Why take Amtrak?

[PHLBOS]

So, if you want a high speed rail line to really be successful, you also need a regulatory leash on the airline industry that prevents them from skewing their pricing against it.

Good luck with that.  The airline industry's been deregulated since 1978.

[Brandon]

The Hiawatha Line is the only reason I ever visited Chicago while living in Milwaukee.  No construction, no finding parking, no maniacs to deal with on the Tri-State.  Plus you can BYOB.  My only criticism is that Union Station is a few blocks from the nearest EL stop and one time I got stuck taking that walk in the rain.

ALL of the commuter rail stations are blocks away from L stations in Chicago.  Either wait for a bus or hot-foot it to get to them.  Amazingly Los Angeles has a subway stop at Union Station but Chicago? nope.  Grab your umbrella or just suck it up.

Yep.  Even O'Hare and Midway have better connections to the L.

[spmkam]

I have taken Amtrak twice and I can say it is good, but it was Northeast Regional from the NYC suburbs to Baltimore and Philly. I think Amtrak should focus on 500 mile or less corridors (IE Chicago to KC via STL, San Diego to LA to Vegas, LA to SF, Atlanta to Charlotte) where flying is awkward and some people can't drive. I have some experience on National Rail in the UK and Spain's version of TGV. Both experiences were similar to Amtrak, but National Rail in the UK reminded me of Metro North.

[doorknob60]

If Amtrak ran between Nampa(/Boise) and Portland, or even Bend, I'd probably use it quite a bit. It's an awkward distance to fly, especially to Bend because there's no direct flight, and when I'm at school I don't always have access to a car (or I'd drive most of the time). The $69 flights from Boise to Portland do come in handy though if my parents are in the area, but more options would be nice.

[jeffandnicole]

So, what happens when Amtrak is expecting to have about 85 paying customers board its Acela train at 30th Street Station in Philly, but no one shows up?  They could:

A) Find out what's going on...which most likely means the guests were directed to the wrong track, or

B) The engineer could say screw them all, and just leave without them.

Of course, if you guessed B...you're right.  http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20140805_Report__Amtrak_train_to_Philly_leaves_NYC_without_passengers.html

[Roadrunner75]

So, what happens when Amtrak is expecting to have about 85 paying customers board its Acela train at 30th Street Station in Philly, but no one shows up?  They could:

A) Find out what's going on...which most likely means the guests were directed to the wrong track, or

B) The engineer could say screw them all, and just leave without them.

Of course, if you guessed B...you're right.  http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20140805_Report__Amtrak_train_to_Philly_leaves_NYC_without_passengers.html

From the article: "The reported snafu came just days after the railroad reported its trains have been late nearly 30 percent of the time in the last 12 months, considerably worse than the year before".

Well, at least they weren't late this time.