[lbo-talk] French set new rail speed record

Chuck chuck at mutualaid.org
Thu Apr 5 18:19:14 PDT 2007


I love trains and I can tolerate buses, but this country would really need to upgrade regional public transportation in order to get more people out of their cars. This shouldn't be impossible because the bigger cities have excellent public transit systems.

I was at the Dallas-Forth Worth airport several weeks ago. They have a slick new aerial tram system. It's really easy to get between terminals.

It's also cool that the Bart in S.F. now goes to SFO airport.

I rode on the Metroliner several years ago between D.C. and New Haven. I thought the service was pretty fast, so I don't understand why the Acela is such an improvement. Does it get you to NYC or Boston an hour earlier?

The rebellious lawyers arranged for me to get to Yale with first class accomodations on Metroliner. I started out in the coach class, but the conductor saw my ticket and made me go back to first class, which was mostly deserted. The oddity about the trip to New Haven was that I found myself sitting across the aisle from Christine Todd Whitman and surrounded by her entourage.

The train service on the East Coast is pretty good, but Amtrak generally sucks. The main problem with Amtrak is that it has to share tracks with freight trains. This leads to many delays as freight lines prioritize freight. Regional rail would be much better if is relied on dedicated passenger lines and had faster trains.

Greyhound isn't horrible, but it could be better if they improved the terminals and the service. Their are some fast, clean bus services between D.C. and NYC. On the other hand, taking the bus to Baltimore to get to Philly just sucks. God, I hate the bus stations in Washington and Baltimore. In my experience, being on the bus isn't that bad. Dealing with the bus stations just sucks.

BTW, I'll be in New York next week, so I'll be schlepping around the city on the subway. Does anybody know how to get from LaGuardia to Manhattan cheaply?

This may sound like a stupid question, given that there is so much to do in NYC, but does anybody have suggestions on something cool I can do next Thursday afternoon when I arrive? I'm going to be busy throughout the weekend, but I'm trying to figure out where to go first when I arrive. Bookstore? Restaurant? Museum?

Chuck



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