Let’s Carry Amtrak Brilliantly across the 21st Century
Wouldn’t it be lovely to see the return of a long-lost railroading experience actually come true? That question, that tantalizes only a minority of readers, largely depends upon whether you ever had a lovely time on a train. And the Amtrak name in the title doesn’t help.
But it was lovely and could be again
If you live almost anywhere outside of America, you will have had that experience. Much of Europe prefers to take a train rather than fly. The truly great long-distance trains are mostly gone in our country. Now, pretty much the only expansively scenic route left is the 35-hour journey from Seattle to Los Angeles. And it’s damned expensive compared to catching a flight that takes less than 10% of the time. Compare a hundred bucks and sitting-up for a day and a half to $25 in three and a half hours. So, there’s reasons rail is pretty much over in America. Quirky service, questionable track conditions and (let’s face it) just too much time lost. Oh yeah, and cost. It ain’t cheap.