May 19, 2005
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I think I see why Amtrak is having financial troubles. Alex needs
to head back to Tennessee before Beth, so the question has arisen how
to get Beth and Hannah back there. Driving her back is probably
what we'll do, but we looked into other options. Flight?
$388. Ouch.Train! Why not the train?
Well, let's see. To get from here to Memphis takes over 31 hours
because it goes from here to Chicago, then travels from Chicago to
Memphis.Hmmm. Holding Hannah. Don't think so.
Okay, we're flexible. What about Arkansas? Walnut Ridge
isn't too far from Memphis. And look! It's only about
$60!Gets in at 2:00 a.m.
Comments (2)
I've travelled to Chicago a couple of times on Amtrak. It's a distance of about 150 miles. To get there, the train is scheduled to leave at about 7:20 AM, but the one I was on actaully pulled out of the station at 7:10. It did get there in time. On the way back, however, the train had to share tracks with alot of freight trains, and consequently spent long (an hour or or more!) periods of time merely sitting still on the tracks while the freight trains passed. There need to be tracks just for passenger trains. I'm not holding my breath!
The problem with Amtrak is that the whole thing is goverment subsidized. I think it should be privatized, and I'll bet there are plenty more people who'd be willing to travel by train nowadays, only it just doesn't go where you need it to. Several states are planning to drop it because they can't afford to support it - you know, the states have to contribute tax money to keep it.
Comments are closed.