Amtrak Is Broken...
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- čas přidán 6. 02. 2023
- Amtrak is broken. With crumbling rail infrastructure, lack of investment in new technologies, and decreasing support from the public and politicians, the end may be near for the days of American Rail. Amtrak began from the decline of passenger rail, a quasi-public corporation to take operation of passenger rail in the United States. While technically a private entity, it would receive taxpayer funding to keep it operational. This hybrid of a for-profit company and public entity is the current curse of Amtrak and a major problem with the entire system of rail travel in the United States.
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Literally amtrak has more support right now than it's ever had
I don't know what this guy is saying. Rail Travel has so much support. It's the stupid politicians that are in bed with oil, auto and air plane lobbyist.
That's what I'm saying like isn't amtrak getting like way more attention these days cmkn 😂😂
Passenger rail was never allowed to fail in the 70s, rather the failing status quo was subsidized, which eliminates the need to follow what the people want and the market demands. One day we will again have robust passenger rail, but it will be despite Amtrak.
@@taliblond7597 Lol, Amtrak is a corporation owned by the government. In 2019 they were basically at breakeven. Meanwhile Brightline openly says that they will never make a red cent on rail operations. Literally all of their profit is supposed to come from real estate sales, and guess who gave them the zoning changes to make that real estate possible? The Gob'mint you hate so much!
Up to 90% of Brightline's current construction was funded by government grants from various jurisdictions. This is a classic three-card Monte. How can you not see this?
Amtrak has actually been doing much better than normal, they actually are able to charge a lot for train tickets, and have nearly entirely booked trains during peak times.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about Brightline. Although the company is private, their business model is more based on real estate development than transportation. That's obvious in their plan to bring passenger rail to Las Vegas -- they are building their station further from The Strip and Glitter Gulch than McCarran AIRPORT, believe it or not. They needed to buy a big area around their proposed station so they could get the profits from developing it. Amtrak, by comparison, has little ability to profit off the economic benefit that it provides.
To the model of the Hong Kong metro. One of the few profitable systems in the world and it runs trans up to 1.5 minute intervals. When I heard that was the actual model of BrightLine I was pleasantly surprised tbh.
Ok extend the monorail to the station
Is easy to say "Amtrak is receiving money from the government and Brightline is not because it's private"" but that doesn't take into consideration the myriad of tax breaks, subsidies and grants Brightline is taking
Public agencies like Amtrak, or even your local regional transportation authority, would not be able to profit from real estate development beyond the stores and restaurants and vending machines actually inside the station. We live in a society where profit-making activities are reserved for private companies, and loss-making activities are relegated to public agencies--which are then constantly criticized for being "inefficient"--even when allowing a public agency to do those things would be less expensive for consumers and more efficient for society overall.
@@maumor2 And direct 90% government funding for their stations! That is a direct set of grants from Federal, state, and local government sources!
Transporting large numbers of people by rail is far more energy-efficient than by automobile, and as energy costs inevitably rise, this will become a more important factor. Apparently we're waiting until the last minute to upgrade our rain infrastructure.
This is flat out incorrect
We need more electrification. I love the train, take it from Roanoke to DC and took bright line on my recent trip to Florida. But Getting that time down would be HUGE
On the Roanoke to DC route, the Long Bridge project will allow much more service into DC from the South and that's moving forward!
Also, once you get to DC, the route South through NC to Raleigh and points south and west will be dramatically improved by the S-Line, a state owned corridor that's cleared major environmental hurdles and is moving to construction soon, and will cut your DC to FL time by nearly two hours and will have passenger priority.
YES, we should invest MUCH more in Amtrak, especially long distance, cross-country routes. You're correct about how much federal money goes to the highway system. If Amtrak got an equal share, more people would end up using it.
Such as dozens of trains a day and fast service
Problem is that car mnfg, oil co, airlines etc.. will do everything possible to prevent any real competition
Or we can just invest in local commuter routes improving those first to later allow increase of the entire system
Except for the cringey train haters who will cry "I hate riding trains so therefore no one should be able to use them!" That's another serious obstacle in the way of rail development besides stingy freight companies.
@@qjtvaddict and cheaper tickets
Amtrak wasn’t losing any battles with airlines in the Northeast. Although the business model will need to change, pre pandemic Amtrak was the preferred business travel option between Boston and DC. Business travelers didn’t mind the slower speed or higher cost because Amtrak got you from downtown to downtown faster than flying. Also the trains weren’t or aren’t empty. It was unfortunately not uncommon for standing room only during peak periods. This is a very poorly researched video.
Well the northeast is the only route they own. The rest are just running trains for foamers
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@@qjtvaddict They also own part of the Wolverine corridor between Detroit and Chicago up to Michigan City
As soon as you are off that route, especially in the west, Amtrak looks a lot worse.
@@daveindezmenez - The state of Amtrak is the fault of Congress that doesn't fund the service adequately to meet the needs of rural Americans. Meanwhile, Congress pays thousands of dollars PER SEAT to provide air transportation to over hundred jerkwater towns.
