Passenger Trains > RR Publishing Opportunity

Since it appears Amtrak is too cheap to continue publishing it it's national timetable then perhaps it creates an opportunity for somebody. Perhaps it is time for the Official Guide of the Railways to be resurrected.  Somebody could publish all of Amtrak's publicly available time tables in one printed hard copy and charge a few bucks for it. Throw in commuter schedules as well. 

 Of course this begs the question: why didn't Amtrak (charge a buck or two for what they already do) do that and make a few nickels in the process? 

John Webb
Trinidad, CA

Someone could do that (Western Folder of Itasca IL would be an obvious candidate, since
they are the production company that makes all of Amtrak's timetables and much other
promotional material).  But they would need the full backing and cooperation of Amtrak,
which would have to dedicate people to the task of providing current, accurate information
to the timetable publisher; and I doubt that would be possible, given how decimated the
associated staff is now, since Unsafe Joe nearly wiped out that department.

It's possible that "the train has left the station" or "that ship has sailed"--too many prospective passengers use the website, where it's a lot cheaper to make changes and corrections.

Too bad that the Europe edition of Timetables, could be used as an example.  But they get the data from the railroads.  Sure Amtrak would never permit that.

Getting more Ads could help the cost.  Charging for them,     through Western Folder would be another way,    OR DO A CD EDITION AND SELL IT  1
I am sure the various States with existing or future joint Powers would love to have their service, in a printed form.  California being a good example, but Michigan, Illinois etc should be good supporters of the system timetable.

Lack of Greyhound not supporting the old official bus guide, caused a lot of folks to not be aware of existing bus service.   I was a Greyhound commission agent in the early 70's and believe me having an index of all carries provided schedules to lots of small carriers in North America.  Many who have now gone out of business.  Even Cal trans with its vast system of Thruways, would not publish any info in the Bus Guide.   They felt that the info was already available, but hay the bus traveler of the day, was not aware of this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/16 13:28 by mundo.

There is little need for a national card.  Amtrak and the National Association of Timetable Collectors are two different organizations, with different missions.

Individual route cards are quite sufficient, backed up by electronic information on the Internet.

A person going on an extended trip, a rather small percentage of total Amtrak riders, can assemble the necessary route timetables, or print the national schedule off the Internet.

People under 40 are unlikely to even know what a timetable is, as they are electronically-oriented.  Road maps were discontinued by oil companies as free items beginning in the 1970s.  Printed newspapers, except USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, are rapidly losing readership.  Time moves on!

I would say few, if any one outside the railfan circles, would be interested in this. Amtrak does such a poor job of marketing outside the northeast that most people probably don't know about the trains anyhow, and inside the northeast they have smart phones or just show up asking to go somewhere.  

A publisher isn't going to publish something that won't sell, and I doubt commuter agencies care enough to publish schedules In a national guide. 

Not surprising to see the "we don't need the paper national timetable" opinions here on the TO "we really don't need passenger trains" Board.  I consider the National Timetable (printed)  to be an invaluable resource, and I know it served a purpose in showing non-railfans the existence of a national, integrated network.

BTW, the European Rail Timetable (formerly Cooks) does include a North American section in several editions of their "Beyond Europe" section of their monthly publication. This does offer all the schedules from the current National Timetable, albeit in a slightly different format.

 

A lot of people ask for a map of the train routes.  Considering the poor knowledge of geography of many
passengers, I think that would be a good alternative to the system tt.  You know in 2010, they upsized the thing
and added the NEC back in & that eventually morphed into a bound editon.  Not cheap!
Maybe they should try a small print run of that pre 2010 original system tt?

Amtrak Vacations does not seem to mind printing their glossy manual (with their outrageous pricing).
There is also Amtrak's silly "flight magazine" ARRIVE in all the NEC and Empire Corridor seat pockets, like the Safety card. Why is printing that fascinating must-read acceptable ? Nobody seems to take it with them for toilet reading when they get home
 

The only significant segment of the market that still prefers paper timetables is the baby boomer generation, a group that is rapidly shrinking in size. For marketing collateral, print is simply becoming obsolete. 

