morgynleri:jazzybot4:bakeroftheapocalypse:lastoneout:stainedglasssqurriel:nocomm-ent:afloweroutofsto
morgynleri:jazzybot4:bakeroftheapocalypse:lastoneout:stainedglasssqurriel:nocomm-ent:afloweroutofstone:http://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Amtrak-Connects-Us-Fact-Sheet-for-Statement.pdfIt’s going to run through 6 different reservations. I get yall are excited but this fucking sucks. Do you think these nations were asked about this? Or will be asked?? This would literally break internationally recognised treaties these nations have with the us government.Why is it always one step forward five steps back with this country? New rail systems are wonderful. Encroaching on Native land to do it? Disgusting. We can do better than that. There’s no excuse.And as some people have pointed out this is still gonna be inaccessible for a lot of people because they aren’t actually improving the speed of the trains. Its still gonna take you like a week to go across the country and the whole trip you have to pay for food when it would just be a lot cheaper and easier to take a plane.(Source: I used to take the train from Southern AZ to Illinois to visit mt family every year and it was a 3 day trip and the food served on the train was so expensive I ended up living off of trail mix and crackers the whole time. You also are crammed into a tiny seat with strangers and there’s no bed or shower. Try sleeping sitting upright when you haven’t showered or changed your clothes or eaten anything more substantial than a snack in 72 hours. Hell up until recently there wasn’t even internet. The same trip on a plane costs a little bit more but only takes 4 hours and you don’t have to starve yourself and go without sleep the whole time.) So yeah, encroaching on Native land without asking and not improving the speed of travel or the travel conditions makes this seem like a pretty fucking bad idea that won’t really help anyone. Hi! Respectfully, you’re wrong. First of all, if you read the map, I can’t find any lines that would be new construction through an existing reservation. If you read the map, you can see that the light blue lines are the only lines being added, the dark blue lines are already in existence. Which. There might be some, but assuming that the tribes haven’t been contacted about potential train lines through their lands is a pretty big unsubstantiated claim. Trains aren’t the oil and gas industry, they’re fighting for funding and the last thing they want is to get caught in the middle of political protests, which add massive amounts of time and money to already underfunded projects.Second of all, if you look at the yellow lines on the map, those lines would be providing “enhanced service” which probably means either expanding capacity to run more trains per day or adding more lines. So you know, improving travel conditions, making the trains faster. You’re allowed to personally not like trains, but I know that this would be huge for my town - we’d actually have a train line that connected us to the rest of the country. Also, trains are significantly cheaper than most flights, and can be used by people without cars who rely on public transit. Not everywhere has an airport, and not all of those airports are affordable or accessible to those without cars. If you live somewhere that already has good transportation options, it probably hasn’t occurred to you why this type of expansion is important - because not everywhere has airports and not everyone has cars. Maybe think some more about why the expansion of the train system, one of the most accessible forms of travel, is something that you feel the need to combat, when there are literally always highway projects doing something questionable with regards to eminent domain. (If anyone has information about protests related to Amtrak expansion, I’d be happy to know about it)I live on the East Coast USA and so far the trains I’ve taken have been BALLER. I’d LOVE to have that all over the country! The seats are HUGE and there’s wifi and quiet cars, and for about 50$ I can go from DC to NYC in about four and a half hours on the Northeast Corridor train. Union station (both of them) both have food on site and close by, so you’re not buying train food the WHOLE way if you have layovers, which trains do these days. Amtrak is NICE and if they get to expand their operations, OTHER train lines will also benefit. Passenger rail is some of the most Eco-friendly transportation in the WORLD. A little bit of trip planning and some forward thinking in how your luggage moves, and you’ll be much happier with the trains. I know for FACTS that I’d prefer a two day train trip to a one day plane trip to get back to AZ. I’ve ridden the train between here and New York, and also taken a train from AZ to DC, and to be honest? I’d prefer to ride the train, even without taking the sleeper car on a longer trip, than take a plane. There are no major air pressure changes, the seats are larger than plane seats, you have more room for carry-on luggage, there isn’t the same level of security theater in the station.And flying is DISTINCTLY more expensive unless all you’re taking is your carry-on, these days. When you’ve got luggage because you’re not traveling light? The train gives you more luggage allowance, and the costs of extra luggage or oversize luggage are much less. Because you’re not attempting to get all of it lifted into the air, and it costs less to accelerate it over land than hauling it up into the air.Yes, it’s going to take longer, but two days to get from the east coast to Arizona, and an extra day if I’m going all the way to, like, LA? Where I don’t have to drive, and I don’t have to worry about fighitng for disability accomodation nearly as much? Where I can pack myself a small cooler with fresh snacks, and can pick up something at layovers if I want warm, fresh food?(An oversize duffel, several zip-tied bins, our carry-ons (two each), and our personal items. Two people, routed through Chicago. I can’t remember the exact numbers because it’s been years, but I do remember that the cost of all that on the train was the same as plane tickets and nothing more than our carry-ons to get us home.)Fuck, yeah, I’ll take the train. -- source link