Passenger Trains > Oxford, Ohio Amtrak stop?

I've always wondered how a college town on an Amtrak route could not have a station stop. Miami University is in Oxford, Ohio on the route of the Cardinal in SW Ohio. The only stop on the route between Cincinnati and Indianapolis is in Connersville, IN after they dropped the stop in Hamilton, Ohio. (Why did they drop that stop, BTW?) Most college towns are great for Amtrak business, but yet Oxford is bypassed. It is a smaller college than say Ohio State or Purdue and the train passes in the middle of the night. I surmise that most Miami students travel home to Cincinnati (very close by) or elsewhere in Ohio where the route of the Cardinal does not go. These are only guesses on my part, but I wondered if Oxford was ever considered for a stop?

P Wrote:
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> I've always wondered how a college town on an
> Amtrak route could not have a station stop. Miami
> University is in Oxford, Ohio on the route of the
> Cardinal in SW Ohio. The only stop on the route
> between Cincinnati and Indianapolis is in
> Connersville, IN after they dropped the stop in
> Hamilton, Ohio. (Why did they drop that stop,
> BTW?) Most college towns are great for Amtrak
> business, but yet Oxford is bypassed. It is a
> smaller college than say Ohio State or Purdue and
> the train passes in the middle of the night. I
> surmise that most Miami students travel home to
> Cincinnati (very close by) or elsewhere in Ohio
> where the route of the Cardinal does not go.
> These are only guesses on my part, but I wondered
> if Oxford was ever considered for a stop?


College students are a good market for intercity rail, but they're not stupid. They would have little interest in such a poor, slow, unreliable, marginal service as the Cardinal, and then in the middle of the night. Yes, you would get 5 or 6 riders at the busiest travel times like holidays, but the train may not run. Much easier to get a ride with friends.

Now, contrast Davis, CA. A high level of service, and ridership is sky high. Except that even in Davis, ridership is low on the LDTs serving Davis. The demand for corridor service is so much greater than a long distance trip. Even college students don't usually have the time to spend 24 hours or more on a train these days...except on a very occasional basis.

If the University and local chamber of commerce move forward, it could happen. The track goes thru the campus. But since the train is tri-weakly, there is likely little interest. No, I did not mispell "tri-weakly". That spelling says it all.

Cincinnati-Oxford-Indianapolis-Lafayette-Chicago COULD be a strong market for a daytime corridor train, even on a 7 or 8 hour schedule. It could be very similar to the Port Huron-Chicago Blue Water, only with much larger on-line cities.

However, 50/51 are horrible for anyone who needs real transportation. They are often 2-3 hours late, average about 38MPH on a meandering 920-mile route between Washington-Chicago and all intermediate points, and don't run 4 days a week. Other than trains 7 and 8, they must be the most unreliable trains in the system. And 7 & 8's problems are only temporary. Amtrak has had 40 years to fix the Cardinal.

The Hoosier State and the Cardinal need to be two different trains. The Hoosier needs to be daily and run from Cincy to Chicago with friendly passenger hours. The Cardinal routing has a lot of problems, one of which has always been running this train just 3 days per week. But the Hoosier State needs to be converted into that corridor train that is competitive with driving. I'd rather see the Cardinal run three das a week on its present route and then on the other three days have it run from NYP to Chicago via Philly and Pittsburgh. Yes, another long distance trainset would have to be found, but I think that it would be possible, as the only thing that is really holding it back is finding that extra Viewliner - or Amtrak releasing one from its "reserve."

Even with friendlier hours, a daily Hoosier State would struggle to attract passengers with its plodding schedule -- five hours to make the Indianapolis-Chicago run, while Megabus does the entire Chicago-Cincy trip in just under six (admittedly with Indy being the only intermediate stop). The last 30 miles into Chicago are by far the worst, but speeds on the entire route are painfully slow. If Megabus were to introduce a Lafayette stop, it would probably kill off what Purdue business Amtrak gets; I imagine Greyhound already does pretty well with its four buses per day between Lafayette and Chicago.

If you want improvements in Indiana, it will need a sing-a-long with Mitch.

< Yes, another long distance trainset would have to be found>

Not hard at all. Just run 97 3-1/2 hours later, turn 98 to same day 97 and create a 3rsd Cardinal trainset with cars to spare. I'd rather see a 4-day-week Three Rivers than a daily Cardinal. Far cheaper to run and would have more time to turn back most days at both Chicago and Sunnyside.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> < Yes, another long distance trainset would have
> to be found>
>
> Not hard at all. Just run 97 3-1/2 hours later,
> turn 98 to same day 97 and create a 3rsd Cardinal
> trainset with cars to spare. I'd rather see a
> 4-day-week Three Rivers than a daily Cardinal. Far
> cheaper to run and would have more time to turn
> back most days at both Chicago and Sunnyside.


I still don't understand why so many of the passenger rail Best Operating Practices used by the railways in developed countries around the world seem to Amtrak to be like pulling wisdom teeth (i.e. same-day equipment turns).

Lackamoney and Lackatrack, its own track, the two primary reasons Amtrak struggles to run its schedules; it is always caught in the middle of competing political agendas and has not a hope in h_ _ _ of ever catching up to world class operating standards. They know HOW to run a railroad, but how could they in this hostile environment?