense? Contractors are now making buku buck building light rail. Is it coming together now?

 

[Political Junky]

Trains lose money, true. We deconstructed trollies back in the fifties for buses constructed by GM? Contractors. Contractors, they are always ignored, funny how that works. Follow the money they say.

Trollies served Los Angeles very well until they were replaced by buses and millions of cars. The result was lots of gasoline sold and smog.
Anybody remember Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

 

[Papageorgio]

Looking at the news about the latest crash of an Amtrak train, and I couldn't help thinking about how old that train looks in design. How about the high ground clearance for one thing I noticed? I mean come on America... Wow. Where is our sleek modern day safer designed trains already ? My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims who died, and for the hurt people that were involved also in the crash. What a sad situation as always when see these sorts of reports.

A couple of things. First Amtrak runs on corporately owned track, not it's own. So who is going to clear the debris as a lower ground clearance would require?

Secondly, there is the matter of budget. There isn't much sympathy for Amtrak in Congress.

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

 

[MaryL]

Trains lose money, true. We deconstructed trollies back in the fifties for buses constructed by GM? Contractors. Contractors, they are always ignored, funny how that works. Follow the money they say.

Trollies served Los Angeles very well until they were replaced by buses and millions of cars. The result was lots of gasoline sold and smog.
Anybody remember Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

LA had a nice Trolley system. And GM forced them out, and they got kick backs from tire people . Money buys popularity and what is right. Funny how that works.

 

[Political Junky]

Looking at the news about the latest crash of an Amtrak train, and I couldn't help thinking about how old that train looks in design. How about the high ground clearance for one thing I noticed? I mean come on America... Wow. Where is our sleek modern day safer designed trains already ? My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims who died, and for the hurt people that were involved also in the crash. What a sad situation as always when see these sorts of reports.

A couple of things. First Amtrak runs on corporately owned track, not it's own. So who is going to clear the debris as a lower ground clearance would require?

Secondly, there is the matter of budget. There isn't much sympathy for Amtrak in Congress.

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

It's already popular in the northeast, and profitable

 

[Political Junky]

Trains lose money, true. We deconstructed trollies back in the fifties for buses constructed by GM? Contractors. Contractors, they are always ignored, funny how that works. Follow the money they say.

Trollies served Los Angeles very well until they were replaced by buses and millions of cars. The result was lots of gasoline sold and smog.
Anybody remember Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

LA had a nice Trolley system. And GM forced them out, and they got kick backs from tire people . Money buys popularity and what is right. Funny how that works.

And you're happy with that?

 

[Papageorgio]

Looking at the news about the latest crash of an Amtrak train, and I couldn't help thinking about how old that train looks in design. How about the high ground clearance for one thing I noticed? I mean come on America... Wow. Where is our sleek modern day safer designed trains already ? My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims who died, and for the hurt people that were involved also in the crash. What a sad situation as always when see these sorts of reports.

A couple of things. First Amtrak runs on corporately owned track, not it's own. So who is going to clear the debris as a lower ground clearance would require?

Secondly, there is the matter of budget. There isn't much sympathy for Amtrak in Congress.

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

It's already popular in the northeast, and profitable

So I'm right. How much government funding is it taking to be "profitable"?

 

[HUGGY]

Looking at the news about the latest crash of an Amtrak train, and I couldn't help thinking about how old that train looks in design. How about the high ground clearance for one thing I noticed? I mean come on America... Wow. Where is our sleek modern day safer designed trains already ? My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims who died, and for the hurt people that were involved also in the crash. What a sad situation as always when see these sorts of reports.

Just be thankful they don't look like the one in the Monopoly Game.

The Japs and the Euros have those built for speed trains. Giddyap!

 

[xband]

Trains are fun to ride for amusement in the Bar Car.

 

[Political Junky]

A couple of things. First Amtrak runs on corporately owned track, not it's own. So who is going to clear the debris as a lower ground clearance would require?

Secondly, there is the matter of budget. There isn't much sympathy for Amtrak in Congress.

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

It's already popular in the northeast, and profitable

So I'm right. How much government funding is it taking to be "profitable"?

Guess you're OK with the money the government gives to the airlines to keep them running, or subsidies to oil companies?

 

[Wyatt earp]

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

It's already popular in the northeast, and profitable

So I'm right. How much government funding is it taking to be "profitable"?

