I’ll be leaving here in another few days for a trip to Kansas City. I’m going to get there the same way I did on my first and only other visit to that city: a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Los Angeles and, the next day, Amtrak’s train, the Southwest Chief, for the overnight ride to…
During the worst days of the coronavirus, people were avoiding crowds, which meant they weren’t traveling. As a consequence, ridership on Amtrak’s long-distance trains dropped to around 15% of capacity, which was pretty awful, of course. Nevertheless, those trains continued to operate daily, although with fewer coaches and sleepers. . But now, in this moment-in-time,…
The Amtrak leadership is continuing its cost-cutting, despite negative response from Rail Passengers Association and almost universal opposition from numerous sources, including individual travelers. The new directive says that, effective October 1st, all overnight trains east of the Mississippi River will transition from whatever it is they are now doing to what Amtrak persists in…
The federal budget for the Fiscal Year 2019 has been prepared and is ready to go to Congress for final approval. Washington insiders seem to agree that, barring something crazy happening, this budget should become the law of the land without any problems. And here’s what’s so sweet about it: first, it contains everything…