railgeekteen
Service Attendant
Let's say that Amtrak received a mandate to serve every state capital on the lower 48, what routes would you propose to accomplish this goal?
Dover DE has tracks through it. Most capitals do, except Annapolis.It might be a fun exercise, but some would be fantasy, like Dover, DE and Annapolis, MD or some of the midwest and plains... Problem is, some State Capitals have great historic significance, but may not hold the economic power or population that makes it worthwhile. Track access could be a real issue. But as I said, could bed fun to kick it around.
You know I would have to say, the Amtrak National Limited....Let's say that Amtrak received a mandate to serve every state capital on the lower 48, what routes would you propose to accomplish this goal?
This would seem to make a lot more sense, since some capitals are so tiny or out-of-the-way. (See South Dakota discussion.) It's no different in Canada where VIA serves only half of the provincial capitals.How about that we amend that to serving the largest population center in every state, or the largest two population centers if both are over 1M in the Metropolitan Statistical Area?
True. Katrina knocked out a bridge. They used that as an excuse for years after the bridge was rebuilt. They even successfully tested it for passenger after that and still did not restore the train.We do not know what "Sally" has done to the track ?
I don't think either of these criteria are particularly relevant if you're looking for the system that would serve the most Americans. What I propose instead is a route system that would include stops in each of the top US metropolitan statistical areas (regardless of which states those MSA's are in), with a further requirement that the top 20 or so MSA's must be served between the hours of 7 am and 11:30 pm, and linked together on reasonably direct routes that require no overnight stays between trains.How about that we amend that to serving the largest population center in every state, or the largest two population centers if both are over 1M in the Metropolitan Statistical Area?