How to rally people behind passenger rail service

Many salutations!!! Have you ever wanted to travel along the Eastern Seaboard without having to deal with the horrible traffic on IH-95 and end up stranded without transportation? Well, Amtrak apparently believes that it should be possible to have your cake and eat it too as evidenced by its Lorton (VA)-Sanford (FL) nonstop Auto Train service which has been very successful. One thing that perplexes me is why Amtrak is not practicing that kind of land-ferry rail service all over the United States.

Here in San Antonio, VIA Metropolitan Transit has undertaken a project in install bike racks to the front of each and every urban transit coach in its fleet which continues to pay off handsomely even today. What I am trying to do is to take this principle to the next level and insist upon the incorporation of transporting the automobiles of the rail passengers using inter-modal cargo containers.

The procedure for rail transport of automobiles is very straightforward once the legwork of easily determining the dimensions of automobiles (length, width, height, and mass) has been accomplished and the proper cargo containers are on hand. All that needs to happen is for the vehicle to be driven into the cargo container that is then secured prior to being lifted by crane onto a modified freight car known as a well car. This is what a well car looks like:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2380/2112115651_98fc727443_o.jpg

That model is a multi-section articulated well car with cargo containers on it; while you cannot see the actual well that gives the car its name, that is what it looks like going down the rails. The advantages of this are as follows:

*As previously mentioned, the procedure is very straightforward; it is not unlike transporting regular-sized parcels!

*The ETA for this is very quick; loading and unloading automobiles packed in cargo containers can be done in at most five minutes by skilled stevedores.

*As evidenced by the reference to skilled stevedores, this will CREATE JOBS -- not only with the payload but also in keeping track of it and ensuring that there is enough capacity.

*People will flock to the rail service like vultures to carrion when the necessity of proactive research about the urban transit service of the destination city is optional since they can take their cars with them on the train -- something that Amtrak has already demonstrated this with its Auto Train service. This will also give IH-35 -- along with the environment -- a huge break.

For these reasons, it is imperative that the concept of automobile rail transport via inter-modal cargo containers be a part of the concourse about the Lone Star commuter rail service.