caprail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not surprising to see the "we don't need the paper
> national timetable" opinions here on the TO "we
> really don't need passenger trains" Board.  I
> consider the National Timetable (printed)  to be
> an invaluable resource, and I know it served a
> purpose in showing non-railfans the existence of a
> national, integrated network.
>
> BTW, the European Rail Timetable (formerly Cooks)
> does include a North American section in several
> editions of their "Beyond Europe" section of their
> monthly publication. This does offer all the
> schedules from the current National Timetable,
> albeit in a slightly different format.
>
>  

Here's the problem:  these were almost exclusively available in stations and from travel agencies. Both of those are dying methods of distribution, with staffed stations shrinking and online booking.  I was recently at the station in Harper's Ferry and the only sign that Amtrak stops there is a badly faded pointless arrow sign. A timetable does no good if the general public doesn't even know you exist. I overheard several people asking if a train ever stopped there. Amtrak's visibility and marketing problems are a lot deeper than not printing a paper timetable. 

caprail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I
> consider the National Timetable (printed)  to be
> an invaluable resource, and I know it served a
> purpose in showing non-railfans the existence of a
> national, integrated network.
>

So put up your money to publish one. Problem solved. End of thread.

I think we should go back to stagecoaches....

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

I like paper maps, and I like paper timetables, and I'm just a bit younger than a Baby Boomer, but seriously, get over it. When I haven't had a national timetable handy for exploration or reference, I've done just fine pulling Amtrak schedules off the Web -- and printing them if needed for trips.

Somewhere in my archives I once had a Greyhound system timetable. Anybody know how long it's been since the bus line issued one of those? I haven't been able to find one for years.

I have a Greyhound system timetable book from 1977.  That was the year the company where I worked had a summer hiatus in July.  Greyhound was offering one-way travel to anywhere in the US for $75, and Amtrak was quoting $180 from LA to Boston.  Since I had more time than money, I wrote off to the Great Kennel in Phoenix and requested timetables for the routes I would probably be using.  I was surprised and pleased to receive a large envelope a week or so later with the official timetable book for the whole system.  When I went to El Monte (about 12 miles east of LA) to get my ticket, the agent spotted my timetable book and said, "I see you have the Russell book."  Back in those days the Russell Bus Guide was like the Official Guide to the Railways, only for motor coach operations.  The first section was Greyhound, the back section was Trailways (remember them?) and the middle was the smaller carriers like Grove City and Peter Pan.  I just had the Greyhound part, which stood me in good stead for the journey.  When I got back home, I loaned it to another railfan who was long on time and short on money.

---

I used to go on a long distant Amtrak trip armed with a national Amtrak timetable and a current employee timetable of the route I was on.  Now I can get neither.

> Here's the problem:  these were almost
> exclusively available in stations and from travel
> agencies. Both of those are dying methods of
> distribution, with staffed stations shrinking and
> online booking.  I was recently at the station in
> Harper's Ferry and the only sign that Amtrak stops
> there is a badly faded pointless arrow sign. A
> timetable does no good if the general public
> doesn't even know you exist. I overheard several
> people asking if a train ever stopped there.
> Amtrak's visibility and marketing problems are a
> lot deeper than not printing a paper timetable. 

Exactly. In the vast majority of the country, unless you are a railfan or a railroad employee, and knowledgeable ones at that, you pretty much have almost no idea that Amtrak exists or that you just might be able to catch a train to where you are wanting to go. Amtrak is invisible to the general public, except when they make the news for a grade crossing incident or derailment. Then, all they get is a negative image. On the flip side, I can pretty much guarantee that Southwest Airlines doesn't have a problem with almost all of America knowing about them, due to their generous advertising.

Winnemucca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since it appears Amtrak is too cheap to continue
> publishing it it's national timetable then perhaps
> it creates an opportunity for somebody.

Why would you need a publisher? The System Timetable is still available as a PDF and if you’re viewing this page you have the technology to just print it off yourself. If not…put it on a stick and take it into Staples. My local Staples will even bring up a web page and send a PDF to the copier.
I work in and Engineering office. Now instead of printing out those 50+ page sets of drawings and volumes of specifications and the courier charges to sent them out…..we just upload to a cloud or procurement site. Contractors love it…so do we!

http://www.staples.com/copying+and+binding/directory_copying+and+binding?autocompletesearchkey=copying+and+binding

136 pages would be a little pricey.