Amtrak Can Kiss My Behind
So, Joe Biden is the Democrats’ nominee for Vice President. Somehow, he manages to take Amtrak to and from work in the Senate every day - a 2-hour trip from Wilmington, Delaware to Washington, DC. While I am a huge supporter of mass transit and our train system, I don’t know why he would subject himself to such a horribly mismanaged system.
It’s Friday morning and I want to take a train to Providence today. I have to be in Providence before 5pm for a family event. This seems like it shouldn’t be that hard, right? I mean, Amtrak runs between New York and Boston something like 10 times a day.
Except it is hard these days. Since nobody wants to drive or fly anywhere anymore, Amtrak has become extremely popular. Despite this increase in popularity, the government - and Amtrak itself, if it has any say in it - have not bothered to add any service on their only profitable route. As a result, nearly every train is sold out. The only train that’s not sold out this afternoon is this one:
$209 to take a train to Providence, Rhode Island! That’s highway robbery. To give you an idea of how outrageous it is to charge $209 for ground transportation to Providence, here’s a look at air transportation:
For $219 (plus taxes and fees), I can fly direct to Providence from JFK this afternoon. A last-minute flight for $20 more than a last-minute train. And it’s a 1 hour and 19 minute flight. Admittedly, I still have to get to JFK, which could take some time, but even with 40 minutes to get there and 45 minutes waiting for the plane, and factoring in that the airport in Providence is about 20 minutes closer to my parents’ house than the train station, I’m saving myself 35 minutes over the train. Is my time worth that much money? No, but I’m just trying to make a point.
Now, there were other, cheaper trains that weren’t sold out on Amtrak that left later in the day. Among them is one that leaves Penn Station at 2:30pm.
For $130, they want to put you in a “business class seat” (read: amenities far less than you’d even get in coach on a major airline) to Providence. This train will take you from New York-Penn Station to Providence Station in 3 hours and 53 minutes.
That’s funny, doesn’t it take less than 4 hours to get to Boston on the Chinatown bus? And isn’t Boston further from New York than Providence?
Yes and yes. Here… let’s let Google Maps tell the story.
So, even in traffic, driving would cost you 7 minutes over taking Amtrak. Except it isn’t fair to compare a train ride to a car ride with traffic BECAUSE THERE ISN’T ANY TRAFFIC ON TRAIN TRACKS! Well, there might be, but given that an Amtrak timetable wouldn’t take this into account - and the fact that Amtrak is notoriously late to begin with - certainly doesn’t help their case in this comparison.
I know this may shock you, but I think I have finally found another government agency that’s more horribly mismanaged than the MTA.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 8:20 am and is filed under On the Road. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Sheryl says:Jeez. It might be faster (and cheaper!) to take the Fung Wah to Boston and then some other mode of transport over to Providence!
August 29th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Todd says:Totally playing devil’s advocate here:
How much fuel does a plane use compared to the energy use of an Amtrak train? Maybe the cost/time is worth it to be Green? Perhaps this is what is meant by “the change we seek will not come easy, that it will not come without its share of sacrifice and struggle”
August 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
samantha says:Trains in general are a pretty horrible way of getting around today. This summer I had to commute from Nassau County to Stony Brook University every day.
Driving there took about 35-40 minutes door to door with little to moderate traffic.
Taking the train (LIRR, a subdivision of the MTA) took on averagee 1 hour and 30 minutes, not including the time it took to drive to and from the station.
I’m totally disenchanted with the system.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Chris says:I’m sorry, my friend, but that’s what you get for waiting until the last minute. Last week, it cost that much to do roundtrip to DC on the Acela, with a day’s notice. On the day of, makes sense that rates would go up.
A couple of points here, since I disagree with your post:
+ Do you really think, on the Friday before Labor Day weekend, that it’s going to take less than 4 hours driving time to get to Providence?
+ I actually love the Acela, really nice ride overall. Much better than MetroNorth et al.
+ McCain has been at the forefront of blocking improvements to AmTrak, and Biden has been at the forefront. Makes sense, no?
Happy Labor Day, bud!
Chris
August 29th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Jim Loomis says:Joe Biden takes Amtrak to and from Wilmington every day to be with his family. Originally, it was to be with his surviving kids after his first wife and a daughter were killed in a car crash. For that you’re criticizing??
Also, any fair comparision for train vs. plane travel times must include the time it take to get to the airport, the wait for security, the invariable departure delays and the time it take to get from the airport into town on the other end.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Bob Watts says:Amtrak is constantly and frequently appropriately hammered for mismanagement, but your case is not an example of mismanagement - except perhaps your own for waiting so long to get a ticket. Same train on 9/12 would run you $101 and put you in a comfy seat with more room than 1st class on any airline. I wish there was more service but Amtrak simply doesn’t have the dough to put together any more sets in the northeast. Why not write your Congress person and Senator to make sure they come up with the money needed to make Amtrak a word class railroad?
August 30th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Chris says:Jim Loomis: Not at all. Apparently, you didn’t catch my sarcastic tone. I applaud Biden for what he did… and especially for his patience for Amtrak’s poor service.
Also, I did factor in getting to the airport and getting through security in my time comparison, but you obviously missed that.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Chicopea says:yeesh! you mind as well ride a bike down!
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:48 am
Cock D says:Color me unimpressed - you waited till the last minute on LABOR DAY WEEKEND (?!?!?!) to book transportation?
EPIC FAIL.
Perhaps what’s mismanaged here is your life: both Amtrak and the airlines seem to be managing quite well if the most popular trains or flights are filled (or mostly) filled at as high a price as the market will bear…
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 am
magickat says:If you cared about us at all you would write more often.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
brooke says:that is ridiculous. i could leave charlotte today and get to nyc for $148.00, although i have boycotted amtrak since they did away with the smoking car.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Chris says:Cock D: Yes, I waited until the last minute. But why, at the last minute, is the train barely cheaper than an airplane? Don’t airlines raise their fares for last-minute bookers, too?
Also, the fact that I booked last minute doesn’t negate my argument about the speed of a “high-speed” train.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Eric says:you say Amtrak is notoriously late a lot?
yeah, and the airlines are notoriously on time! NOT!
September 17th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Jeff King says:Amtrak is at the mercy of spendthrifts who think a new highway or new airport is a better investment.
Airports should be paid for by the privately owned airlines that could not do business without them. We have subsidized airlines in many ways for decades. If anyone thinks the true cost of a seat on any airplane could possibly be what it is ignores how much fuel any plane burns relative to the number of people it carries.
Highways, well they are a necessary evil but to ignore decent affordable alternatives to highways is just part of the mentality in the nation post WW2.
1 billion dollars annually would fully fund Amtrak and allow the needed capital improvements, like more cars on each train, and possibly even more trains. 1 billion dollars now days is a drop in the bucket anyway you look at it relatively speaking.
Finally, as for on time. Amtrak with the exception of the NE corridor is at the mercy of the freight railroads on who’s tracks they run. Passenger trains are never given priority over any freight train by any dispatcher.
Amtrak is not mismanaged, it actually does an excellent job given it’s circumstances. If you think Amtrak stinks, then you need to write your representative in congress. Not this forum as they control the purse strings. All we can do is argue which fixes nothing.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Eric says:Good comments, Jeff.
Personally, I’ve taken Amtrak on numerous occasions, always enjoyed the experience, and only had one inconvenience (running a couple of hours late into Whitefish, Montana). I didn’t even mind, since it gave me more time for breakfast and a shower on the train
Hope Congress, and anyone else in D.C. that’s involved, will finally see the light at the end of the (train)tunnel.