Comments on: Back in the Air Again

By: Doug Wendt

Doug Wendt — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:56:39 +0000

Yes, Auto Train begins in Lorton for two reasons. First, the Superliner passenger cars cannot operate north of Washington, D.C. due to tunnel heights. And second, the auto rack cars need a specialized loading terminal with sufficient stub tracks (basically a mini rail yard) with direct access to the main line, at a location that will minimize delays with other traffic (since the trains are very long and take quite a good time to fully enter and get up to speed on the main line). The first location where all of these conditions can be met is Lorton, Virginia on the former RF&P railroad line.

By: Sandy Teal

Sandy Teal — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:34:52 +0000

Does anybody know why Amtrak’s auto train to Florida doesn’t start until south of DC, when almost all of the traffic is from the NYC/Boston area? It probably is a technical reason, but I never heard what that reason was.

Somewhat related, I had heard that the old Eastern Airlines made a huge portion of its profits shipping coffins from Florida back to NYC.

By: The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:38:50 +0000

Actually, AutoTrain was started as a private company about the same time as Amtrak. It was initially successful, but when the company attempted to have a branch from the Midwest (which actually started in Louisville) at about the same time as the 1980s recession began and gas prices fell, it went bankrupt. Amtrak stepped in and kept the Lorton-Winter Park route going.

By: C. P. Zilliacus

C. P. Zilliacus — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:02:36 +0000

The Antiplanner wrote: My testimony points out that Amtrak is the most costly form of intercity transportation we have, costing (with subsidies) about 60 cents per passenger mile, compared with about 16 cents for air travel and less than 10 cents for the â€œnew modelâ€ of bus service pioneered by Megabus. While Amtrak is a little more energy efficient than flying, at the rate both modesâ€™ energy efficiencies are changing, by 2030 flying will require less energy to move passenger miles than Amtrak (and so will driving). I have often wondered what would happen with the Auto Train if it were to be operated by a private-sector firm and not by Amtrak. From having observed its northern terminal station in Lorton, Virginia (right next to I-95) many times, it seems that most of its patrons are well-off people. I have also wondered why there has never been any investigation of demand for an east-west Auto Train (perhaps from Chicago (or maybe even someplace in the East) to Arizona or maybe even Los Angeles).