02-26-2019, 05:23 PM
MAVIC wrote:
One train in the US I'm looking at takes 27 hours. It's about 900 miles. That means it averages about 33mph. I've read "More than half of Amtrak trains operate at top speeds of 100 mph". Still, that means they spend most of their time stopped or going extra slow.
As has been said above, the reasons are many. The key point is that the service from DC to NY (and then to Boston) is fast, convenient and very busy. There are lots of sold out trains at peak periods. This service runs above 100 frequently. Notably, there are no grade crossings anymore.
Almost all the rest of the trains run on the four big private railroads. They compete with freight, and the freight does not need to go fast. (In fact, the national rail speed limit is 79 mph on tracks with grade crossings.) The private guys are forced to allow Amtrak because they wanted to abandon their own passenger services in the 1970's. And the slow Amtrak trains are very politically popular. Some railroads are good to Amtrak (BNSF) and give it priority, while others work hard to screw Amtrak (UP) and place it behind slow freights. Amtrak pays bonuses for good behavior, but there is an attitude as well.
Just think of your 900 mile journey as a land cruise and you will be fine.