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Plans for a privately funded rail line between LA and Las Vegas are go. I wonder if there will be an Amtrak connector?
Most plans to expand or improve rail in the US wind up dead because the initial commitment is made by a state, but then the funding because a political football. There are stalled projects in California and Florida at least. And of course the current head of Amtrak was put into the job to try to sabotage it. Anderson made a new move this week to kneecap profitability.
I ... I like trains.
This is also expected to have a luxury level of service, and the US is far behind other countries which are going more and more for luxury rail. The US does have the Alaska Railroad and the Grand Canyon Railroad, which both offer some very nice levels of service. I have no complaints about my rides on the Grand Canyon Railroad, but I am excited to see more rail and more luxury rail in the US. I do want to take a ride once it's in.
Most plans to expand or improve rail in the US wind up dead because the initial commitment is made by a state, but then the funding because a political football. There are stalled projects in California and Florida at least. And of course the current head of Amtrak was put into the job to try to sabotage it. Anderson made a new move this week to kneecap profitability.
I ... I like trains.
This is also expected to have a luxury level of service, and the US is far behind other countries which are going more and more for luxury rail. The US does have the Alaska Railroad and the Grand Canyon Railroad, which both offer some very nice levels of service. I have no complaints about my rides on the Grand Canyon Railroad, but I am excited to see more rail and more luxury rail in the US. I do want to take a ride once it's in.
trains
Date: 2019-09-06 02:57 am (UTC)From:I used to live in California and would visit a friend a couple of times a year in Southern California. At one point, my old car wasn't reliable on long drives anymore and so for a few of those visits, I took Amtrak. It was scenic and comfortable, but it took so much longer by train than by car.
And then there were the Christmases that I took the bus/train to visit family in Reno. I had to take a bus to Hanford, stay with cousins there overnight so that I could catch the early morning train to... I don't even remember where I changed trains, and then take the second train over to Reno. It always worked fine going that way (although it was still slower than driving), but on the return trip, the train was always late. Sometimes an hour, sometimes a couple hours, and sometimes it was running so far behind, they would put us on a bus back to California.
Train travel has the potential to be wonderful, which is part of what frustrates me.