Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenC12
Return trip to Portland is 1000 kms from Vancouver. At $1.50/liter you are getting 3.3L/100kms fuel economy. Since a Corolla is rated at 5.3 on the highway, that's highly unlikely.  |
NO kidding, even if the corolla is a very efficient car, I doubt it can travel much more than 600km on a tank. $50 each way is more like it... unless he's talking about the round-trip between Vancouver, WA and Portland... and in that case, it's HORRIBLE fuel economy.
Quote:
Anyway, my point was that Amtrak is too expensive right now, and hence not popular.
Which goes back to my original question, where's the demand for a second line? Their 2023 plan is ambitious, but if the service gets better I only see the price escalating accordingly, and still not being worthwhile.
|
I don't think it's just a matter of price. It's a mix of convenience, price and travel time.
For a single passenger, it's on par with the car for price, once you factor in parking and other costs. I won't include the cost/km for a car, but it is a factor, even if people don't think about it.
It's a whole lot cheaper to take the ferry to Vancouver Island. ~$30 round-trip including buses on each side, instead of $112, but in proportion, there are a LOT more cars on the Ferry. Granted, not everyone is going to downtown Victoria, but still, not that many wanna take buses on each side.
Why? It's inconvenient and slow.
Amtrak is not convenient for Vancouver residents and it's slow.
If it could address those problems and bring travel time to within 3 hours (competetive with the car) people would pay higher prices to ride it.
It's not about demand for second train. It's about creating a minimum service level so that demand can be created. How can you market a train route that doesn't exist? For all intents and purposes, the train to Seattle doesn't exist. The times are VERY inconvenient. You leave at 6PM and arrive at 10PM. The return train comes back the next morning. If you want to do short trip to Seattle, you either have to stay two full nights or you go for an evening.
People are willing to pay for something if it's convenient. That's why the Heli-jet is so popular between Vancouver and Victoria, despite it being more expensive.
PS. Can a mod move these to the Heavy Rail thread that was created?