I have to disagree on a couple points:
1. Your comparison of speed along the northeast corridor does not account for the time spent going through airport security nor the time spent travelling to and from the airport. When you consider the fact that you need need to arrive 1.5 hours before your flight AND when you land you will still be outside the city, airplanes completely lose their speed advantage. By contrast you could arrive up to 10 minutes before your train and end up right at Penn station, which is in the heart of downtown.
2. As others have noted, Amtrak is receiving plenty of passengers. Just the other day I took the Pacific Surfliner down to Sand Diego from Los Angeles, and there literally weren't enough seats for everyone. The demand absolutely exists.
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These people never account for the time it takes to get to the airport. It's an exhausting conversation because they all have it in their mind that they magically teleport to the boarding gate when they get their number called. Is it ignorance or deception? That's what I'd like to know.
@@GrantMcWilliams - Sometimes the line to get to the TSA security check is an hour long, or more. Then add in time to park your car, walk from your car to the terminal, and walk through the terminal to your gate. Arriving two hours before your flight is not a crazy rule.
Worst of all is waiting at baggage claim for your luggage. On Amtrak, baggage claim is rarely necessary because of all the the available space on a train. Baggage claim alone adds 30 minutes to an airline trip.
All this is why Rail is the most efficient option for trips between 100 and 400 miles.
I’m an old man and can not predict the future. However, I believe environmental and economic realities down the road will bring a resurgence of passenger rail. We need to figure out how to move around more efficiently, and a $50 plane ticket seems cheap, it doesn’t factor in all the costs that will be born in the future.
Many people deny climate change is real, and that they are part of the problem. I am part of it too, but I try everyday to lessen my impact, while I see others consume with reckless abandon.
When you say "plane takes only 1:20" you forget that you usually arrive more than an hour before flight.
Also, for business trip you usually need to arrive to downtown, and train station (unlike airport) is already downtown.
The uploader wants you to disregard all that for a reason.
Love that you show high ticket prices and say the trains are empty, yet the screenshot you showed shows all the trains being at least 50% full 3 weeks out...
I don't wholeheartedly agree with Amtrak's pricing strategy, but whenever I've taken a train on the NEC, it has been full. If you buy the tickets with time, it can be pretty cheap (like $20 between NYC and Philly). It doesn't work as well for last minute tickets, but those are usually being bought by business travelers who are willing to pay the price. It does price out the average person who may need to travel last minute, but it's the system Amtrak has been forced into to.
The channel stated multiple false claims.
$49 is UNDER half the cost of the $100 ticket
The government is much more focused on satisfiying the demands of their lobbyists...the oil, cars, and gas industry...its a shame really
Agreed. Hope it will someday change, but it’s probably not going to happen in the US at least anytime soon.
Amtrak has always been on the losing end against the powerful lobbies and now is even worst because private investments like Brightline receive hundred of millions from the government
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What really hurts Amtrak's ability to appeal to the public is to be able keep up with schedules. People end up having sour memories of their Amtrak experience because the way Freight companies give the middle finger to passenger traffic and don't seem to care to invest in their own infrastructure for their freight trains. I wonder if a good way to teach these greedy executives running the freight industry a lesson would be to require them to have passenger services once again, thereby forcing them to fix their crumbling infrastructure to avoid public outcry.
Build a new rail tunnel in NYC, then we can talk about improved service.
A surcharge on Amtrak tickets to pay for it.
Amtrak needs dedicated tracks regular speed trains only work in high density areas it needs to be high speed to work properly
Interesting video man! Glad to be able to sub. One thing to note though! We generally shouldn't neglect to factor security times into air travel times. If we factor in ~2 hours of security, the Amtrak route you mention seems a lot more competative time-wise, not to mention that it can drop one off deeper into the city one is travelling to.
The problem I have with a private company running passenger rail is ... They don't have any incentive to run a service unless it makes money. Long Distance Trains may not be a money maker to say but it still makes money and it connects places of the country that a lot of private companies have pulled out on. I support long distance trains. There is no other form of transportation that brings as much wonder and joy then rail. I do believe Amtrak needs more funding but stable funding. I believe the long distance trains should run on 12 hour frequencies, the tracks should be upgraded to allow 110/125mph speeds. And Amtrak should on their long distance trains push to create a moving hotel. Having sleeping accommodates for every price point. And scheduling their trains so you could (for example) leave NYC at 7pm and arrive in Either Atlanta or Orlando at 8/9am the following day. Well rested and with meals served. Similar to what you may experience on the night trains that travel throughout Europe.
Amtrak needs more funding, I support Amtrak
The government needs to own the railway routes the way they own the freeways. Access to all but rules are enforced. The private companies can focus on running and managing their trains. Competition would be huge if any company could work anywhere.
The problem is the same as in Canada. The national rail line does not own the tracks that they use and therefore are victims to the private freight railways that do not give them priority right of way.
and the biggest problem is the expensive tickets
1 way I could see Amtrak running on time is if local, stage and federal governments buy up freight track to allow Amtrak to have high priority but sadly it won't happen considering some areas don't really see this as a need.
