I came across a story on CNN about folks who had been trapped on an Amtrak train traveling from Seattle to Los Angeles. They had been stranded just south of Eugene due to snow for over 30 hours when I first saw the story.
That particular train was one I had taken several times when I was living in Eugene. Even on a good day, the trip from Eugene to Salinas (where I was usually headed) was about 18 hours. It is a very scenic route, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend more than a day on it.
That said, one thing that the article glossed over is that part of the issue is the fact that Amtrak trains do not have the right of way on this route. Amtrak owns the trains, but not the tracks that those trains run on. Because passenger rail is generally not as profitable as freight rail, passenger trains end up playing second fiddle once they get stuck.
It would be a mistake to think that Amtrak is problematic because it is government run (though there are certainly issues with that being the case). The private sector solution would be to get rid of passenger rail altogether.
Infrastructure anyone?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment