Will segmented train routes work?

   An issue that is bound to be heavily debated in coming months is the idea of breaking up long distance Amtrak routes into segments
that involve a series of day trains covering the same routes. 

   The idea originated with anti-Amtrak sources in the Administration, but actually dates back further, having been proposed by various think tanks with anti-rail orientations. 

   The apparent money- saving idea is that there would no longer be a need for sleeping cars and the crews to man them. The day trains would cover the same route, but there would be no overnight operation, so that travelers whose routes included an overnight portion would have to occupy hotel rooms between train segments. 

   The National Association of Railroad Passengers has been performing comparison analyses of existing long distance routes and the segmented routes that would most likely substitute for them. The results are so weighted in favor of the long distance routes that no logical justification could be made for the segments.

   Rather than creating cost saving for Amtrak, the segmenting would actually either yield no savings or raise costs, while reducing patronage to such an extent that the segmented route would fail altogether. 

   Of course, creating a route failure might be the ultimate aim of the anti-rail originators of this scheme. 

   Amtrak President Kummant and other company officials continue to mention this plan while being fairly noncommital and saying it would be evaluated carefully. If the evaluation is indeed done carefully and rationally, it would seem that no possible case could be made for segmenting. 
 
 

    Amtrak will announce today that it is beginning more intensive security screening of passengers this week. The new operations will start in the NE Corridor and later be spread to other Amtrak routes.

   Amtrak officers, with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs, will patrol train platforms and randomly screen passengers' carry-on luggage. 

   Amtrak said that the new procedures will not delay passengers, as the "randomly selected" riders will be detained for only about two minutes. Those selected will have their bags scanned, and suspicious bags will be opened. If passengers refuse to open their bags, they will not be allowed to board, and they will receive a refund of their ticket price. 

   While this process will involve only a small percentage of Amtrak passengers, the rail corporation feels it will be a deterrent to terrorists, as the latter will not know where the officers will be active. Officers will set up screening areas in front of boarding gates.

   Passengers will not be required to arrive earlier for their trains, unlike the practice with airline security. 

   The officers and their dogs will also sometimes ride on the trains. 

AGV will replace the French TGV

   French President Sarkozy on Feb 2 unveiled the new AGV train (Automotrice à Grande Vitesse) to be built by Alstom and brought online probably in 2014.

   The AGV is to replace the TGV and will run at 224mph compared to the TGV's 186. 

   Italy, however, should see the trains sooner, in 2011. 

   The new trains will lack power cars on the front and rear, as power will be supplied from all the coaches. This will results in more passenger space, bringing capacity up from 485 to 650 per trainset. 

   The trains will use 15% less energy than the current TGVs.

   Bombardier and Siemens are promoting their competing high-speed trains, the Zefiro and Velaro respectively.

   Rail advocates were quick to note that while such bountiful high-speed rail development is taking place in Europe, the U.S. lags far behind in this area, one that is essential for the coming era of fuel and global warming challenges.
Photo courtesy of Alstom.

The Empire Builder some time in 2008 will begin serving Leavenworth, Washington, about 23 miles west of Wenatchee. The popular tourist destination is presently served in the winter by charter ski trains.

   With global warming and an oil crisis inexorably approaching, the passenger rail mode is receiving more attention from citizens, the media and politicians--with the usual exception of the White House.

   The Senate has passed bill S294 by a veto-proof vote of 70-22. The House must still act on its version. The Senate Lautenberg-Lott legislation re-authorizes Amtrak for six years, giving it $11.45 billion over that time period for passenger rail improvement. Amtrak has never before been so generously endowed.

   Editorials are more favorable to Amtrak and to enlarging and improving its system than ever. Among new calls for added service are the restoration of the DESERT WIND and the NORTH COAST HIAWATHA.

   Behind the favorable editorials, one senses a feeling of inevitability, that the nation unquestionably needs the rail option given the threatening future of energy, transportation and pollution control.

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