Virginia has been doing this. They established a new department specifically to boost passenger rail in the state. One of the major reasons was that if they wanted to "improve" the highway by expanding lanes, it would've cost about 5x as much as building new tracks. 3.7 B vs. about 10.5.
Hopefully other states see this success and follow suit.
Amtrak already has that priority problem is that cities like Chicago which is a major hub they run alongside of the local commuter tracks and if they leave late they lose their priority to them.
Yes,the government should give Amtrak more than enough to run there trains,and make a profit. It's the fright rail that F up Amtrak. The government should build another track just for Amtrak,so they can keep time and not be late due to fright rail slow running trains.
And what would your ticket cost to build and maintain a new line? 3x?
They gave up the tracks originally because they can't afford to maintain them. Nothing has changed.
I am an engineer, the son of a Swiss railway worker and I have been a political activist for the development of public transport in Switzerland for 13 years. However, I see from videos that many Americans do not understand how public transport works, and unfortunately that is what this video shows. The problems Amtrack is facing are not Amtrack's fault. High-speed rail development in the US cannot work in the current environment. To work properly, a transportation network must get from the point of departure of each traveler to the point of arrival of each traveler. It sounds stupid, but if you think about it, a high-speed line does not actually do that. It allows you to go from one city to another, but not from the traveller's home (which may be miles away from the station) to his destination in the city (which may also be miles away from the station). Moreover, once the traveller is in the destination city, what means of transport will he use if he stays there for several days? In Europe and Asia, the answer is simple: there are highly developed urban transport networks that make it easy, fast and cheap to get from anywhere to anywhere. The existence of efficient local transport networks is a precondition for the emergence of an efficient rail transport network. So the US wants to develop Amtrack, there is no point in starting to develop a high-speed rail network because it will fail: first you have to deploy buses, trams and subways in all the cities that are already served by Amtrack, put the necessary means at the level of the public administration to enforce the priority of passenger trains and develop regional train lines (which connect agglomerations of several millions inhabitants with the cities of a few tens or hundreds of thousands of inhabitants that are around. This makes it possible to serve huge population areas with journey times that are ultimately only a few hours by using the the existing network and on a segment where air travel is exessively expensive) rather than high-speed lines. High speed is the last step in an already functional network and absolutely not a means to fix a dysfunctional network
Go SBB!!
California has a much better intercity rail system than you may realize, which is why HSR is vital to make the entire system work better. That reinforces your point; I'm sick to my back-teeth of people that only have some stereotype version of CA in their heads where everyone relies on cars and driving is easy everywhere.
I agree, been to Switzerland twice, and what a beautiful travel network. For example, Kansas Ciiy, MO established a free trolley line that connects Union Station with other parts of the city, and was free to ride. When opened, residents wanted to be expanded to out lining suburbs. Great idea. Look at Denver. They did just that, and I think their light rail has been a success. In that respect, it may be wise to have more than one train each way from Chicago to Denver daily.
People that say, “ …look at all the job openings !“… like people don’t want to work…it’s sick…lower income, even lower middle class can afford transportation, let alone move! If you can’t afford a reliable vehicle and insurance and fuel…you don’t really have freedom or choice. Many citizens are trapped where they are!
What would be ideal is if the rails were nationalized for both freight and passenger travel. There's been way too many derailments endangering communities from freight trains carrying hazardous cargo. On the passenger front Amtrak is routinely hours behind schedule, the stations are uncomfortable and broken down, and the train cars themselves (at least on the one I took) are old and not kept up well. The trip I took was very unpleasant and it gives me pause to consider going to that kind of expense again for such a subpar experience. I think if a really good rail system were developed with many lines dedicated to passenger rail, it being double sets of tracks so one train wouldn't have to wait for another to pass, and if the rails were built for smooth, high speed rail, passenger rail would be a much more attractive option, whether the trains were Amtrak and private company trains sharing the tracks like commercial enterprises sharing our highways and airports. Before any of this can happen, however, we need to remove the short-sighted corrupt politicians who either stand in the way or block any progress that can be made.
DOWN-VOTE!! - Amtrak isn't "broken," and "billions" of losses is more like $1-2 billion a year in annual subsidy. Moreover, the corridor services the Wall Street Journal types promote are all state-subsidized, like the Amtrak California network. The new CA HSR line will revolutionize the California rail passenger system, by making NorCal-SoCal rail service time competitive for the first time since jet passenger air transport began.
Agreed, this man dumb. He's not even looking at the entire situation.
@@Tivis7 -- DOWN-VOTE this video! -- Let's "Ratio' him out of the CZcams algorithim.
Doesn’t mean it doesn’t have hundreds of issues. Are the issues that bad? **Yes** can it easily be fixed? **Absolutely** the problems with Amtrak is Class 1 railroads owning roughly 90% of track Amtrak runs on, Politics and Funding. Now the solution isn’t to turn all routes into high speed rail, Even though we should still do it when we get the chance. Nor is it to just upgrade the northeast corridor, even though a lot of people live over there. The true solutions are to fund Amtrak in the first place and to add more frequent state supported routes. It would make it even better to just Nationalize the freight companies, so basically we bring Conrail back, and they take over all the freight rail right of ways. Amtrak is doing a pretty good job so far, as they’re getting brand new fleet, upgrading existing corridors and planning to build even more corridors.With states beginning to support and promote Amtrak as an alternative mode of transport.
