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In the last month or so the mainstream media seems to have rediscovered Amtrak. There have been umpteen editorial-page editorials advocating passage of the Lautenberg/Lott bill, and some of these have elicited arrogant comments from foamers (not on this forum, however) declaring them "a day late and a dollar short," for example. The editorials tell us nothing new, they say.
The point these "expert" naysayers seem to miss is that there has been a sea change in public opinion toward Amtrak as reflected in the mainstream press, and it seems to be growing.
For the first time I can remember, travel editors and travel writers who ignored Amtrak are taking the train to see what it is like, and they're having a good time -- often to their surprise.
A good example was published in the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend:
And the blogosphere, once full of bitchy complaining posts about nightmare trips on Amtrak, seems to be changing, too, as in these two blogposts (note that one of them was surprised that he enjoyed the dining-car food):
In recent weeks I've seen more posts showing praise for Amtrak service crews, too. Possibly the improvement in public attitudes has resulted in happier times onboard. Let's hope so.
Not that we are going to return to a Golden Age of railroading, but there is hope for the future.
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513
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On the cruising forum there is much talk about wanting cruises from one's home area to avoid flying and taking Amtrak to get there. Mostly positive comments too.
mgt Member # 5479
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I've noticed this too Mr Kisor, as I get updates from several US newspapers. It cannot all be down to the leap in petrol prices, can it? Heatherite also commented on a ositive article in the British Sunday newspaper The Observer. Certainly the more positive media cover Amtrak gets, the more people might be tempted to try it out. I hope so. They have just got to be realistic in their expectations, particularly about punctuality.
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