Three basic types of trains are needed to service the various markets on the 1990 national system.
- Long-Distance Trains. These trains operate over routes ranging from 700 to 2,500 miles between major metropolitan areas and involve end-point to end-point travel times ranging from 15 to 50 hours. Serving many intermediate cities and towns, they therefore offer the greatest possible number of trip combinations of any train type. Users include those making the entire trip, those traveling from either end-point city to other places along the route, and those traveling only between intermediate points. A full range of coach and sleeping car accommodations is required plus a variety of food services.
- Medium-Distance Trains. These trains run in the 400- to 700-mile trip range. Two subtypes are recognized-the day train and the overnight train. Journey times range from 7 to 14 hours. Each subtype caters to a different market. 0ay trains will have a greater number of users at intermediate centers and the overnight trains will be used by those traveling predominantly between the end points of the journey. The overnight trains have great potential as carriers of mail and express. Coach and first-class seating plus a wide range of food services are offered on day trains; economy and first-class sleeping car service plus limited food and beverage offerings supplement coach offerings on overnight trains.
- Short-Distance Trains. These daytime-only passenger trains operate on runs of less than 400 miles. They cater to short-distance travelers that make up the bulk of all the intercity travel market. Because passengers are on the train for a shorter period, they have more limited demands for food service, but both first-class and coach seating are offered to satisfy different preferences.
Using these types of trains where each is appropriate in maximizing market penetration is the major key to turning Amtrak into a successful financial operation. A single long-distance train may be adequate to satisfy demand on those routes ranked with a low potential. The advantage of the long-distance train is that it meets a variety of travel needs-long distance, medium distance, and short distance-along such a route. On those route segments where demand is high or very high, most of the journeys are of relatively short distance, and here medium- and short-distance trains can satisfy the demand if they provide a greater frequency of departure and arrival times-shorter trips are much more sensitive to the frequency of travel opportunity. Medium-distance travel needs may be largely met by trains that permit late evening departures and overnight travel, with arrival at the destination in the early morning. Short-distance routes require more frequent service and several trains per day may be needed to serve high and very high demand routes.
Because long-distance, medium-distance, and short-distance trains all operate simultaneously over some route segments, it is possible and desirable to integrate them into schedules so that long-distance and medium-distance trains may also provide short-distance functions at appropriate times of the day. This avoids duplication of service and allows for more effective equipment utilization and cost reductions.
Train frequency and scheduling are other important aspects of developing the correct level of service to optimize market potential. The highest potential travel demand is in the major corridors and most trips will be of less than 300 miles. People making these tyges journeys want to be able to select from a range of departure and arrival times. Often they want to be able to travel from their home origin point to a destination, carry out an activity at the destination, and return home the same day. This obviously requires a morning departure one way and an evening return. Timetables developed in Amtrak 90 offer schedules of two or more departures daily at appropriate times between paired cities of 500,000 or more separated by distances of 250 miles (for example, Chicago-Indianapolis, Miami-Tampa, Dallas-Houston).
For larger and more closely spaced cities, frequencies may be increased even to hourly intervals during the day (New York-Boston, Chicago-Milwaukee, Los Angeles-San Diego).
Cities 450-600 miles apart where train trips can be completed in 8-10 hours are ideally suited to service by a daytime train and a nighttime train in each direction. The overnight travel trip, widely popular in other parts of the world, has yet to be exploited by Amtrak. The Amtrak 90 plan establishes such a service between many city pairs (Chicago-Kansas City, Detroit-Atlanta, New York-Raleigh, Dallas-New Orleans). In addition to catering to travelers who prefer not to lose daylight hours for the journey, the overnight trains have great potential for capturing mail and express traffic.
Long-distance trains cater to travelers who are less time sensitive. They must be carefully planned so that schedules do not have inconvenient (after 10 p.m. or before 7 a.m.) arrival and departure times at important origin and destination points along the route.
Because Amtrak 90 envisions the operation of a nationwide system that makes train travel as convenient as possible, planned schedules facilitate connections between trains at terminals and junctions.