What are the true believers to do?

[Sam Damon]

It seems to me that intercity passenger rail service in the USA is at its lowest ebb since 1969 or so. Then, we on the east coast could experience the thrill of a grungy Penn Central day coach, impossibly late trains, surly on-board staff, and an overall terrible travel experience.

As I type this in 2005, we don't exactly have Penn Central management running the show. But we do have very late trains, some routes have surly on-board staff, and the overall travel experience is quirky at best (to the non-railroad enthusiast).

What to do, where to go? NARP sometimes gives me the impression they'd cheerfully set the intercity passenger trains against the third rail, if it would mean obtaining the US version of the Shinkansen next week. Doing a search around the web leads one to believe, after seeing those with honest credentials trying and failing, that the whole concept of US intercity passenger rail is hopeless.

It could be just the darkness before the dawn -- but only if those of us believing intercity passenger railroad service has a future in the US do something. What are the true believers to do?

 

[Midland Valley]

Your prophetic utterances seem a tad bit on the dire side of things. In fact good prophecy always contains an element of hope. For a "true believer" to be a true believer, one must have faith; and faith is the substance of things not seen, the evidence of things hoped for.

Right now our congress is falling apart in the aftermath of Katrina. It is disgusting to see House and Senate members try to destroy each other with a bitterness we havn't seen in several generations. It is going to be a while before they can effectively think (if thats the right term) about other issues like Amtrak. So I say, just keep the faith!

 

[Randy Henderson]

It's sad that we have very little positive tales and future projects to look forward to in the near future. I like to believe, that with every point when the federal government gets very close to one side of the pendilum, that a swing back to the other side is near. One thing is sure, Amtrak as we know it is facing its toughest battles since the early 1980s. We will begin to see Amtrak management try to appease the powers at be in Washington by cutting service, routes or frequencies. But one thing that we must remember, the Amtrak that we know will not die. Many employees and those close to the company know that the power held by the massive bureaucracy that is Amtrak management will be around for years. And though we will see a sad railroad, that bureaucracy will grow back, like a weed, when a shift of political priorities change to a more liberal philosophy. We do have to pray, however, that railroaders and hospitality people, not bankrupted airline executives hold title to the positions that will revive a more traditional and classical passenger railroad network.