yarrow
Engineer
i have read quite a lot in the past few years(trains magazine, train orders and probably on this board)where the writer says that boardman favors the nec at the expense of ld routes. is this so? why?
It only operates at a profit ABOVE the rail, per Joe Boardman himself. Now all he has to do is get somebody else to pay for the infrastructure the trains need to operate there.The NEC is where most of Amtrak's revenue is generated. It operates at (or near) a profit and functions well because Amtrak owns the tracks. Amtrak serves in excess of 50% of the total passenger traffic from NYC -PHL-BAL-WAS making it a very important and popular route.
Joe Boardman is not the one who makes those type of decisions. He implements the directions of the Amtrak Board of Directors.i have read quite a lot in the past few years(trains magazine, train orders and probably on this board)where the writer says that boardman favors the nec at the expense of ld routes. is this so? why?
as usual, i find your cute little replies less than enlightening. my question was "does boardman favor the nec at the expense of ld routes?" and ,if so, why? most replies have said that he does favor the nec but that this is justifiable given the population of the nec and amtrak ownership of infrastructure.Tough to answer a question based on a false premise.
"Why do some railfans think Joe Boardman has a NEC bias" would be a better question.
Perhaps you can add some meat to your assertion by pointing out how you think it is that Boardman favors the NEC over the LD network rather than just parrot what other people say.as usual, i find your cute little replies less than enlightening. my question was "does boardman favor the nec at the expense of ld routes?" and ,if so, why? most replies have said that he does favor the nec but that this is justifiable given the population of the nec and amtrak ownership of infrastructure.Tough to answer a question based on a false premise.
"Why do some railfans think Joe Boardman has a NEC bias" would be a better question.
i made no assertion. merely asked a question, based on what i have read, in my original postPerhaps you can add some meat to your assertion by pointing out how you think it is that Boardman favors the NEC over the LD network rather than just parrot what other people say.as usual, i find your cute little replies less than enlightening. my question was "does boardman favor the nec at the expense of ld routes?" and ,if so, why? most replies have said that he does favor the nec but that this is justifiable given the population of the nec and amtrak ownership of infrastructure.Tough to answer a question based on a false premise.
"Why do some railfans think Joe Boardman has a NEC bias" would be a better question.
I would argue that the focus is not only on the NEC, but working on extending it via the more successful (measured by farebox recovery) state supported routes, like the Empire, Virginia Services, and Keystones. These improvements do help the perception of LD train travel, just like improvements in commuter rail lines help improve the perception of Amtrak (the vast majority of people don't know or care about the difference between SEPTA and Amtrak, they are both trains that stop at the same stations).So what does Boardman think? Unless you quote his words, I don't think we'll know for sure. But he's responsible for bailing a ship that just won't sink and he's going to focus his time and energy on what 27 million of Amtrak's 30 million annual riders care about the most - the NEC.
I'm gonna dispute that with my usual caveat. There's no way to get the *western* LD trains, which run through prairie and desert and mountains, to break even above the rail.There is no way to get the LD trains to break even above rail
Well, I've argued that those (the NEC branches) should be a very high priority. I don't know if that's the focus but I hope so!I would argue that the focus is not only on the NEC, but working on extending it via the more successful (measured by farebox recovery) state supported routes, like the Empire, Virginia Services, and Keystones.
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