Train travel travails

Dear Editor,

Excellent article, it'd be hard to disagree on any of the points made ["The travail of train travel" (http://www. mccookgazette.com/story/1219190.html) -- Mike at Night]

Recently Amtrak and Union Pacific again agreed to add more time to the Zephyr's schedule on the assumption that this would cure the problem of lateness. It has not.

Go to Amtrak's Web site, to the "train status" box and you can find out how No. 5 and N0. 6 have been doing for the past 4 days. On time anywhere west of Denver, where it leaves the BNSF rails is rare.

Considerable political pressure will be needed to get any kind of performance out of the UP. Whether or not anything ever happens depends on the public putting some serious pressure on the politicians who in turn might be able to get the railroad to do something.

In any case, many thanks for a first-rate article.

R. van Wormer,

via e-mail