On the other hand, the company lawyer noted:
Rhode Island would be OK if Buddy Cianci was still running the show!I laughed out loud at that line when I read it in an EMail a minute ago.
The fact is, the train, like the airplane and the ship, is subject to the whims of weather. Maybe not as sensitive as an airplane (for example, the theory amongst older pilots that there is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime), but still, when the water comes up it can be a problem.
On today's Acela, one passenger said her son had seen on the WWW that Amtrak doesn't expect to restore service until the 15th of April—a half a month. But, having just checked the Amtrak webpage, all I can see is through Sunday, the fourth. In the mean time some trains are being pushed through Springfield, MA, and then on down.
As an aside, when we showed up at the Route 128 station to retrieve my car, the person taking money for parking told me that some people had been paying $300.00 to get there by cab from New Haven. That is a pretty nice piece of change for someone traveling for pleasure or business. On the other hand, I got $60 knocked off my ticket by Amtrak as a refund for not getting me all the way to Route 128.
At least I am hope safe and sound and got to spend some time with my wife on the highway.
Regards — Cliff
One wonders if more attention was given to track planning and maintenance if these things would not happen. As one who has a life-long love of railroading, and see it's enforced demise as the machinations of a Teamsters political coup, I am dismayed that the condition of road beds particularly on the East Coast is deplorable, and likely meets only the barest standards permissible by the DOT. Pan Am, who curiously owns a lot of former B&M trackage, does only that which is necessary to permit transit at whatever speed is possible. The same applies to Guilford. It is interesting that on the west coast the Burlington Northern lines are heavily ballasted and maintained in pristine condition....that in some of the most unforgiving territory in railroading. A month ago, there was a washout on the mainline track just west of Steven's Pass in WA state. They had the track restored and traffic back to normal flow within a day.
ReplyDeleteThe Eastern Corridor could easily be the showcase for modern day railroading were it not for the overriding interests of the trucking industry aided and abetted by a patchwork of local, regional and interstate bus companies....all of course coming under the protective umbrella of the Teamsters and the UAW.
There should be no earthly reason for I-93 and Rt 3 to be three lanes bumper to bumper for the vast majority of each waking business day. When the environmentalists whine about carbon footprints, having thousands of automobiles and trucks and busses creeping along on those two roads alone is reprehensible.
At this point in American history, I see almost no possibility of resurrecting the rail industry and making it optimally efficient...perhaps the most optimally efficient mode of transportation in the US. Too many private interests at stake...particularly those who own trackage. Recently the proponents of the Concord to Lowell extension of commuter rail were told that just between Lowell and Nashua, it would cost $12M per mile to upgrade the track for passenger service. Of course, that figure is predicated on Guilford doing the upgrading...as they own the tracks.
Pretty sad.
One person sent me an EMail and suggested I just accept fate and fly out of Manchester.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I am doing. Southwest tomorrow in the PM.
Regards — Cliff
Speaking from rather extensive experience flying out of MHT on US Scareways, I think you trade one pain for another. It you want to go into PHL, or if you fly US Scareways and want to go to anyplace else, you still have to go to PHL, you are entering a twilight zone in which schedules and passenger consideration are fleeting images in a kaleidoscope of furious activity producing only more furious activity.
ReplyDeleteI have spent hours sitting uncomfortably waiting for cancelled flights to be rescheduled, racing three concourses away to get on a plane that was only announced in final boarding moments before. The theory there is that the current gate agent gets rid of you, and if you are fleet of foot and you make it to the next gate before the door is slammed shut, then PHL gets rid of you as well. If not, it is the next gate agent who must deal with your plight.
It takes almost nothing to put PHL into full fledged panic mode. I've been delayed for hours out of PHL at 5 AM. "Weather" is often the ruse employed. Where is the weather? Well, there is a cyclone over Bangaledesch and that has caused system wide delays...you know...the ripple effect.
Even from New Haven, the drive home is often more rapid than advancing to #1 for takeoff at PHL.
And I'll leave the PHL car rental business for another day's discussion.