Web Opinion on Amtrak Options

[ICGsteve]

Amtrak Agonistes
With the introduction of a newer, faster Eurostar, it's time to ask why America's train system is off the rails.

By Joe Brancatelli
Portfolio.com: Business Travel
Tuesday, December 4, 2007; 12:00 AM

Here's a cosmic question: How much is 30 minutes of a business traveler's time worth? Here's a concrete (well, concrete and steel) answer: about $13.5 billion.

Sounds a little pricey, even for us self-important titans of industry. But British train interests have just thrown an additional $13.5 billion into its side of the already popular Eurostar, which now zips between London and Paris in just two hours and 15 minutes. Launched with appropriate pomp and circumstance three weeks ago, the new, improved Eurostar is 30 minutes faster than Amtrak's Acela, which requires two hours and 45 minutes to ply a similar distance between New York and Washington.

WP website

[BillMagee]

The author of that piece is being kind to Acela. New York to Washington is a much shorter distance than London to Paris.

- London (St. Pancras) to Paris via Eurostar: 307 miles, 135 minutes, average speed 137mph.

- New York to Washington via one-stop Acela: 226 miles, 155 minutes, average speed 87mph.

If Acela averaged the same speed as Eurostar, the trip from NYP to WAS would take 1hr, 40 minutes.

[Sloan]

I didn't know the Sunset Limited ran from "Los Angels to Orlando."

Sloan

[ICGsteve]

Ok, I'll admit that I only skimmed it. I figured that because it was on WP that it would be better than your typical web opinion. We do have a shortage of big picture thinking about Amtrak, and I liked that someone was giving it a go.