Could also be whatever car he got on. I took the Blue from Alexandria to Smithsonian around 5pm yesterday and sat in the front car of the train. My car never got more than half full but at almost every stop from DCA to Smithsonian as we pulled into the station the driver would announce "Folks on the platform move to the ends of the train where there's room. The middle cars are completely full." We sat for probably 5-10 minutes tops at DCA but otherwise there weren't any other holding delays on my train.

But holy shit that crowd coming into Smithsonian around 6pm! Like a sardine can! They didn't even bother with fares. All the fare gates were locked open and a mix of MTPD & station agents (like 4-6 at least) directing the crowd (and probably trying to avoid a crowd crush)

I didn’t realize NJT used to run all the way to 30th street! That sucks that they don’t run that anymore. And yeah I feel you. I remember reading about NJT getting all sorts of praise in the mid 2000s as one of the best regional rail systems in the country. By like 2010 or 2012 at the latest all the coverage had switched to “NJT is a dumpster fire. Read about how it’s been run into the ground in only half a decade!”

You don’t need to ride septa to Trenton to wait for Amtrak. Amtrak stops at 30th street on its way to NY. (Unless you’re talking about taking NJ Transit from Trenton to NYC?)

Oh man that Bradlees was always busy in Clark. And the Target is always crazy busy now! Even after they took over the other half of the building (which I think was Marshalls before they moved across the parking lot?) they're always busy when I am there (though these days since I moved I'm only there like once a year).

In the town where I grew up the old Bradlees is now a Target

> Like ConRail 2.0 or on a more permanent basis?

I guess? I'll be honest, I don't really care if the solution is nationalization or simply just better anti-trust/competition regulations and better labor protections (with actual enforcement). Because right now both all of us in American society and the railroad workers are getting fucked. Especially the railroad workers.

As you said, no way could it be worse than what the railroads have turned into.

> The main sticking point among rank-and-file union members comes down to a points-based attendance system, which penalizes them for taking personal and sick time, according to The Washington Post. Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway company already has a notorious policy within the industry, penalizing workers for taking time off for family emergencies, illness, and fatigue, according to FreightWaves.

Wow it's almost like corporate greed is to blame for this mess. That can't possibly be right! /s

I need to take a moment to reiterate what the article said, because it's truly outrageous. The railroads penalize workers for taking time off for family emergencies, illness, and fatigue. What is the point of PTO, sick leave, and family leave if you get punished for using it!? How unsafe are the railroads willing to make us all by forcing workers to work while fatigued!?

The private freight railroads want to have their cake and eat it too. They have spent years slimming down their workforce and abusing those who remain in the name of cost cutting (pay freezes, unpredictable schedules, penalizing those who use sick time or PTO!). They have reduced service, skimped on maintenance, and forgone capital improvements under the guise of "efficiency". All this while they have simultaneously raised prices and raked in record profits, especially during a global pandemic.

Where do all those profits go? Definitely to raises, hiring more workers, capital & service improvements, or a less brittle supply chain, right? Nope. The profits were used for stock buybacks. In the first 6 months of 2022 the big four railroads (Union Pacific, CSX, Canadian National Railway, and Norfolk Southern) doled out more than $10 billion in stock buybacks!

The railroads want to keep privatizing all the profits of being critical infrastructure while shouldering zero responsibility for doing anything to ensure it keeps operating. If the railroads don't want to put some of that $10 billion in profits towards hiring and benefits rather than buybacks, then I say fuck them and Congress should nationalize them.

Fucking ridiculous how we as a country are held hostage by modern day robber barons and the headlines are all about how "if the workers strike it'll be bad for the economy." How about "if the railroads keep cutting workforces and abusing people for profit, we all suffer" instead