How is it that you can sit next to someone on a plane and barely exchange more than a few words through the entire flight? And from here to the...

First, I’ll admit I feel some anxiety every time I’m in Los Angeles. I’ve experienced two mild earthquakes here during past visits and we sometimes get shaken in Hawaii. Two...

After many months of rumors that a major Amtrak route was going to be cancelled, it was nice to hear some positive news. The citizen-led group, ColoRail, the Colorado Rail...

Arguing for the Amtrak long-distance network is a frustrating experience. The typical outraged and misinformed author of a letter-to-the editor or an op-ed column asks why the taxpayers should subsidize...

People are surprised to hear that most of my travel on the mainland is by train—whether it’s a three-hour ride up the East Coast or clear across the county. When...

I’m a big fan of travel abroad. It changes attitudes and broadens perspectives and makes us realize that while other cultures can be very different, other people are pretty much...

“You can’t fix stupid.” Ron White, comedian   It seems pretty clear that the cause of the Southwest Chief accident a few nights ago was just plain old-fashioned stupidity. The...

I really hate it when people casually throw ridership numbers around: this train is up 2 percent; that train is off a half percent. We all do it and, most...

  I’ve written more than a few times about my admiration for the really good crews working Amtrak’s long-distance trains … the ones when one car attendant will stay awake...

I just finished sending some testimony into the Surface Transportation Board. That agency is undertaking a review of regulations regarding Amtrak’s on-time performance … or “OTP” as the insiders say....