Yeah, this guy clearly lacks understanding of how rail infrastructure operates in America… he would’ve easily known Amtrak owns most of the NEC which makes it such a good service + Is competitive with air travel when taking into consideration of how rail stations are centrally located in city centers, unlike airports… plus the time that goes into TSA, bag check etc…. price of all of that increases as well when considering Amtrak doesn’t charge for baggage + affordable food and drink options onboard and in stations.
And just how "profitable" are our Federal freeways???
The lazy congress invests in road travel by doing nothing; so how could they possibly invest in rail transportation?
So Amtrak loses money. How much money does Interstate 80 make?
The USA need to do like other Nation, a National own rail way system ranted to a multiple private company.
Trouble is Amtrak only owns about 3% of the rail network the rest is owned by freight network
@@seansoraghan3245 and for shorter routes, Amtrak has to partner with individual states to run services, with individual states offering varying levels of support.
i hope they continue to improve and make more money.
Amtrak should certainly get some money, but what passenger rail in America really needs is political support to facilitate it. Private finance can make a huge contribution if the risks of planning, delivering, and improving infrastructure are reduced, mitigated or removed altogether. I hope the Infrastructure Bill delivers some early wins that ordinary people can use and see the benefit of. The political capital available to the politicians who demonize public expenditure on behalf of their corporate paymasters, while wrapping themselves in the flag of the ordinary tax-payers, have left infrastructure in the US to rot and decay for decades, to the point that major components are at imminent risk of catastrophic failure. If leaders and voters really want to make America great again, they need to stop fighting stupid culture wars and depriving marginalised communities of any power, and invest in rebuilding it. Invest in creating new opportunities for the communities that have been forgotten. Invest in a future that is different from the apocalyptic vision of hell that Trump uses to keep his base fearful and loyal. If he was the businessman he claimed to be, where is his built legacy? 200 miles of joyless, unproductive wall. This shouldn't be a Democratic agenda, it should be an American agenda that is supported across the aisle. Politicians should be paid for solving the people's problems, not creating them.
Consider spending more time on research (um, Brightline benefits from MASSIVE public support). Very pretty, though.
America’s rail infrastructure generally isn’t “crumbling”. It’s actually quite well built and maintained. It’s just that effectively the entire system outside of Brightline and the Northeast Corridor is optimized for freight and not passenger traffic, and so has slow track speeds. It’s just certain passenger-specific infrastructure like stations that haven’t been maintained because it’s not the freight railroads’ job to do so and Amtrak can’t afford to.
America’s “crumbling infrastructure” problem is largely down to highway infrastructure, which is expensive and not financially sustainable, and inland waterways infrastructure, which has just suffered 100 years of underinvestment because it’s not readily visible to the average taxpayer. But the railroads are fine.
Freight lines are definitely worsening. If they're not crumbling, they are increasingly single-track, and passing loops have been too short for long consists for a while now. Freight companies have prioritised train length over on-time performance and train-crew health
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Norfolk Southern would disagree lol
We take train 49/48 to and from Chicago and Syracuse a few times per year. Last trip in April was on time or even early into destination.
The new crew hires were great and eager to satisfy the passengers in dining car. What needs to be done soon, is expanding the dining car experience to all passengers who what it. Also, when booking your ticket, have the ability to add dining service to the ticket when making reservations. That way, the various commissaries at departing terminals would know what is needed on the dining car for each trip. That would reduce waste and the food would already be paid for.
US govt should buy the tracks from whoever that owns them, then invest properly to upgrade them to modern standards including double tracking wherever possible. Then whoever wants to provide freight / passenger service on a certain route, will have to pay US govt for the right to use the route. It is much like how buses and airports work. The govt owns the roads and airports, but any service providers can use them provided they pay a fee.
Maybe this is meant to be a clickbait video , in which case we are giving him the clicks he is seeking by commenting. My two cents is the replacement of the 2 rail tunnels between NJ & NY
Railway should be state owned private companies only think of their own profit not about public so they don't care about anyone
I just completed DC to NYC on the Acela. I was in Business Class and it was awesome. My NYC hotel was walking distance from the station. There was a special sale and my ticket was $71. Amtrak should offer at least once daily express service DC to NYC and see if it catches on. It would be even faster by 30 - 40 minutes.
They don’t know how to get there anymore, and in time will find there road system come to a halt owing to the cry I HAVE MY OWN CAR, WHY TAKE THE TRAIN.
I don't think the roads argument is a good one mostly because most roads are funded through gas tax, essentially the people who use the roads are the ones paying for them.
What Amtrak is losing is the support of travelling groups and families. They have bedrooms and roomettes which are ideal for travel groups and families. The only way to gain it from the much faster airlines is to run nonstop auto trains between major centres. And somehow gain priority for passenger trains over freight trains. People also must elect to ride on trains. High speed rail in the usa is only a distant dream as of now. Brightline is trying but it is not a nationwide train network.
