Biden's Plan : calls for improvements to Amtrak’s high-traffic Washington-Boston corridor & expanded service to Houston (Dallas: school, train)

[Popfizz]

This would be amazing imagine it being a rail connects ATL to Houston to Las Vegas

[mojo101]

what does it mean?all gamblers on board !

[DanielWayne]

I would use it. I despise flying. You can actually have privacy on a train.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

'You ever looked at an Amtrak schedule for service from Houston to the West Coast? Pathetic. Amtrak does not own most of the rail, if any at all. The rail is owned by private companies, not the state, so guess what, the freight trains get priority.

It takes about 20 hours last I checked, to go from Houston to El Paso. You are not traveling the entire time, but waiting... for the freight trains to pass. There is a long wait in Alpine, TX because of the wait time for the freight trains to pass. There is also a long wait in San Antonio. It is not like you can leave the station, and there is nothing to do while waiting. Great if you want solitude.

Anyway, 'not sure what the President was trying to accomplish there. There is already a route, and unless they build a new rail, the freight companies are not going to give preference to passenger service, it is not profitable. Most take it just for the 'fun' of it. I was planning on taking it this summer, but COVID ruined all of my travel plans going back to last year. Just political talk trying to score points, I don't see it happening.

[Jack Lance]

These plans also would seem to compete with the HSR proposed between Dallas and Houston





Amtrak has proposed a plan for new and enhanced rail connections across the United States.


AmtrakAmtrak's 2035 Map Has People Talking About The Future Of U.S. Train Travel : NPR

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

'You ever looked at an Amtrak schedule for service from Houston to the West Coast? Pathetic. Amtrak does not own most of the rail, if any at all. The rail is owned by private companies, not the state, so guess what, the freight trains get priority.

It takes about 20 hours last I checked, to go from Houston to El Paso. You are not traveling the entire time, but waiting... for the freight trains to pass. There is a long wait in Alpine, TX because of the wait time for the freight trains to pass. There is also a long wait in San Antonio. It is not like you can leave the station, and there is nothing to do while waiting. Great if you want solitude.

Anyway, 'not sure what the President was trying to accomplish there. There is already a route, and unless they build a new rail, the freight companies are not going to give preference to passenger service, it is not profitable. Most take it just for the 'fun' of it. I was planning on taking it this summer, but COVID ruined all of my travel plans going back to last year. Just political talk trying to score points, I don't see it happening.

Yeah, he must be either really dumb, or a liar, to propose that we could improve passenger rail service. Just because every other developed country in the world has figured this out doesn't mean that it's not IMPOSSIBLE. Better to just accept failure and focus on important things, like banning trans students from school athletics.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

Yeah, he must be either really dumb, or a liar, to propose that we could improve passenger rail service. Just because every other developed country in the world has figured this out doesn't mean that it's not IMPOSSIBLE. Better to just accept failure and focus on important things, like banning trans students from school athletics.

The other countries are not as large or as sparsely populated as the US. Very few people are going to take the train coast to coast, or even Texas to LA. Unless the trains are full, it's pointless to lay thousands of miles of new track.

A 1500 mile circle from Paris covers all of Europe and Western Russia, an dover 800 million in population. That's roughly the distance from Houston to LA.

Cross country passenger rail on dedicated tracks is not practical in most of the US.

[resonator]

I used to enjoy long train rides, in roomettes/bedrooms. Houston used to have service to destinations I rode to: Enid, OK, Stillwater, OK, Little Rock, Memphis, Chicago, NYC, even short rides to Palestine, TX.
Enjoyed them all very much.


There's just no demand for Amtrak's slow trains these days with good highways and (relatively) cheap airfares. Even service into San Antonio is often a day late.


How's that high speed rail in CA coming along ? - Don't answer, I know.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

Yeah, he must be either really dumb, or a liar, to propose that we could improve passenger rail service. Just because every other developed country in the world has figured this out doesn't mean that it's not IMPOSSIBLE. Better to just accept failure and focus on important things, like banning trans students from school athletics.

Yes, he is dumb, and a liar, thanks for acknowledging this. But to be fair, he is past the early stages of dementia, so I will cut him some slack.

[DanielWayne]

It also says something that dementia is still a huge improvement over what we previously had.