Old New Travel for Executives

Submitted by metulj on Fri, 2008/11/07 - 4:39pm.

Private Coach

On the Cardinal from Union Station today, we had to wait while this beauty was hooked up to the train. It's a private coach being used as executive transportation. I got a chance to check it out. Full sleeping quarters, full kitchen, observation deck, bath, and parlor. I chatted with the agent for Amtrak who was in charge of hooking it up. He said they are seeing more and more of these everyday. The haulage charges are cheap and the amenities that can be built in are amazing. This thing was beautiful. A refurbished coach like this costs about a million bucks. That's less than a private jet and not much more than a high end motor coach. Yeah, you are tied to Amtrak, but the agent had a keen observation that these sort of ventures are probably the public/private partnership that can expand rail coverage.

vote

Sweet. A fellow could live

Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2008/11/07 - 4:50pm.

Sweet. A fellow could live on one of those things. Way better than a houseboat!

It would appear that the

Submitted by redmondkr on Fri, 2008/11/07 - 8:49pm.

It would appear that the future of rail travel got better last Tuesday.

TRAINS Magazine's October 31 NewsWire (subscription required) has an article about the extensive treatment Barack Obama's web site gave to his idea of the future of rail in America including Amtrak, high-speed, and freight operations.

Obama was co-sponsor of the Passenger Rail Investment and Innovation Act of 2007, designed to provide long-term federal funding to Amtrak. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate is one of the Senate's most outspoken Amtrak supporters (Biden's son is also an Amtrak board member). One of Biden's specific concerns, however, is that the focus on aviation security has ignored the threats facing surface transportation. On his own Web site, he declares support for "increasing security for both passenger trains and trains carrying dangerous cargo."