Why it's time for Congress to grow the Amtrak network: Raleigh edition
In an article on congestion in the air and on the tarmac, The New York Times travel writer Joe Sharkey offers this anecdote:
Now if you're a rail "fan," your first impulse is to bash that stupid Mister Amtrak, but the truth as usual is a bit more complicated--and way less satisfying. Call this another example of the consequences of chronic undercapitalization and a year-to-year mandate. Congress's neglect has frozen Amtrak's national network in time. Specifically 1971.
Back at the dawn of Amtrak, Chicago-Raleigh wasn't much of a city pair. But in the last 30 years, the Raleigh-Durham metro area has more than doubled in population. In the last 3½ years alone, the city of Raleigh added nearly 40,000 new residents all by itself.
It takes analysis and vision to identify new markets. But that's the easy part. Developing them takes time and capital. It's way past time for Congress to supply Amtrak with both. Because 1, 700 miles is too long to drive on business.
Why wouldn't he call Amtrak? Unfortunately, that's an easy one: Raleigh-Chicago is a 30-hour trip that includes a 4-hour layover in Washington, to connect from the Silver Star to the Capitol Limited. It just doesn't work for business.It’s clear that more business travelers are choosing to drive rather than fly. Will Allen III, a Raleigh, N.C., management consultant who is on the road five days a week, monitored delays piling up at O’Hare International Airport one day in March, and decided instead to drive from Raleigh to Chicago, renting a Toyota Avalon for the 1,700-mile round trip. . . . .
Mr. Allen is a kind of business traveler Everyman, and I take his temperature on occasion. I’ve never heard him sound so unhappy about air travel.
“The next time I feel I’m being held hostage by the airlines, I’m calling Hertz,” he said.
Now if you're a rail "fan," your first impulse is to bash that stupid Mister Amtrak, but the truth as usual is a bit more complicated--and way less satisfying. Call this another example of the consequences of chronic undercapitalization and a year-to-year mandate. Congress's neglect has frozen Amtrak's national network in time. Specifically 1971.
Back at the dawn of Amtrak, Chicago-Raleigh wasn't much of a city pair. But in the last 30 years, the Raleigh-Durham metro area has more than doubled in population. In the last 3½ years alone, the city of Raleigh added nearly 40,000 new residents all by itself.
It takes analysis and vision to identify new markets. But that's the easy part. Developing them takes time and capital. It's way past time for Congress to supply Amtrak with both. Because 1, 700 miles is too long to drive on business.
posted by conductor at 9:15 AM
2 Comments:
I agree with your basic principal, but Chicago-Raleigh is just not a big travel market. There never has been a through service on this route (although Southern's Carolina special came close) and it's not likely there would be on an expanded network. Still, on other routes of similar distance, there is indeed the potential for Amtrak to take a bit of the market - IF service was reliable (no growth until this problem is solved first!!).
When I make my own decisions about train vs. airline, I consider that I sometimes loose the whole day to flying (I live two hours from the airport, have to get there two hours early, change planes en-route and get to the destination . . .) so when this is true an overnight and most of a day on a train is "equal".
Amtrak doesn't have to take much of the overall market to increase it's ridership significantly.
The following are the top travel markets in this distance range:
1. San Francisco - Sand Diego
2. Miami - New York
3. Chicago - New York
4. Orlando - New York
5. San Francisco - Phoenix
6. Seattle-Los Angeles
7. Atlanta - New York
8. Dallas - Chicago
9. Los Angles - Denver
10.Tampa - New York
Chicago-Raleigh WASN'T a big travel market in pre-Amtrak days.
Today American Airlines alone runs 5 daily nonstops, each way, over this city pair. And those are American Airlines Super 80s, not American Eagle RJs
Southwest runs another 4 nonstops each way over this city pair out of Midway. Those are 737s, not RJs.
United operates 6 daily nonstops each way over this city pair, though all but 2 appear to be CRJ700s operated by Mesa (and codeshared with US Airways).
No, there's a market, all right.
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