I always feel like instead of interviewing the CEOs of stories of interest, they should instead interview the people involved in the story.
The CEO is just saying “people want to take the train”. Oh, really? That’s what you think, guy who stands to profit if people take the train?
Instead, interview the passengers. THEY can tell you why they actually took the train. And no one passenger has the full story. So you need to interview hundreds of passengers, and probably get repeating redundant answers. THAT’S when you know you’ve got to the heart of the matter through good old fashioned investigative reporting.
Ah, but who am I kidding? Real journalism is dead. They’ll just interview the CEO, and make it a fluff piece.
Earlier today I wondered if Twit.tv was still in operation. It’s a podcast network about technology. I would watch back in 2005. I remember they built a dedicated streaming studio in 2010. Then in 2012 or so, I stopped watching after a controversial series of decisions. Today I googled to see if they still existed. Turns out back in July they closed their studio, and are now streaming remote via zoom. The CEO tried putting a positive spin on it in a letter that began “Beginning July q6th, we’re excited to begin a new chapter in remote streaming!”. This is what the CEO wrote.
So I’m SURE even if Amtrak business were down instead of up, he’d try to frame it as some kind of noble act of pollution saving, or some corporate speak to say they’re consolidating their trips to serve more people (despite serving far less). The CEO is NOT the person to interview in these stories.
The CEO is just saying “people want to take the train”. Oh, really? That’s what you think, guy who stands to profit if people take the train?
It’s not the CEO, it’s the chair of the board of directors. Amtrak is government chartered and majority owned by the US government, and its board of directors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, essentially making it a government position.
And it’s two paragraphs out of like 10, where several other experts were interviewed and quoted.
I have my beef with Newsweek, but your criticism here misses the mark.
great, now all we need is more fucking trains
the money is always going to get in the way. its just not profitable… because thats the end-all be-all of the untie states. profits above anything else whatsoever.
don’t forget you also have to beg the freight companies to let you run those trains
While I would also love that, it’s really not the best choice for most travelers. Currently we err in only driving or flying, but even in a well balanced system with a complete rail network that let everyone pick the best means of travel, flying will have the advantage for longer distances.
Even with how slow Acela is, it beats both flying and driving Boston —> NYC. If we had high speed trains, they could be most effective over longer distances, but flying will always be much faster Miami —> LA
If we optimize for time, the world is fucked. There’s things more important, especially if the trains have WiFi on board and you can work and read.
Loads of folks would take the train from NY to FL and didn’t complain that it took a few days. The journey becomes part of the trip. Enjoy it.
Pretty cool. My local stop in Columbus WI got upgraded with an ADA platform recently. It has the original 100 year old structure, maintained but never expanded/improved (until now)
The article doesn’t specify as to why, and I’m curious.
An absurd amount of New Yorkers, myself included, moved out of the city in the last four years. As a result, Metro North has seen a substantial increase in traffic in and out of the city.
Did this happen in other cities too, or is the increase in Amtrak traffic more organic?
Numbers are almost identical to 2019 Amtrak ridership, so kind of a stretch to call it a new record.
The state of passenger rail in the United States on lines that don’t serve New York City is pretty pathetic, so I’d think that an increase in the number of New York passengers, by itself, would actually represent a significant increase in the total number of passengers, nationally.
It absolutely does in regard to all train traffic, but this article is specifically about Amtrak. NYC is serviced by MTA, and trains into the city are provided by their subsidiary, Metro North.
