Dana wrote: > thant's because you can't. I tried it when I was in DC. The problem is > that they leased (not sure if this is the right word) out their tacks > to the freight companies. So what happens in practice is that if the > passenger train falls even a minute or two behind schedule it no > longer has right of way and has to yield to all freight traffic. After > explaining this once or twice to an unsympathetic boss (as I arrived > hours late) I gave up and went back to driving in.
I took Amtrak regularly for awhile. I was working in Portland and my wife was still in Eugene. If I took the first train out at 6:45, everything was peachy. Train was comfy and on time, got in right at 8:20, sometimes a bit early. Under 2 hours travel time for 120 miles. Now, if I took any later train, all hell starts to break loose. Because, as you mention, freight traffic is allowed right of way. The tracks are older and not rated for high speeds, so once you start to get behind, you can't catch up, its just not allowed. Congress is what really screws Amtrak though. Playing all sorts of politics with its budget, not funding upgrades to allow it to be competitive. If you want Amtrak to break even, then give it a decent shot for christs sake. Judah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Enterprise web applications, build robust, secure scalable apps today - Try it now ColdFusion Today ColdFusion 8 beta - Build next generation apps Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:243237 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
