AMTRAK CORRIDOR SERVICE COMING - "Maybe" (Jacksonville, Miami: hotel, home)

[Ocklawaha]

Did everyone catch the article in the Times-Union on Amtraks return to Jacksonville Terminal, and the Florida East Coast? Yeah, I was there, and some very interesting points were made. Here's a bit of the typical local "NEWS BOOSTERISM FOR RAIL":

Amtrak weighs return of direct route to Miami

It would use Florida East Coast Railway tracks paralleling I-95.

By LARRY HANNAN, The Times-Union
It's a little early to get nostalgic for 2001, but Amtrak officials have begun talking about turning back the clock and taking a second crack at a passenger train route from Jacksonville to Miami.
Amtrak offers passenger service from Jacksonville to Miami on its Silver Star and Silver Meteor trains, but the Silver Meteor takes nine hours and goes to Orlando, while the Silver Star takes almost 11 hours and goes to Tampa on tracks owned by CSX.
Using the Florida East Coast tracks would create a quicker route down the east coast of Florida while also allowing stops in cities like St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Fort Pierce, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
Speaking at a meeting of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority Commuter Rail Task Force last week, Jay McArthur, officer for state contracts with Amtrak, said the government-subsidized rail company wants...

(As if the Airlines, Bus and Trucking industry are not subsidized - at least we know where the T-U stands...say, backwarde to about 1958)

If you want to read a full critique of this and the full article visit me at:

http://jacksonvilletransit.blogspot.com/

"WHEN AMTRAK GOES SOUTH"

I'll drop back over and check out your comments, or feel free to comment on the transit blog as well.

You might also want to check out a feature on "HOW TO LOVE BRT", "Bicycles on the Skyway" or "Something Rotten in Cleveland".

OCKLAWAHA http://oldtoolsforsale.com/smiley12/scratch13.gif (broken link)

[moving123456]

The few times that I have checked amtrak tickets for a trip, they have been more expensive than flying.

[JH6]

I agree, its such a shame.

Every time I look it just makes sense to fly, or even drive over taking amtrak..

If they could do it for cheaper than airfare, many people would be interested in that form of transport.

[KerryB]

I agree. Amtrak = The suck. Cheaper & MUCH faster to fly.

Its a shame. I'd love an alternative to flying, but Amtrak isnt it. For short distances its decent, but anything across state lines is a world full of hurt. God it can take forever! Its utilized more in the northeast because a lot of times it makes more sense to use it instead of flying or driving.

[projectmaximus]

Exactly, guys!! Trains are more expensive, less convenient, dont offer as many frequent flyer miles, etc...

BUT...Amtrak has just been awarded 15 billion dollars to rectify this very issue. Infrastructure will be greatly improved, service will be faster, options will increase and prices will drop in certain regions of the country. Question is, will Jacksonville be part of this master plan?

For our sake, I sure hope so.

[gradco2004]

Were we not supposed to be getting Maglev trains in Florida? For some reason I recall you posting info or a video about that in the past Ock? Tell me I'm not mistaken, I would love to have Maglev between the major cities.

[travelingfood]

It would be nice to have autotrain service too.

[Ocklawaha]

Were we not supposed to be getting Maglev trains in Florida? For some reason I recall you posting info or a video about that in the past Ock? Tell me I'm not mistaken, I would love to have Maglev between the major cities.

Sorry - No Mag-Lev.

What you recall is that someone posted the old Mag-Lev plan and I answered and told them with Billions invested in steel wheel on steel rail you will not see Mag-Lev in this country. Maybe in a few short "toy" applications, some airport to downtown location someplace or a short across the bay shuttle, but nothing serious...EVER.

Like Monorail the technology has been around for a long, long, time. Monorails date to the era of the first century of steam railroads, and mag-lev from the age of electricity. If we were going to replace 150,000 miles of anything with mag-lev, it would have been started long, long ago.

The only possible totally "new - old" technology that I see in my crystal besides improved rail corridors are the new Zeppelins. The vertical lift abilities, payloads and cruising speeds + their fuel sipping engines, may once again make them the queens of the sky.

For those of you who think Amtrak is too expensive, too slow, or too something else. For those who think a 30 minute flight to Daytona is really 30 minutes consider:

check in time is ONE HOUR before flight and sooner if you are in a busy airport, often 2 hours. Airports themselves are often 30 minutes from the destination City, look at JIA, DFW or worse Denver...(which I swore was in Wyoming). Baggage claim also takes a good 30 minutes. So your flight of one or two hours can be beaten by a train on decent track, downtown to downtown...(well at least if Jacksonville wakes up).

Someone recently posted, "As soon as a train can go from Jacksonville to Miami in 2 hours, I'll get onboard..." Well my friends, as soon as that plane can do that AND stop in San Marco, St. Augustine, Palm Coast/Bunnell, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cocoa-Rockledge, Melbourne, Stuart, Ft. Pierce, West Palm, Deerfield, Delray, Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale, North Miami and Miami... then I'll get aboard.

Did you know it's a stretch of the english word "TRAVEL" just to fit it to airline travel? Travel in the Ozford is to: Journey Through, A sojourn, To move through from place to place. As in you are making trips, I travel. American's have forgotten how to travel. Rushing to the airport and off to DC on business you arrive, wrinkled, tired, jet lagged and frustrated with traffic. Rail passengers check into a hotel room on the Silver Meteor. Sit down to a full freshly cooked to order meal in a diner with changing views. Have a few drinks in the club car while catching some great live jazz on the piano. Tucked in the night, the Porter wakes me up in time to be dressed and have a REAL breakfast. As I get back to my room we pass through the tunnels under the Capitol and with bells ringing I'm downtown. Fresh as a spring chicken. Millions are tossing their clocks and doing the same thing, Amtrak is growing in passenger counts in double numbers. Try it, RELAX, take the train for what it is, "a cruise ship on land", once you go TRAX - YOU'LL NEVER GO BACK.

I wish JACKSONVILLE would get onboard with BOTH ideas, or we'll lose it to Sanford or Orlando.

OCKLAWAHA

[jetgraphics]

Originally Posted by Ocklawaha

Sorry - No Mag-Lev.

What you recall is that someone posted the old Mag-Lev plan and I answered and told them with Billions invested in steel wheel on steel rail you will not see Mag-Lev in this country. Maybe in a few short "toy" applications, some airport to downtown location someplace or a short across the bay shuttle, but nothing serious...EVER.

Like Monorail the technology has been around for a long, long, time. Monorails date to the era of the first century of steam railroads, and mag-lev from the age of electricity. If we were going to replace 150,000 miles of anything with mag-lev, it would have been started long, long ago.

America's transportation history is filled with back door deals, back stabbing, and thuggery. Each successive transportation system effectively killed off its predecessor - where possible. First, it was the canals. Second, the urban and suburban rails. Now, we're about to see the petroleum based transit system crunched until a replacement fuel is developed.

Originally Posted by Ocklawaha

The only possible totally "new - old" technology that I see in my crystal besides improved rail corridors are the new Zeppelins. The vertical lift abilities, payloads and cruising speeds + their fuel sipping engines, may once again make them the queens of the sky.

Another "new - old" candidate was the Fairey Rotodyne.
Fairey Rotodyne - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A modern version.
Carter Aviation Technologies - Home Page
The potential for a 400 MPH cruise, city center to city center transport beats mag-lev and rail for moderate hops.
Vertiport Metroplex Hub (VMH) on CarterAviationTechnologies.com (http://www.cartercopters.com/vertiport.html - broken link)

Don't forget pneumatic tubes. That's the only transportation system designed to suck, right from the start.

[tamcim72]

I agree it's expensive to go long distances. We've been trying to get my mil to take from Ft Laud to Jax instead of driving but she won't do it. It is only $75 r/t for that tix but it does go to tampa along the way making it 8hrs.