Biden wants to spend $80Bil on Amtrak. Not a bad idea – but is that simply tossing money down a rabbit hole?

Amtrak has very old operating systems and is secondary on rail lines (run by other companies). It takes 1:45pm to 9:15am (next day) just to travel from New Orleans to Chicago. (19hrs 30min)

If I were to go from New Orleans to Chicago: Friday Depart New Orleans 1:45pmSaturday Arrive Chicago 9:15amReturn: (Next available Train – Monday!) Depart Chicago 8:05pmArrive New Orleans 3:47pm Tuesday

Round trip in a Chair: $440.00

Round trip in a Room: $846.00 (So you can sleep!)

This is not going to work for business travel, and unless you are staying a while (The above trip would work if you are going to the Saints – Bears Game on Sunday!) Comparison: (Same travel dates)

American Airlines – Friday 7thDepart New Orleans 11:43am Arrive Chicago 2:24pm (Same day!)Monday

Depart Chicago 1:40pmArrive New Orleans 3:55pm (Same day)Cost: For Coach – $137.00For 1st Class – $491.00

This means – if you fly first class – you’d have to pay for a Hotel on Friday and Monday nights

But, Sitting in a chair overnight on a train that is stopping every few hours – or 1st class on AA for only $50 more? – Those hotel beds will make up the difference of paying for the rooms on the train.

Unless you have aerophobia (Fear of flying) – why would anyone travel on a train? Even if you have family, or retired with no time requirements – trains are not an efficient, effective, or economically viable option.

Now – if they removed all stops between major cities – and you could travel from New Orleans to Chicago in 3 hrs – and the prices were the same as air travel. Then you might have some consideration.

But – THEY CAN’T! – Why? – Because there are other trains on the tracks – commercial cargo. And, there are few “hubs” like airlines have where you can depart the main route and take commuter trains to smaller destinations. Which means – taking the “BUS!” And, that means waiting around for the bus in a Bus Station. (Now if UBER/LYFT were to design a program for longer distance transport – there may be an answer!)

Now why do I think Biden wants $80billion for Amtrak? – There 4 areas in the US where passenger trains make sense. BUT, the States should pay for that – not taxes from Louisiana or Mississippi, or Texas, or Idaho, Montana, etc. Make those along the corridor routes pay for improvements.

Or – the new MagLev being built in Japan(See Japan’s railroad, called JR Tokai) – is only 178 miles for $50billion. (That includes all land and equipment including trains! – not operating costs!) or about $281Million per mile. This line will travel over 300 miles per hour and cut the trip time from Nagoya (Industrial work area) to Tokyo to 40 minutes. (simple commute to get to work!) And they plan on extending the route to Osaka

Do the math – if Amtrak owns 623 Miles, but uses 21,440 throughout their system – that would be a total of $175 Billion for Amtrak lines – and about $5.638 Trillion for the entire system.

But – think of the jobs, think of the commutes for work.

People may live in Denver and arrive for work in Los Angeles within about 2 hours. (if no stops) – or Dallas/Memphis/Atlanta – within a few hours. Not to mention the present route of Boston to New York (12 trains per day) with the Acela (the fastest US train at 100mph) – which presently takes 3hr 30min – would be dropped to less than 1 hour!

There is a solution – BUT – this will require new energy, new manpower, new manufacturing production. (Solar along the tracks, Many people ready to work with good pay, and companies will be more than willing to product American parts) The Cost – likely to exceed $25 Trillion (after you pay off all the lawyers, and environmentalist!) to buy all the land, renovation of land, build solar farms, train personnel, and create laws (Listen to this Democratic Congress!!) – to only use US manufactured equipment and technology. (Foreign Companies can MOVE to the US, hire US employees, and pay taxes on profits to the US, if they want a piece of the action!) So – $80 Billion to make the Northeast Commutes a bit cleaner – or $25 Trillion to create a dynamic shift in US productivity dominance on the planet? Or maybe we just give another $2-3 Trillion to those not working??Some Sources:https://www.cnn.com/…/amtrak-america-moment…/index.htmlhttps://www.amtrak.com/home.htmlhttps://www.forbes.com/…/fifty-years-after-the…/…