urbanSTL

To be fair the delays are a big problem.  A way bigger problem than increasing speed will solve.  When you get stuck on the track for 4+ hours it kills the appetite to give it another go.

Personal experience and yes its dated.

Rode to Chicago, it was a hot day. So hot that due to safety concerns of track warpage the max speed was limited to 30 mph for at least half the trip.  added several extra hours.

Gave it another go years later.  Riding back got stuck behind a freight train whose crew had hit their hours limit.  It took 5+ hrs sitting still on the track to get a replacement crew there to swap with them.  With a kid this time so even more stressful and with supplies running low like formula and diapers.

These were legitimate delays for safety but they speak to the structural problems with the route.  The track upgrades may have largely fixed the heat problems (not sure) and if not it seemed like a pretty rare occurrence, but single tracking for significant distances is a problem.

Save people 15 minutes on the trip 10 times and then delay them 4 hrs once and tell me whether they will willingly travel by rail again.  I literally have only made the trip twice by rail and both times hit huge delays.  Maybe service is better now but I not personally ready to try it again without some assurance the trip will be roughly on time.

My personal take is that guaranteed on-time is almost impossible with US railroads (without major investment)

I’ve been on three Amtrak trains that arrived 3+ hours behind schedule. It’s common. And the common denominator is a fatality. Two trains I was on killed a person on the tracks. Another was three hours late arriving because of a jumper in front of a freight train that closed everything in and out of Charlotte for most of day.

I understand (anecdotally) 3 hours is the average amount of time to assess, question, drug-test, clean up, replace crew, etc. before a train can be let go by law enforcement/EMS.

Unfortunately, pedestrian/car accidents happen all the time.

I’m curious if Brightline is seeing these kind of delays given all the accidents they have.

Bart Harley Jarvis wrote: ↑

May 04, 2023

STLEnginerd wrote: ↑

May 04, 2023

.  Maybe service is better now but I not personally ready to try it again without some assurance the trip will be roughly on time.

You've arrived on time and non-aggrieved every time you've taken a flight? 

Like i said anecdotal but right now i am averaging roughly 3hrs late for every round trip.  If every flight was similar i would be looking for alternatives wherever possible.
Airlines were getting terrible press for simply overbooking and planes holding passengers on the tarmac for hours in a few anecdotal cases is a story on CNN the next day.  Trains don't get the press but i am certain on time performance for airlines is better than Amtrak.

I acknowledge i could have just been unlucky and I like the IDEA of passenger rail but the reality for me has been a pretty negative experience.

So we're just giving up on trains? Okay.

Yay cars and driving.