Sorry to throw cold water on this topic, but let's get real.
The Auto Train doesn't make a profit. Under the right circumstances it can recover its direct operating costs, but it does not generate enough cash to pay full Amtrak overhead or to self-fund the eventual replacement of its equipment.
Nobody is going to use a vehicle train for a short distance like Raleigh-Charlotte. Nor does Amtrak have any interest in burdening a long-distance train like the Crescent with the switching necessary to accomodate a pick-up, drop-off vehicle carrier -- even if the terminals were available. Dedicated trains are the only feasible answer. Amtrak experimented in the mid-1970s with a joint Floridian and Auto Train between Louisville and Florida... an operational disaster.
I agree with the other responses that there is not enough concentration of midwest-west travelers along any single route. The existing Auto Train is a unique opportunity. And besides, there is no capital funding for the equipment and terminals that would be needed.
The Auto Train doesn't make a profit. Under the right circumstances it can recover its direct operating costs, but it does not generate enough cash to pay full Amtrak overhead or to self-fund the eventual replacement of its equipment.
Nobody is going to use a vehicle train for a short distance like Raleigh-Charlotte. Nor does Amtrak have any interest in burdening a long-distance train like the Crescent with the switching necessary to accomodate a pick-up, drop-off vehicle carrier -- even if the terminals were available. Dedicated trains are the only feasible answer. Amtrak experimented in the mid-1970s with a joint Floridian and Auto Train between Louisville and Florida... an operational disaster.
I agree with the other responses that there is not enough concentration of midwest-west travelers along any single route. The existing Auto Train is a unique opportunity. And besides, there is no capital funding for the equipment and terminals that would be needed.
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