Wait until this guy finds out how much the Interstate system loses yet is still vital.
I mentioned that, that roads are not expected to turn a profit. However due to a combination of lobbying and other political factors the government expects Amtrak to make money.
Bring Back CONRAIL!!
and bring back double track mainlines!
Better still, *create* more triple- and quadruple- track main lines especially outside the Middle Atlantic States and East Central States alongside Lakes Erie and Huron ... and *reinstall* third tracks particularly OFF the Northeast Corridor within the multi-state regions cited! Furthermore, get that done whether -- impossibly -- or not either Conrail or the Pennsylvania Railroad ...or in likely future decades *Amtrak* either ...gets even *allowed* to return or get brought back, please!
Should that more cynically realistic latter scenario regarding carriers' returns get realized, let's then prepare to expand SEPTA on any other electrified rail lines than third-rail- electrified ones, MTA of New York on the latter, and SEPTA, NJ Transit, MTA of New York, *et al.* on all non-electrified ones!
As a train fan, Amtrak is deteriorating. I’ve been riding Amtrak for years and the quality is not as good as it used to be. We need to start funding Amtrak, as it is way to reduce carbon emissions to train travel as well.
I completely disagree with this video, Amtrak was given more money than they have ever revived in the Infrastructure bill. That investment will last 15 years while modernizing there equipment. The only reason why Amtrak’s long distance routes suck is because of the freight lines. Not Amtrak itself.
No, Amtrak’s long distance routes suck because they run on freight tracks that aren’t designed for quick service and because the trains barely serve anybody. That second problem is because most of America west of the Mississippi is a vast empty wasteland
That’s the point
@@michaelimbesi2314 Yep yea and yes
@@Anthony.B_ the whole point of this video was to prove why Amtrak sucks. Why would you claim that Amtrak sucks say they are not investing in capital upgrades and go on to explain why the only reason Amtrak sucks is because of FREIGHT companies. The freight business is not Amtrak. Amtrak has no authority over them due to inadequate laws by congress. Amtrak has managed to stay alive and almost make a profit while being neglected by 60% of congress and most presidents and being hated by car lobbyists. Amtrak is a successful company as far as I’m concerned. They where doomed to fail now they are acquiring brand new Europeans standard train equipment.
@@seanpruitt6801 The video still failed to make the connection between Amtrak having to rent freight tracks OUTSIDE of NEC (the majority of the 3% of the tracked owned by Amtrak is on the NEC) and why even the NYC-BOS route which is part of the NEC sucks and isn't competitive...
More trains less roads. It's environmentally sound and it's much better for your health
Having your budget micromanaged by a bunch of monkeys in suits is a real barrel of laughs.
Not sure if it applies to Amtrak, but sometimes you have to spend $1,000 filling out paperwork to prove that it wasn't a waste of money to spend $200 on something else.
Yes I would love to see rail explanation for I believe it and could be profitable
Almost all of the high speed trains in the world have become profitable eventually, some even faster than originally planned, but that comes after massive government investment in actually getting them built. If you build it they will come. Not to mention that profitability isn’t just ticket sales but also economic growth in the areas around new rail lines and stations
Amtrak must build dedicated rail for passenger trains to avoid delays brought on by freight rail, have safe rails to passenger trains can travel at increase speeds, and avoid litigation from freight rail industry!!!
It’s unfortunate none of the other lines can turn a profit except the NEC. If Amtrak would’ve invested truly into other high performance routes (given my knowledge, they don’t, tell me if I’m wrong) surely there would’ve been semi-fast trains, less delay prone schedules, and more profit. Private investments such as Brightline is managing to turn that around. Have to give Amtrak credit too for replacing almost all of their rolling stock (including the upcoming long distance coaches in the future!).
no, the problem is that: 1. Amtrak doesn't get enough money and 2. needs to use freight rail for most of there routes.
"Private investments" such as Brightline are receiving hundreds of millions from Federal and State governments in the form of grants, tax breaks and subsidies
But is easy to point fingers at Amtrak "they don't make a profit" when they are underfunded and has to play by the rules of "freight trains are priority"
@@maumor2 even worse. Amtrak is forced to keep running routes that lose them money.
Politicians don't want to pay Amtrak, but they also don't want trains to stop serving their states/counties...
IMHO Amatrak should force politicians to pay more for those routes by providing service below minimum. (using malicious compliance)
@@Robbedem something similar happens with USPS by law they must deliver to every household in America. without surcharges for any given location
@@maumor2 This!
So so SAD
Amtrak is never going to be competitive on speed, although New York to Boston is listed as being an hour and twenty gate to gate was an hour last time I flew to Boston. Even showing up two hours early and waiting for the plane I still arrived at Logan faster than I would have by train. And the prices are just terrible on Amtrak. New York to DC is just yesterday I looked into taking the Train to DC to visit a friend, round trip would have cost nearly as much as a plane and taken longer.
Amtrak is broken by design. It was never intended to succeed. It was only supposed to be a transition to no passenger rail service in the 1980s... but that never happened.
