Devil's Advocate
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Isn't that another way of saying it's Anderson's job? I mean who else are we expecting to sell the country on Amtrak?It should be Amtrak's job to get outfits like Skift to care about train travel.
Isn't that another way of saying it's Anderson's job? I mean who else are we expecting to sell the country on Amtrak?It should be Amtrak's job to get outfits like Skift to care about train travel.
Indeed, that is so. I am happy that he is pitching to them, even though I may not be completely happy with some of the details of what he is pitching.Isn't that another way of saying it's Anderson's job? I mean who else are we expecting to sell the country on Amtrak?
The problem is that instead of selling expansion or defending current service Anderson is pitching voluntary contraction. Anderson's own words make it clear that long distance services continue to exist because Congress has tied his hands and that even with such demands he still wishes to abandon between five and ten current routes. Supposedly he wants to offset these losses with additional corridor service, but he never bothers to explain how he intends to work around the 750mi rule, which likely implies he doesn't really intend to work around it at all. Addition through subtraction, slashing our way to profitability, damn the torpedoes, etc. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.Indeed, that is so. I am happy that he is pitching to them, even though I may not be completely happy with some of the details of what he is pitching.
Incorrect. It's an increasing segment. I think this is a common error of analysis. Among people who can't drive long distances -- an increasing number of people.A diminishingly small segment is travellers who need to get from point A to point B, and have no other option than Amtrak long distance service.
Both the Denver and Portland Greyhound properties are for sale as Greyhound transitions to curbside loading. When the Clinton administration axed the Pioneer and Desert Wind there were three Greyhound trips each way between Salt Lake City and Portland. Now there is one. Ditto between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.I agree bus service is a poor alternative and there is no guaranty that bus service will be running in a few years. Without bus service or Amtrak long distance, many citizens of this country would be forced to not travel. Unfortunately, communicating this to Senators and Representatives falls on deaf ears, at least my representation, it does.
What evidence brought you to this conclusion?When the Clinton administration axed the Pioneer and Desert Wind...
With regard to this line in the above article, "Regardless of your class of service, you’ll want to heed announcements regarding dining car service. The speaker in the sleeper car wasn’t functional during most of our Empire Builder journey, so we almost missed meal service a few times — even though we arrived well within the time we’d been told the dining car would be open."...https://www.bing.com/amp/s/www.kvue...trak/610-7d9724a7-64d0-4f4b-8d60-02d07478f143
Better publicity than Anderson’s take on Amtrak.
THE-POINTS-GUY
11 MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHEN TAKING A CROSS-COUNTRY AMTRAK TRIP..
One of the reasons Goldman Sachs cites for the "best economy ever" is that "on the policy side, trade, fiscal, and monetary policies have been excellent, working in ways that have facilitated growth without inflation. The Clinton Administration has worked to liberalize trade and has used any revenue windfalls to reduce the federal budget deficit."What evidence brought you to this conclusion?
When the Clinton administration axed the Pioneer and Desert Wind
What evidence brought you to this conclusion?
This vaguely worded contextless statement of opinion does not provide any evidence supporting your implication that the Clinton administration was the sole or primary factor in the loss of the Pioneer and Desert Wind.One of the reasons Goldman Sachs cites for the "best economy ever" is that "on the policy side, trade, fiscal, and monetary policies have been excellent, working in ways that have facilitated growth without inflation. The Clinton Administration has worked to liberalize trade and has used any revenue windfalls to reduce the federal budget deficit."
— Goldman Sachs, March 1998
The executive branch does not create actionable budgets or directly dictate which routes will be maintained or which cars will be available for which trains.One of the ways that savings were achieved was by delaying needed purchases of rolling stock. Amtrak should have purchased enough Viewliners to cover the Capitol Limited and AutoTrain. By discontinuing the two Western trains, the equipment crunch for long-distance trains was deferred till now. Postponement of capital projects was used in other budgets; I'm not surprised when it happens. The problem that this cutback confronts is that local governments all along the route were asked to upgrade stations and many did. And, the way things work, when a state or regional government wants to sponsor a regional service, they can't count on the national network for connections or shared facilities.
This is the line from the interview that bothered me the most (I added the bold):
The former Delta Air Lines head honcho credited his team, which has been filled recently with airline executives experienced in revenue management and marketing, for creating the financial turnaround.
What BS. The "financial turnaround" took place under the Boardman and Moorman administrations and everyone who's been following Amtrak history knows it. All Anderson has done so far in his short tenure is hurt Amtrak's finances by cutting demand, and that's actually documented.
I'm sure Anderson's trying to make his team feel better, but they haven't done one good thing yet. I wouldn't have *expected* them to have accomplished anything yet because he hasn't been there very long -- and they haven't, which is fine -- but taking credit for his predecessors' work is... scummy, shady behavior.
Nothing I wrote absolves Mr. Post Reality from zeroing Amtrak's budget, engaging in high speed rail hypocrisy, or nominating anti-rail stooges to positions of power.Guess the rail fans here will have to stop complaining about Trump then
In an ideal world all of that would be true.This vaguely worded contextless statement of opinion does not provide any evidence supporting your implication that the Clinton administration was the sole or primary factor in the loss of the Pioneer and Desert Wind.
The executive branch does not create actionable budgets or directly dictate which routes will be maintained or which cars will be available for which trains.
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