The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

"Next station stop . . . working to handle sign ups for Obamacare".

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/53607778

Someone was asleep at the switch.

Amtrak is an odd entity. Using the trains is great on the eastern seaboard. Trains run frequently and on schedule. Very different story in the Midwest, as anyone who has used Amtrak, knows. Very few trains and those that do run, cannot hold a schedule. Amtrak does not own any tracks in Michigan, and very few in the Midwest. As a result they run on rails owned by the freight companies. The companies will actually stop Amtrack trains and have them wait, until their freight trains have passed. This makes it impossible for Amtrak to hold any schedules.

Our train system blows. And if we keep up the current pace, our air trnasportation will soon match it. When the people in the US refuse to pay for infrastructure this is what we get. Our communications network, rail, and highway infrastructure is on life support. But our taxes remain low.

(11-20-2013 01:13 PM)chipfan Wrote:  Our train system blows. And if we keep up the current pace, our air trnasportation will soon match it. When the people in the US refuse to pay for infrastructure this is what we get. Our communications network, rail, and highway infrastructure is on life support. But our taxes remain low.

Yup, Education, Amtrak, HHS, DOD, DOA, etc.

The problem is they dont have enough money?

Prove it!

Prove you're not smart enough to post here.

Our communications infrastructure is an absolute joke. Want 100Mbps internet here? $150+ a month. Want 1Gbps internet in Europe? $30/month. And you have companies like comcast who just spent millions lobbying for a Seattle mayoral candidate who would shoot down a plan to require Telecoms to offer affordable Gigabit internet to their residents, rather than investing the money in improving the infrastructure. Shows you where our country is.

(11-20-2013 01:31 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  Prove you're not smart enough to post here.

Yeah, that too!

I've had no problem using the Amtrak from Kzoo to Chicago multiple times?

(11-20-2013 01:13 PM)chipfan Wrote:  Our train system blows. And if we keep up the current pace, our air trnasportation will soon match it. When the people in the US refuse to pay for infrastructure this is what we get. Our communications network, rail, and highway infrastructure is on life support. But our taxes remain low.

Bus transportation has taken off in this country. It's profitable, has been innovative in using alternative fuels, and is a good value. Amtrak simply doesn't sell outside of some routes on the east coast.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post...in-or-bus/
NY to Washington

Quote:It's usually about $20 one-way on a bus and $100 one-way on Amtrak's Northeast Regional train. For a round trip, that's a difference of $160. If you're traveling with a partner (as I usually am), then that's a round-trip two-person cost difference of $320

You get wifi on busses, TV, and a bathroom. Most of all the bus system has to compete for customers, while Amtrak lives primarily of federal dollars.

(11-20-2013 05:51 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  Bus transportation has taken off in this country. It's profitable, has been innovative in using alternative fuels, and is a good value. Amtrak simply doesn't sell outside of some routes on the east coast.

Amtrak has a limited market because they own very small sections of track. They do very well in the Boston-New York area. Europe has done a great job with their railroads; they run on time, are economical, and clean. No reason it shouldn't happen here.

Bus transportation has taken off because air travel has become very expensive, not because people are excited about hopping on a bus, and there are no real alternatives.

I've flown pretty much every week for the past two years, flying has gotten really, really bad.

(11-20-2013 05:58 PM)chipfan Wrote:  

(11-20-2013 05:51 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  Bus transportation has taken off in this country. It's profitable, has been innovative in using alternative fuels, and is a good value. Amtrak simply doesn't sell outside of some routes on the east coast.

Amtrak has a limited market because they own very small sections of track. They do very well in the Boston-New York area. Europe has done a great job with their railroads; they run on time, are economical, and clean. No reason it shouldn't happen here.

Bus transportation has taken off because air travel has become very expensive, not because people are excited about hopping on a bus, and there are no real alternatives.

So back to your solution of more taxes to feed the highly efficient Gov't spending bureaucracy? Again, what evidence do you have that works?

Using your analogy that it works on Europe it would here doesn't equate. Not even apples to any other fruit. More like apples to bricks.

While your at it argue why we should have
"Bullet trains" like Japan. "It" works there.

(11-20-2013 06:12 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  I've flown pretty much every week for the past two years, flying has gotten really, really bad.

In what is likely the only positive thing I'll ever say about the TSA...

Pre-Check is a damn fine improvement.