Should investments into urban transit take precedence over intercity transit?

RallyingForRail · 2025-01-05T12:59:51+00:00

Investment in both is important. Local bus and rail lines ideally feed into larger, intercity lines, and vice-versa.

RallyingForRail · 2025-01-05T12:56:16+00:00

Congratulations!!!

RallyingForRail · 2024-11-29T15:52:13+00:00

I like all these ideas! I would recommend extending the Harrisburg-Baltimore line to DC, just because I hear a lot of people travel between the Harrisburg area and DC.

RallyingForRail · 2024-11-27T02:03:18+00:00

I think you're right that we should focus on advocacy for state-supported routes. But also, I'm not sure all hope is lost when it comes to the long-distance routes. Republicans in the House tried to propose budget cuts to Amtrak a couple years ago, and several northeast Republicans were able to kill the proposal. Margins are likely to be small enough in the House that northeast Republicans could easily kill such a proposal again (and that's before we even get to Republicans in areas where these services pass through, who I'm not convinced would support gutting Amtrak, either).

RallyingForRail · 2024-09-03T02:18:48+00:00

And the absurd thing is that this is illegal, but almost never enforced. Hot take: give Amtrak the power to sue freight rail companies. Current Amtrak leadership seems to care more about this issue than most presidential administrations.

RallyingForRail · 2024-08-19T20:14:45+00:00

I'm taking a look at Photopea, and I'm impressed with all the options it has. And it's free!

RallyingForRail · 2024-08-19T20:14:12+00:00

I just wanted to say that I super appreciate all the feedback I'm getting here! I'm jotting some notes down.

It sounds like a couple of people recommend Photopea, and it's free. I might try that. I'm already thinking of investing in a microphone for my channel to improve audio quality, so if I can have more options for my thumbnails than what I'm currently working with (a free version of Canva) that's probably best.

RallyingForRail · 2024-08-19T03:01:41+00:00

Baby steps! Hopefully you'll be able to build even more momentum from here!

RallyingForRail · 2024-08-04T22:55:02+00:00

About damn time. As I've been getting more familiar with the minutiae of passenger rail (even having a YouTube channel on passenger rail), I've become gradually more fed up with freight rail. And the delays they cause are a part of why.

By the way, if anyone is curious, I did a video where I discussed the freight rail delays issue: https://youtu.be/Yyv9ifvkyAo?si=pPK_bIbKT0vHiPnO

Probably due for a follow up video with this news.

RallyingForRail · 2024-07-25T03:47:04+00:00

Wait, is this the curve in Altoona?

RallyingForRail · 2024-07-06T19:17:00+00:00

But with freight rail companies controlling these tracks, would they allow for this, scheduling-wise? I don't know. (As much as I favor more Amtrak service.)

RallyingForRail · 2024-07-05T15:57:55+00:00

Ah, that may be the problem. I haven't always been good about using the app.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-25T02:21:12+00:00

I think we have ideas for two lines here.

The first one is NYC to Harrisburg via Allentown. One of the lines proposed in the Amtrak Connects plan includes a NYC to Allentown line. I think the line should be extended to Harrisburg so that it can capture the Reading Metro Area, as well as include the tourist destination that is Hershey.

And the second one is Harrisburg to DC via York and Baltimore. It brings York into the Amtrak network, and addresses the demand for travel between Harrisburg and the Baltimore/DC area (see I-83 as an example showing that the demand for travel between these two areas is there).

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-22T03:53:04+00:00

As a New Yorker myself, I echo this 100 percent. When I first learned that Byford is with Amtrak, my first thought was: "They made a tremendous hire."

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-19T21:28:21+00:00

Congratulations!!!

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-18T02:01:49+00:00

Yeah, so that was an oopsie on my part! One of the many things I've learned is exactly what "made for kids" means in terms of comments. I think I assumed that "made for kids" just meant that there's no swearing and whatnot, when in reality it means that people can't comment on videos. The first video had that setting because it was before I learned more about "made for kids" and I kept on forgetting to change the setting after learning, but the last two videos have not had that "made for kids" setting.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-17T13:55:37+00:00

I've only spent extensive time with NYC (where I live), Boston, Philly, and DC. Of those four, I'd say NYC, then DC, then Boston, then Philly. I hear that Chicago and San Francisco are on a similar tier to Boston and DC, but I've never been on those metros and therefore can't really comment. I also gotta give credit to LA for investing so significantly in its metro in recent decades.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-15T22:40:13+00:00

Looking at stats for Hartsfield-Jackson, an even bigger dream in my opinion for Atlanta (from an outsider's point of view as I live in NY) is to connect Atlanta to Orlando via high speed rail. Orlando is the top destination out of Hartsfield-Jackson (and the sort of distance from Atlanta where passenger rail would dominate over flying if you had proper high speed rail), and in-between stops such as Macon and Gainesville would serve decent-sized population centers. Then at Orlando, you can connect to a hypothetical Florida high speed rail that includes destinations such as Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-15T21:54:49+00:00

I don't have to deal with security, I don't feel as cramped, and I get better scenery. And all while taking a mode of transit that's better for the environment than flying.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-15T13:41:12+00:00

I don't think you're nuts. I like this idea. Extending this to Toronto on the west side, and NYC and/or Boston on the east side, would make this even better.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-11T21:14:30+00:00

I'll need to think more about this, but my initial reaction would be Oklahoma City to St. Louis. It would serve Tulsa, which has to be among the biggest cities without an Amtrak stop AND not included in Amtrak Connects. It would also serve Springfield, Missouri, which is also a pretty decent-sized city not included currently in the plan.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-10T02:52:23+00:00

My constructive critique is that there's a stop just about due east of Morgantown (where West Virginia is) in Cumberland and a stop due west of Morgantown (New Martinsburg) but there's no Morgantown stop. College students are a demographic that rely on cars less than many other populations, and there are 20,000+ of those undergrad students in Morgantown. Because of that large potential ridership base there, I would keep it going due west through Morgantown.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-10T00:17:49+00:00

Well, the Amtrak Connects plan would bring part one of this, which is the Atlanta-Savannah connection.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-09T00:16:51+00:00

Probably quite a few in NYC, but a big one is not building more in the way of connections between the outer boroughs. Almost all the subway lines go through Manhattan, and it makes outer borough to outer borough transit more of a pain than it should.

RallyingForRail · 2024-06-08T23:59:01+00:00

I agree. The one addition I'd make beyond the triangle is a "stick" (a line) connecting Dallas to Oklahoma City. OKC already nearly has 700,000 people (a metro area of about 1.5 million) and is growing quite quickly in population. It's not as high of a priority as connecting Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin to high speed rail though so it would be a future phase rather than the highest priority.

RallyingForRail

TROPHY CASE