Amtrak isn’t a private company?? It’s government-funded… 0:45
Amtrak is a corporation, it just happens to be government owned. But it is structured like a for-profit company by designt.
When Brightline has enough money, they could fight for Amtrak’s priority rights on the freight tracks, and get permission to run Brightline trains on the NEC in return.
Amtrak will not give Brightline permission to run on the NEC. There's a private company called AmeriStarRail trying to get Amtrak to let them run on its tracks and Amtrak fights them tooth and nail. Brightline won't be any different.
How about brightline acquires passenger rights of way and some stations that Amtrak can rent for better priority, and so that it could make TOD which Amtrak can't do
Yea it will, cause Amtrak’s expansion plans include places, where Brightline has tracks or plans already, so Amtrak will also need to ask Brightline to run on their tracks and routes, would be stupid to build their own.
@@ncard00 Good luck with that thought. I would love for that to happen, but realistically speaking, it won't.
Brightline is still losing millions of dollars, it will never be that profitable.
Nationalize railroads
Down vote because the OG doesn't take into account the travel time to and from the airport, the time wasted on security, and the time wasted on baggage claim.
It is true that supporting the Uki's is important, but it's absolutely not as important as building our nation's infrastructure! The US government could reduce the financial support of $113B and invest it in our nation.
We also need it desperately!
God I love infrastructure CZcamsrs that have no fucking clue what they are talking about.
Invest in high speed rail.
Great content but unfortunately the background music overwhelms your narration and renders these unwatchable
I’ll try to turn it down for next time.
@@infrachannel Please, NO background music! What you have to SAY is what matters to us viewers.
America continues to go down a different path from other countries in the western world. Nowhere is this more illustrated than with Public Transport (or Transportation).
Rail travel especially, is booming in all other developed or western countries. But in America it's barely got off the ground outside the major cities (NY, San Fran, DC, Boston etc).
It's still considered something 'poor people' use....where elsewhere people in other countries have no such hang ups about using Public Transport.
This is just nonsense anti-"gobmint" propaganda. Brightline has the exact same problems yet you love Brightline. How is that supposed to work?
They DON'T love Brightline - a previous video tried to make it seem like a deadly threat. It's an anti-passenger rail channel.
@@whiteknightcat Seemed pretty pro-corporate to me. Ah, whatever! I can't keep up with the propaganda channels.
This video is still mostly nonsense propaganda.
Yes, you, the narrator; your delivery sounds similar to a funeral eulogy. Why is this? By the way, I am subscribed, but even though the notification bell is set for all, I didn't receive any notification. I know you have no control over this, but it is disheartening.
Don’t have control over the notifications, sorry! As for the voiceover, I’m working on it. I’m still very new to this, this is only my first month making videos on this channel so I am still learning how to sound interesting while recording myself! Sorry!
@@infrachannel What is remarkable about your even BOTHERING to make a video about passenger rail transportation in the U.S. is the fact that if ALL trains were to disappear from the American landscape tomorrow, our country would go on as if NOTHING had happened. The few people affected by the absence of trains would quickly adapt to using whatever other means of public transportation were available to them - be it a bus, an Uber, a taxi, an airline, a rental car, a motorcycle, bicycle or even their own two feet. More than ninety-nine percent of Americans drive their own personal automobiles anyway.
Trains have become irrelevant to today's society, whose transportation business model is structured entirely around highways and airports. Try renting a car at an Amtrak station or terminal. You ain't gonna find one - you have to take a taxi or Uber to the nearest airport car rental - if there is one within affordable reach.
Your airplane to train comparison is a little shady at best. You don't take into account the travel time to and from the airports to the heart of the cities and also the travel cost of those. For example the ride from JFK to downtown new york is anywhere from 45-60 min alone and will cost you 75 dollars. Also you leave out luggage fees. That is why the NEC is so popular because it takes you downtown to downtown without the hassle of having to take cars and or transit to and from airports.
DOWN-VOTE this video! -- Let's "Ratio' him out of the CZcams algorithim.
While I would say yes, the US is already over 30 trillion in debt with an annual deficit of over a trillion. I don't trust giving the government anything else to spend on until it learns to balance itself.
1:25 most of that came from gas taxes (i.e. user fees). Second, far more people drive than take trains. Government subsidy per driver is much smaller than per rail rider.
Gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993 so it doesn’t come close to covering the cost of road infrastructure. Gas is heavily subsidized and gas prices are insanely artificially low
Lol, complete nonsense! Highways and roads have a replacement age of 25-30 years. Gas taxes bring less than 5% of the necessary replacement costs!
Look at it this way, if what you say were true then we wouldn't need a multi-trillion dollar road repair bill in Congress every 20-30 years! But just like clockwork, every 20-30 years they pass a bill to pay for all the road repairs that gas taxes don't cover, which is almost 100%!
Why does this video use European video clips for a lot of its background?
Given the recent increases in transportation funding, the video comments appear to be either wrong or deliberately false.
The claim that ridership has not increased from 2020 is also false, as that information is publicly available.
