How to Prepare for Amtrak’s Return to Columbus

By: Walker

14 Comments

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  mrsgeedeck October 22, 2009 1:50 pm

  We (geedeck and I) went to a wedding in Cincinnati last weekend and on the drive back were lamenting the lack of rail service. You can bet we’ll be one of the first to take advantage of Amtrack when it returns.
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  Rockmastermike October 22, 2009 2:13 pm

  I’ve had a rewards card for a while now. Don’t get to use it very often… yet.
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  turbo ninja October 22, 2009 3:20 pm

  I’ve never had a bad experience with Amtrak but my travels have been restricted to the NYC/DC route.  Even without Acela, I think the convenience is well worth the start/stop/start routine of stopping at stations along the way.  Plenty of space compared to air travel, and you don’t have to show up two hours in advance and then sit on a tarmac for another twenty minutes.

  We’ll be trying the Cascades route next week between SEA and PDX.  I’ll issue a full report when we come back but I’m already happy about it because our hotel in Portland offers a  discount if you show an Amtrak reservation or receipt and they’ll pay for a cab to/from the train station.
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  cbustransit October 22, 2009 4:12 pm

  oh my gosh…if my name didn’t give it away, i am sooooo excited!
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  von October 23, 2009 8:54 am

  is the Cascades route the cross-country route?
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  Charlie October 23, 2009 10:33 am

  What are the reasons for the slower speeds of Amtrak compared to trains in Europe?   Is it much more costly for high speed rail?   I’m worried speed may be an issue for this to work.  If it takes me 2-3 hrs to take a train to Cincinnati would I do that instead of drive?
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  johnwirtz October 23, 2009 11:46 am

  Von,
  No.  You may be thinking of the Empire Builder that runs from Chicago to Seattle.  See a map of the Cascades route here:
  http://www.amtrakcascades.com/
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  Walker October 23, 2009 4:41 pm

  Charlie Says: What are the reasons for the slower speeds of Amtrak compared to trains in Europe?   Is it much more costly for high speed rail?   I’m worried speed may be an issue for this to work.  If it takes me 2-3 hrs to take a train to Cincinnati would I do that instead of drive?

  Yes, building a high-speed rail network is much more expensive compared to standard-speed rail. I think everyone would agree that faster trains would be more optimal, but there are always some other factors to consider when comparing it to driving, such as Jeff’s example of sleeping on the train between Chicago and Cleveland. It’s much more difficult to nap while driving. ;)
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  johnwirtz October 23, 2009 5:07 pm

  Another problem with high speed rail is FRA rules requiring very heavy trains for safety reasons.  More here:
  http://www.ebbc.org/rail/fra.html
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  Johnny Springfield October 26, 2009 2:14 pm

  I love trains! But not all trains are equal. In fact, not all trains are railroads, as we’ve come to know them. Alternatives to conventional steel-wheel trains, like the 3-C passenger train is based on, are ready to show they, not Amtrak, are the future. At 1/3 the cost of real high speed rail (and the 3-C will be as slow as traffic trying to get through the Short North on Gallery Hop night) and 1/5 the cost of light rail, Tubular Rail (www.tubularrail.com) has knocked on Mayor Coleman’s door and the door of the Development Department of Ohio. Sadly, for a state hemorrhaging jobs (especially manufacturing jobs) each month and a city still trying to overcome its latent inferiority complex, their lack of curiosity is an ominous sign for the future, one that shows Ohio may forever be stuck in the past, just as it needs to get right with the future. Spending $564 million (at a bare minimum) for a train that will only average 39 mph on a round-trip from Cincinnati to Cleveland is both funny and tragic. Actually, its a fact that if you take the earliest train out of Cleveland or Cincinnati, destined for the end of the line, and take the last train back home, you’ll can’t make it home in the same day. This scheduling problem means you’ll be paying for a night’s lodging, ground transportation and food in either your destination city or Columbus, turning a slow trip into a costly trip. If the Wright Brothers showed up today and presented their work on controlled flight to Ohio transportation or development officials, they would still be making bicycles. It’s how we think about trains that matters, and if we continue to give a cold shoulder to new, emerging train technologies, then we’ll be doomed to follow in the footsteps of other states – or countries – that see the future and act on it. Trains are good, it’s the kind of train technology that’s important. We don’t ride around in Model-T cars, stagecoaches or hot air balloons anymore. So why should be think that slow trains are the end of the line for train technology? And for everyone that says “stick with proven technology,” conventional train technology has proven itself to be very slow, very costly and unlikely to built anytime soon. But I don’t hear the same argument being made for the product or services of any other industry — cancer drugs, computer software, cars, defense, etc., etc.
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  joev October 26, 2009 2:37 pm

  Are there a lot of people who drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland and back in the same day? That’s 10 hours of driving if you’re a leadfoot. If you’re doing that, you’re already planning an overnight stay.
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  noozer October 27, 2009 10:07 am

  Johnny Springfield…. the Wright brothers at least flew several prototypes before they sought to sell the idea of aviation on a larger scale….. the same is true for “cancer drugs, computer software, defense, etc…”

  Tubular Rail isn’t a bad idea…but the website doesn’t indicate that an actual working prototype has ever been developed,. much less tested.  It will take that happening before private sector venture capital funding will take the risk on it as a new technology.  Hope that happens someday. 
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  Walker October 27, 2009 12:58 pm

  Back on Amtrak – Part I
  October 27, 2009 by Jeff Johnson

  When it was decided that I needed to get to and from Chicago with short notice and within a very specific time frame, my first thought was Amtrak.  And this is because I know the schedule in and out of Cleveland. Just in case, however, I checked the airlines…
  READ MORE
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  Walker November 3, 2009 1:21 am

  Back on Amtrak – Part II
  November 2, 2009 by Jeff Johnson

  When I checked in at the Cleveland station the Amtrak attendant asked if I was familiar with the Metropolitan Lounge at Chicago’s Union Station. I told him that I was (although I’d never been in).

  “Good”, he said. “If you can arrive early there is a wine and cheese reception for our sleeper-car passengers. It’s quite nice, so do your best to get there early”.

  READ MORE