[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Amtrak Travel (was RE: OOP Bananas)

Lady Celia CeliadesArchier at cox.net
Thu Jun 19 12:27:31 PDT 2008


Europe has had higher gas prices than our since at least the mid 80s, early
90s, because I went to England around late 80s, early 90s and if my brain
befogged memory is correct, they were paying the equivalent of $3-4 per
*liter* for petrol.  Also, Europe just never lost their investment in train
travel, and we did.  Pretty much every little town in Europe is still
connected by train, many by high speed trains now, and both BritRail and
Eurail have been consistently used by the populace.  Most European cities
have intercity rail that competes well with our largest cities. 

In other words, when it comes to mass transit, Europe does it, and has
always done it 'right'... we don't.  But when you say you wish "we" would
work on upgrading Amtrak... you have to take into consideration that Amtrak,
like most "public" or mass transit in the US, is *not* a "we" thing, it's
private enterprise, trying to be fiscally profitable.  Rarely is it
government subsidized, or at least rarely is it subsidized to the extent
that it could be turned into a viable system as a travel alternative -
especially considering the rushed American pace (Europeans, in most cases,
take things a bit more leisurely... and have more leisure time as well.) 

So for us to get train travel 'right', we'd have to change a lot about how
we think about things, about how we do things culturally and about how we
view public and mass transit politically.  Now, I, for one, would be all
*for* those changes.  But for them to happen, people have to become aware of
the problem, and consider trains as a viable solution.  And we're not even
to that point on an intercity level in most cities.  So I see it as a long
haul before we get to that point intra-city.  Unless, of course, some really
charismatic political leader should bring the matter into the public eye in
a way that people would be receptive to the idea as a way to resolve many of
the problems caused by people not using mass, "public" transit. 

-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Nick Sasso
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 8:26 AM
To: Cooks within the SCA
Subject: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Amtrak Travel (was RE: OOP Bananas)

-----Original Message-----
I take it this fare is coach?  I know that I priced a trip to
Atlanta...I have to go down next week and was looking for a way to
avoid flying.  The trip would take 13 hours...and, to be able to have
a place to sleep bumped the cost up to more than you're quoting for a
trip across country!!  And...there was only one train available,
leaving around 6 pm and arriving around 7am.  I guess that's what I
get for trying to do things a little greener.  I do wish they would
work on upgrading Amtrak...I have taken the train in Europe, the
Eurostar from London to Paris...less expensive and MUCH faster...2
hours for the trip!

Kiri   > > > > > > >





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