Guess you're OK with the money the government gives to the airlines to keep them running, or subsidies to oil companies?

To bad the subsidies didn't equal 25 cents a gallon .


Why do you guys repeat the same thing over and over again anyways?

Its just a tax write off on equipment.

Its not like the government giving them an EBT card and say "go use it on a strip club for all we care"


.

 

[Papageorgio]

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

It's already popular in the northeast, and profitable

So I'm right. How much government funding is it taking to be "profitable"?

Guess you're OK with the money the government gives to the airlines to keep them running, or subsidies to oil companies?

That has nothing to do with my question. You stated the high speed rail in the northeast is "popular" and "profitable". I'm asking you how much in subsidies does the government continue to make it profitable? Can you answer the question?

 

[airplanemechanic]

[Bill Clinton left us in good shape, then Bush, Jr. declared two unnecessary wars and his administration ended with a huge recession.

Google dot com bubble. We were not in great shape, and during Bush the worlds worst terrorist attack happened. The fact that Bush brought back unemployment to under 5% is just incredible. The housing bubble wasn't Bush's fault. But if we're going to lay blame on presidents, Clinton deserves his share.

 

[airplanemechanic]

Guess you're OK with the money the government gives to the airlines to keep them running?

You mean those non-existent subsidies?

U.S. Airlines Have Paid the Government $250 Billion -- Amazingly, Some Claim They Are Subsidized

Of the $155 billion in spending through 1988 outlined in the report, the vast majority, $140 billion, was spent by the aviation trust fund that supports Federal Aviation Administration spending.


The report does not mention that since 1971, U.S. airlines and their passengers have contributed about $247 billion to the fund, according to Federal Aviation Administration historical data.

The airlines and their passengers today contribute about $10 billion annually to the fund, which currently holds a surplus of about $13 billion. The rest has been spent.

In other words, the U.S. airline industry generally pays for what it gets from the government.

You sure like to be wrong, huh?

Don't try to bring aviation into a discussion. I forgot more about airplanes and the airline industry than you ever will know.

 

[beagle9]

Trains lose money, true. We deconstructed trollies back in the fifties for buses constructed by GM? Contractors. Contractors, they are always ignored, funny how that works. They wanted to get rid of trollies for buses, now it is trollies (light rail) For Busses. Make sense? Contractors are now making buku buck building light rail. Is it coming together now?

. There is a documentory showing the huge corruption and collaboration between Firestone tires and GM at the time the trollies were dismantled.

 

[beagle9]

Are we being held back in the nation due to corruption and old set in ways that because of personal gains and interest involved, we just can't progress foward as a nation together as a whole in some areas any longer ?

 

[Muhammed]

When I want to see two of my kids I'd rather take the train to Chicago.

Fuck airliners.

 

[Political Junky]

Paris to Bordeaux in 2 hours! French trains get even faster

By 2019, the Paris to Bordeaux line is expected to have an additional 2.3 million passengers per yer.

 

[MaryL]

A couple of things. First Amtrak runs on corporately owned track, not it's own. So who is going to clear the debris as a lower ground clearance would require?

Secondly, there is the matter of budget. There isn't much sympathy for Amtrak in Congress.

Amtrak get 2 billion a year, it has lost money since its inception. It is a black hole. The government needs to let the behemoth die.

Nobody wants to get rid of AMTRAK more that those of us who want high speed rail here in the US.

Good, pressure Congress to quit feeding it. As far as high speed rail, I don't see it as feasible nationwide, perhaps the northeast.

It's already popular in the northeast, and profitable

So I'm right. How much government funding is it taking to be "profitable"?

Trains lose money, true. We deconstructed trollies back in the fifties for buses constructed by GM? Contractors. Contractors, they are always ignored, funny how that works. They wanted to get rid of trollies for buses, now it is trollies (light rail) For Busses. Make sense? Contractors are now making buku buck building light rail. Is it coming together now?

When I wrote that post, it was not really addressing the main topic, sorry. It was a rant against light rail. Amtrak is a different animal. Rail travel in America was replaced by Automobiles and the interstate highway system (created in the 50's by Eisenhower), and secondly, air travel. Air travel is faster, and there isn't much financial advantage to taking a train as it cost nearly as much if not as much as travel by train. The economics of running a modern high speed rail system VS auto, Bus or air travel just doesn't work in the US, that would be my first guess.