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It seems to me that the Cascades schedule is built around enabling day trips in both directions between Vancouver-Seattle and Seattle-Portland and allowing someone from Eugene to take a day trip to Portland (but not a day trip from Portland to Eugene). It also looks like the planning is built aroun...

Mr. Halstead, must we not forget that Salem is the Oregon capital, so must we note that Washington's at Olympia is served? Funny you mention that since I have called Salem my home for the last two and a half years. :) I would also question whether Olympia is adequately served by Amtrak. Salem's Amt...

travel patterns south of Portland, PDX-SEA, and SEA-VAN are radically different. But we try to serve those radically different patterns with through trains (one from LA!) that were until recently fixed consist. If I I were searching for success in the PNW, I'd have three different routes - Eugene-P...

1) on hand Ubers. Most passengers need to get someplace else after the station. 2) High bandwidth secure Wi-Fi. 3) Quality food and beverage service. 4) Most importantly, a vector of advance faster than I-5. You're definitely right about #1 but most people in the region are not averse to using publ...

How far out from the centers of Portland, Olympia and Seattle are the commuting rings? 50 miles? 100? 20? The smaller the radius, the less the need for inter urban rail. Realistically I would say 30 miles maximum for the vast majority of commuters; the top 5%ers might go up to 50 miles. Right now I...

But planes do not travel between city centres, intercity trains do. A highly overstated claim that is meaningless to the majority of America that does not live in city centers. Not to mention if we use the two largest metro areas that I am closest to, more people actually live closer to the airport...

Any significant project to increase lanes or capacity on I-5 is going to be much more costly than upgrading the Cascade's infrastructure. What the Cascadia Rail proponents fail to point out is that spending money on I-5 will improve conditions not just for people travelling from, say, Vancouver/Sea...

The Stampede Pass route was 396 miles and 9:45 Seattle - Spokane. The Cascade Tunnel was 326 and 8:10. In that time I could drive on gridlocked I-5 from Everett to Sea-Tac, catch an Alaska Airlines shuttle flight from SEA to GEG, wait in line for a rental car, drive on gridlocked I-90 during an ice...

As for busses as an alternative in my opinion that's just a waste of time and money. Take it from a "can't fly/won't drive" I have no desire to take a bus nor would I use it if it was given as the replacement option for the rail service I use - in many markets Amtrak operates in intercity...

To clarify, these are two separate lines/routes/projects. The "Tacoma Dome Link" is a light rail/interurban style service operating with a near-complete grade separation (largely elevated), using Siemens S70 type equipment and running several miles between stops. The Tacoma Link, although ...

Many small to medium sized airports do not pay their way. Extreme example is Raleigh airport a One does not mean "many". One is just that, ONE. And maybe the residents, citizens, businesses and taxpayers of Raleigh should raise an issue if they don't feel it's right for them to subsidize ...

as if there was an Amflight flying service. Please identify the airline that is fully owned and operated by the United States Government, using crews that are U.S. Government employees and with U.S. Government owned aircraft, that provides EAS. There is an "Amship" shipping service in Ala...

The future I won't ever see is coming - the handwriting is already on the wall. Infrastructure is aging and occasionally failing. The national airways are over-crowded around many major terminals and often delayed with weather ground stops and not just in the Nortneast but with a ripple affect that...

I tend to think Amtrak needs to have two levels of LD service, both on the same LD lines: 1. Commuter style rail. Coach, a cafe that serves Flex Dining meals, and roomette style sleepers only. 2. Regular "Tourist" service (like we have now), with full kitchen diner. I've said before and I...

The Thruway busses should extend the train network where they can, not be used as a method of killing it. What's happening is the other way around - one train a day killing off multiple bus frequencies (including service to stops that the train blows through at 79 MPH). So the "I'll never ride...