More after Amtrak; the long-distance cruise

When the ocean marine transportation business could no longer make money on travel between city pairs, say, London to New York, for example, they reinvented themselves with something called the cruise. There had always been cruises, but now they are the mainstay of the ocean passenger business, and they support luxury liners that would put the liners of the first half of the twentieth century to shame.

Amtrak, or whatever comes after, should consider this model for long-distance train routes. I've already written about how those routes could serve many combinations of intermediate city pairs with a few trains covering segments of the routes. The train that covers from one end to the other--let's say Chicago to Oakland, for example, should be a cruise train. It should not be the train of choice for someone who wants only transportation between the endpoints.

Not only should the cruise train be designed to provide the maximum amount of luxurious amenities, but the train should also be scheduled to make the most of sightseeing and tour possibilities on the way. Some private efforts have gone this way with limited to no success, but that's because they were not part of a comprehensive plan that also derived revenues from the mundane segmented routes.

Yes, the number of trainsets needed to cover a cruise route between Chicago and Oakland would be necessarily larger than the minimum number to make a theoretically non-stop trip from one end to the other on a daily basis. But that's where the segmented trains could serve, too. Someone wanting to cruise from Oakland across the Sierra Nevada in daylight might want to stop in Reno and do some gambling. The train might stay overnight and all passengers occupy a hotel for the night. The gambler with a streak of luck could continue his streak at the tables the next day and then use the segmented coach to Salt Lake City to catch the next eastbound cruise and still be able to cruise over the Rockies in daylight the day after. The more combinations that can be provided for such flexibility, the more opportunities for extra revenue generation there will be.

Next: Dismantling Amtrak.

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