Frustration grows as Americans fill trains

By Jason Szep

BOSTON (Reuters) - Looking up at a list of delayed trains at Boston's crowded South Station on a summer afternoon, Peter Pesis asks why passenger trains in the United States are so slow, so crowded and so prone to delays.

"This is not like Europe," sighed the 38-year-old Greek native who has lived in New York 15 years and often rides the nation's only high-speed train, Amtrak's Acela Express, between midtown Manhattan and Boston.

Rising costs of traveling by air and car, brought on by record oil prices, drew a record 2.8 million people onto America's cash-strapped passenger railway network in July, the largest of any single month in Amtrak's 37-year history and up nearly 14 percent from a year earlier.

But as passenger numbers grow, so too are complaints of overcrowding and delays.

Like many Acela travelers, Pesis grumbles at why the train is limited to reaching its top speed of 150 miles per hour (240 kmh) for just 20 miles on two sections of track in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Compare that to France, which has the world's fastest high-speed train, the TGV, that runs for long stretches at speeds as high as 200 miles an hour (322 kmh). And Japan, which boasts its 186 mph (299 kmh) "Shinkansen" trains.

The Acela barely beats a car, averaging just 82 mph (129 kmh) on its 456 mile Northeast Corridor, which connects Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, slowed by 19th-century tunnels and other aging infrastructure. High-speed rail is usually defined as faster than 120 mph (200 kmh).

"They need to improve the speed," said Pesis, echoing a popular gripe. "It's very slow."

The bigger crowds are also a challenge for Amtrak. Maurice Levene, a 67-year-old health-care consultant who lives in New York and runs a business in Boston, says securing a seat is harder.

"I'm looking for the track so I can get a seat because I like to sit on the outside," he said as he made his way through Boston's South Station. "When I travel with my wife, it's really a pain getting two seats together."

Further south in Hartford, Connecticut, Linda Sarangoulis waited for her 3:20 p.m. train to Philadelphia.

"The ticket counter said it was going to be 20 minutes late," said Sarangoulis of Reading, Pennsylvania. "In Europe, you can hop the train so much easier and it's cheaper. I don't know why we can't do that here. If they had more trains, maybe I would ride more," she said.

POPULAR DESPITE DELAYS

Passenger rail systems in Britain, France and Germany account for about 6 to 8 percent of total annual passenger travel miles. Amtrak carries less than 1 percent. Japan, with the world's busiest high-speed rail network, carries 18 percent.

But that's changing. Rising gas prices are straining America's love of the open road. An estimated 1.1 percent fewer people will travel by car over the Labor Day holiday, which begins on August 29, the American Automobile Association estimates.