Opinion in Philadelphia, PA Inquirer, 8/11/17:
Forget the Hyperloop. Just make Amtrak affordable.
A couple weeks ago, Elon Musk — our nation’s armorless Tony Stark — tweeted that he got the verbal OK to build a high-speed train connecting New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Hypothetically, his Hyperloop could travel 800 mph and get riders from New York to D.C
The writer's opinion is here.
Now my turn. The writer continuously uses the word "commuter". A regular commuter has another option in between intercity bus, and Amtrak trains. It's called SEPTA. SEPTA can get one as far as Trenton, NJ where one can transfer to NJ TRANSIT trains to New York City. It can take Philadelphians to Wilmington, and as far south as Newark, DE. And on Amtrak's Harrisburg Line, it can take you as far west as Thorndale. Yet commuter rail is not at all mentioned in this piece, only belly-aching over the cost of Amtrak in the Philadelphia-New York and Philadelphia-Wilmington markets. You want to be a commuter, do what other commuters do and take a commuter train. It will be slower, but that is the cost of choosing to live and work in different places. Amtrak prices on the Northeast Corridor on lines shared with commuter rail were not meant to be competitive but rather discouraging --- to preserve seats for those travelling the longer distances Amtrak was intended to serve.
One action suggested in the opinion piece is to eliminate long distance trains. So just because YOU (the writer) cannot afford to travel as a commuter when you should be "commuting" on commuter trains, those who choose to take the train across the country should suffer? Those who cannot or will not fly, or don't have the option to fly, should totally give up travel so that people on the east coast can enjoy cheaper fares? You should be happy you have all those options --- the intercity buses like Bolt and Megabus, SEPTA commuter rail, air shuttles, and yes, Amtrak trains -- because many people in the heartland don't. And many who have only Amtrak have it at unfriendly calling times by virtue of the fact there is only one train per day, and it has to operate someplace overnight. Those people need their Amtrak trains to continue, and you don't see them proposing that your expensive Northeast Corridor be eliminated so that Amtrak can afford to keep their long distance trains running.
