Nostalgia Not in Amtrak’s Future

[John Ashworth]

Nostalgia Not in Amtrak’s Future

Amtrak cannot be the image of its past if it is to continue coaxing from Congress and states scarce public dollars.

Of America’s 330 million population, some 66% (Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z) either were unborn or have no recollection of train travel before airline deregulation and an Interstate Highway System forever changed American mobility and bled away most rail passenger traffic. Some 85% of Amtrak riders are from the 100 largest cities; just 15% choose long-distance trains; and, of those, but 3% ride end-to-end. The “vast majority” of Amtrak riders, says Gardner, book trips shorter than 250 miles.

While Amtrak decision makers may tolerate tiny doses of nostalgic recollections of dinner in the diner with Dinah, and “Sleeping Like a Kitten” (aboard Chessie), their Alka Seltzer-free forward focus is to deliver, as demanded by modern generations, convenient arrival and departure times between business centers, on-board virtual workstations, and last-mile connectivity to other public transit. “This is not the America of 1971, when Amtrak began operations,” Gardner says.

“The sweet spot for passenger rail is the 350-mile corridor, connecting major metropolitan areas and communities around them, over which we can produce multiple trips per day at convenient arrival and departure times,” he says. While market research confirms a place for long-distance service, what is missing, Gardner says, is connectivity within those routes, such as corridor trains that eliminate 3 a.m. arrivals...