"Nobody" rides Amtrak's long-distance trains? Tell the AP

which reports that floods temporarily stranded the Sunset Limited about 75 miles west of San Antonio. AP reports 176 people on board.

One hundred seventy six.

That's on the Sunset, a train regularly derided as some kind of poster child for Amtrak's network of supposedly empty long-distance trains.

Well, what's empty today?

Why it's time to expand the passenger-train network: China edition

American Airlines is pushing for a nonstop between Chicago O'Hare and Beijing. So it's asking for lobbying help from St. Louisans, who would presumably connect there. By flying, of course--on one of American's 10 daily nonstop round trips. Over a distance of 258 air miles.

Amtrak already runs 5 daily round-trips between St. Louis and Chicago, but the service terminates at Chicago Union Station, which leaves you 17 miles and a ride on the Blue Line from O'Hare. A built-out passenger-train network would be able to carry passengers direct to the airport. Save those O'Hare gates for flights that are impractical or impossible for train travel. And maybe even make the place a little less miserable.

Do planes cover distance faster than trains? Even with higher-speed train service, they would. But when you're connecting to/from a trip that United makes in 13 hours 20 min, what's your hurry?

Airline delays: worse than you think

If it wasn't enough to read that only 77.9% of airline flights arrived on time in May--a record low--read what can happen the rest of the time.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did a study several years ago and found that when missed connections and flight cancellations are factored in, the average wait was two-thirds longer than the official statistic.

Here's one way delays expand without tipping off the FAA:

If a flight taxies out, sits for hours, and then taxies back in and is canceled, the delay is not recorded. Likewise, flights diverted to cities other than their destination are not figured into delay statistics.

Southwest thinks there's a market there.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Southwest Airlines is adding service between Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and Orlando starting early November.

Before Katrina hit, Orlando was the eastern endpoint of Amtrak's Sunset Limited. Today the Sunset terminates in New Orleans.

The Sunset Limited's detractors keep saying there's no market for the Sunset east of New Orleans. We'll see, won't we?