A quick look at this channel's other video offerings shows it to be nothing more than an anti-passenger rail propaganda channel run by Hearth Media Group, likely hired out by either the freight rail industry, the airline industry, or a Trumpian political organization.
You bring up a key reason as to why I don't support rail nationalization or gov/state owned rail service in the U.S.: the car based government that would own it has and will give it pennies when compared to the private sector. Even though many people support publicly owned services due to their benefits and guaranteed regulations, I feel this can be solved by allowing more private railroads (and other enterprises for that matter) to compete for service with higher quality, while letting the government focus more on enforcing regulations to make sure these private companies operate fairly. Also, may I suggest using less harsh titles and thumbnails against Amtrak? As much as I agree with your points, many people who may oppose rail service could use this video as reasons to not fund rail service, which does more harm than good.
Private companies have no interest in running passenger trains. There isn’t a magically button the government could press that would make a money losing operation palatable. How times do you have to be embarrassed on discord to get it through your head?
@packr72 Which server are you in?
The trackage would belong to the government, and a government agency something similar to Conrail would run freight while amtrak would run passenger services. Things like PSR wouldn't be allowed anymore, and the government could easily moderate. This would improve service on Amtrak routes that already exist. A nationalized system could easily avoid a situation like what we recently had in East Palestine or in Lac Magnetic
@Cobalt That's true, however the current car based American political system would neglect funding for various rail projects in favor of highways and airlines. If the U.S. had a system like Europe, Asia or even parts of Africa that focus on rail more than roads, then I would support nationalization since the government supports railroads too. Also, I would suggest increased regulation to prevent various aspects of PSR instead of outright operating them, due to the reasons stated earlier.
Two videos on this 3 week old channel (that has a total of 6 videos) look like a PR move to paint "Amtrak is bad, the only way to solve the issue is private companies like Brightline"
That way ensuring public outrage against "money wasted on Amtrak" while supporting grants and tax breaks for Brightline
The 2023 version of lobbying
Very poorly researched video. Boston-New York is not $100 on the regional train when you book in advance, same with airfare. Also Congress recently gave Amtrak a record budget that they haven't even spent a dime on yet.
i prefer the amtrack over jets anry time.
spirit < Amtrak
3:30 as far as "fees" for track access goes, Amtrak pays a pittance. Legally, they are only required to pay "incremental costs" of running their trains, e.g. an extra hour of work for a train dispatcher. They don't pay anywhere near market rates for track access that freight railroads pay each other.
What is your source? I'd love to research this information...thanks!
First of all, letting passenger rail use the tracks is not optional! The freight railroads got free land and direct cash subsidies to build their networks in exchange for running passenger rail. Congress let that passenger rail covenant pass on to Amtrak when all the freight railroads lost the economic battle to trucks. But that covenant was never lifted.
We literally paid the fright railroads to build the tracks for passenger rail first and freight second. If they don't let passenger trains pass then we need our money back!
0:52 that is absolute BS. I looked at their financial statements for 2019. They had $2 billion in revenues, and $4 billion in expenses. $1 billion of the expenses were depreciation, which is a "non-cash" expenses, and was cleverly canceled out by adding something to the other side of the income statement. The other billion in expenses was covered by the federal government subsidy.
Effectively, they were only breaking even if they counted the government subsidy as revenue, and even then only by ignoring depreciation. Actual ticket revenues only covered 50% of expenses. What they claimed to have nearly broken even on was "operating expenses", e.g. fuel, salaries, and basic maintenance, and even then they didn't really; they fell $30 million short.
OK so?
Amtrak is taxpayer-funded so you better ask somebody in DC what the deal is
I'm heartily in favor of the return of rail. Should that be Amtrak? Yes, IF they can get their act together, which is doubtful considering that they have to rely on Congress instead of being a private entity. This country once had excellent rail service even to very small towns. My mother talked about getting on a train as a child and riding to visit an aunt in the country! It's a shame that cars and highways have brought about the demise of this once fine public transportation service.
Amtrak needs to drop the baggage weighing, security checks, and check in, like everywhere else in the world, and at most, have Brightline’s level of security, since it’s america, but they must stop treating trains like planes, weight is no concern, security isn’t necessary, mostly, and people just bring all their luggage on board, without checking it in. This would also save them a ton of money, cause they could fire all the people doing these stupid things, or have them do something else instead.
There is no security or weighed bags in ANY Amtrak service. I have no idea what you’re on about lol.
You know nothing about Amtrak service -- the easy boarding and alighting is one of my favorite parts of riding trains.
Fair enough, must be VIArail who does this, but anyway, Amtrak needs to turn a profit, pay off they debt, and then use their capital to improve the infrastructure, at Brightline prices, 150 billion for modernizing the NEC is just OTHERWORLDLY!!!
@@ncard00 - As I pointed out, Amtrak's business model is never going to reach more than about 90% cost recovery, although certain lines probably approach 100+% recovery of avoidable costs. If you don't want a headache, don't try to understand accounting for an entity like Amtrak. Basically, it is possible to make the financials look like anything you want.
