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walkitoutI have been going out of my mind lately as I keep trying to complete what seem like minor tasks and they resist concluding. So I’ve decided the _real_ problem is I have a bunch of unrelated tasks that are stacked up waiting for the more important stuff to be dealt with. But since the nominally important stuff isn’t happening anyway, why not get the satisfying sense of completion on other matters.
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/top-10-stories-of-2023-no-4-amtraks-ongoing-capacity-issues/
I ran across this back when I was contemplating travel by rail. I gave up on that for several reasons. First, not sure whether A. would be able to sleep on the train. I obviously have to try this, and equally, everything involving A. is ludicrously difficult right now so, just no. Even if I could book multi-day train travel, I’d be up against a serious problem in terms of food (low-sodium plus multiple allergies = ugh). I concluded that train travel may someday be possible for me, right now it’s just not workable. I was very pleased to see the Biden administration taking seriously equipment needs and then I ran across the current capacity issues.
So, where are those capacity issues 6 months after that article?
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/venture-business-class-cars-debut-in-midwest-trip-report/
https://news.jrn.msu.edu/2023/04/amtrak-rolls-out-new-rail-cars-for-michigan-routes/
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/venture-cars-officially-launched-on-amtrak-san-joaquins/
The Ventures are being rolled out more broadly, so that’s good. WiFi is included altho there are some complaints about the seats not reclining as much and being less comfy. No food service?
And for the longer distance:
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/a-closer-look-at-how-capacity-impacts-growth-on-amtraks-network-analysis/
Also, Brightline continues to drop deals and features as their ridership continues to grow.
There’s a story here, and the story is that trains — at every ride distance, and in every type of rail network (Amtrak, commuter and Brightline, wtf that is) — are limited in their ability to serve more passengers by their overall capacity. Which is still kinda depressing to realize. This is not a problem that individuals can solve through their own choices.
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/top-10-stories-of-2023-no-4-amtraks-ongoing-capacity-issues/
I ran across this back when I was contemplating travel by rail. I gave up on that for several reasons. First, not sure whether A. would be able to sleep on the train. I obviously have to try this, and equally, everything involving A. is ludicrously difficult right now so, just no. Even if I could book multi-day train travel, I’d be up against a serious problem in terms of food (low-sodium plus multiple allergies = ugh). I concluded that train travel may someday be possible for me, right now it’s just not workable. I was very pleased to see the Biden administration taking seriously equipment needs and then I ran across the current capacity issues.
So, where are those capacity issues 6 months after that article?
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/venture-business-class-cars-debut-in-midwest-trip-report/
https://news.jrn.msu.edu/2023/04/amtrak-rolls-out-new-rail-cars-for-michigan-routes/
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/venture-cars-officially-launched-on-amtrak-san-joaquins/
The Ventures are being rolled out more broadly, so that’s good. WiFi is included altho there are some complaints about the seats not reclining as much and being less comfy. No food service?
And for the longer distance:
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/a-closer-look-at-how-capacity-impacts-growth-on-amtraks-network-analysis/
Also, Brightline continues to drop deals and features as their ridership continues to grow.
There’s a story here, and the story is that trains — at every ride distance, and in every type of rail network (Amtrak, commuter and Brightline, wtf that is) — are limited in their ability to serve more passengers by their overall capacity. Which is still kinda depressing to realize. This is not a problem that individuals can solve through their own choices.