Amtrak needs to 100% step the security up on the West Coast. "Security check in"??? 😂😂😂 Anybody on the planet can slide onto a train in Northern California, fare evade, steal bags....I think you have it VERY WELL on the East Coast in regards to train travel.
this sukked
Underrated channel fr
There's no provision in the US Constitution for the US government to run a railroad. That should've been enough to not allow Amtrak's formation in the first place.
What? That doesn’t make any sense at all. If you everything was privatized like you wish it was then you would own nothing. Truth hurts sheep
@@darthmaul216 Your comment is the one that doesn't make any sense. Privatization means that entities are owned by private citizens, not the federal government. If everything was privatized, then we the American people would own everything (the exact opposite of nothing). If I had the means to buy Amtrak from the federal government, then I alone would own it, no one else. That is privatization by definition. It would be my private property to do with as I please.
What is noteworthy about this video discussing passenger rail transportation in the U.S. is the fact that if ALL trains were to disappear from the American landscape tomorrow, our country would go on as if NOTHING had happened. The few people affected by the absence of trains would quickly adapt to using whatever other means of public transportation were available to them - be it a bus, an Uber, a taxi, an airline, a rental car, a motorcycle, bicycle or even their own two feet. More than ninety-eight percent of Americans drive their own personal automobiles anyway.
Trains have become irrelevant in American society, whose transportation business model is structured entirely around highways and airports. Try renting a car at an Amtrak station or terminal. You aren't going to find one - you'll have to take a taxi or Uber to the nearest airport car rental - if you can find one within affordable reach.
VIA has the same issues..too much space within too few people
russia is larger and about as sparsely populated as Canada and the Russians still have better trains
1st
Option 3 : ) Forget trains, as they are only viable for freight. They can t compete with comfort or privacy of cars on short routes, can t even compete with the bus on short or medium routes, and can t compete on speed and price with planes and eventually Hyperloop on medium or long routes. Great video : )
Amtrak was intended as a temporary solution to a dead product. Passenger rail was already dead when Amtrak inherited the pieces of the a broken system.
I agree that the NEC is viable, but obviously not under the current model. In my opinion, a plan to quickly sell off all of Amtrak should be created. Auction off the NEC. This is a 2-4 track line from DC to Boston. Let someone like Brightline buy it. The current management obviously cannot make it work. The liabilities on the NEC are rights of way laid out in the 1800's (tight city turns), crumbling tunnels (under the Hudson, through Baltimore). The Acela trains rarely reach their potential speed and are there for publicity. The track alignment and quality limit the locomotives.
Non-NEC routes should be discontinued if not profitable. I do not believe comparison to roads is viable. People use the roads. People do not use Amtrak to a level that justifies it's existence. Simply look up the ridership of the Philly/Pittsburgh route. Single digit ridership is very common. When there are as many or more employees on the train that paying passengers, you are burning money.
The United States is not Europe when it comes to rail. If you want, compare European countries to comparable states. France/Texas are roughly the same size. The reason rail work in France is that you not only have significantly more than double the population of Texas in a slightly smaller area. If you doubled the population of Texas and ran high speed lines to connect Dallas/Ft Worth/Houston/Austin/San Antonio, that would make sense. Germany is smaller than Montana but with the population of California, Texas (1 and 2) along with Pennsylvania (5th most populous).
Rail is about two things above all else. How many potential riders do you have, and do you have enough viable destinations close enough together. In the United States, the Northeast Corridor is about the only multi-state option available. We are just too spread out.
ah yes, because brightline could afford to upgrade the NEC that is currently costing billions.
You lost me at sell off the NEC. Thats a dumb idea. Esp given that NEC is the only segment that makes profits, the deficit comes from the rest of the system. What should be done is Amtrak is given the power to enforce given priority or cite fines. Also the NEC will never reach high speeds on current rails because it wasnt built that way. A new route from CT to Boston would need to be built to cut the travel time by about an hour. But NIMBY white homeowners in CT keep killing the idea. So dont blame Antrack. Blame your friends grandpa.
@@fixieroy I get that. Selling the NEC doesn't sound right. However, I don't see it getting any better under Amtrak. Once the tunnels in New York and Baltimore fail, the NEC is useless.
@@fixieroy A valid argument, but please correct your spelling. AMTRAK. Without a "C". You're welcome.
@@dawnmazarati3301 im not going to waste my time fixing every typo that my man hands create on my iphone. Ill catch what i can and what i miss oh well. As long as you understand my point.
well High-speed Rail of China is so much in debt that the cooperation has decided to cancel the majority of the slow-speed traditional train services and force-direct people to take the HSR, since they are trying to make profit, just as AMTRAK does. People, especially medium-to-low ones are not happy about this.
and now they are trying the new invest mode of PPP for their new HSR lines
so that they are take private investments
I rode AM TRACK. MOST OF THE THE TRACKS . I DONT RIDE AM TRACK ANYMORE. BECAUSE AM TRACK. WANTS GO ALMOST 100 MPH. ITS TO FAST FOR TRACK CONDITIONS. AM TRACK SETTING UP ITS SELF UP FOR A BAD DERAILMENTS AT THESE SPEEDS.