An interesting read: The NY Times Magazine has a lengthy story on the challenges facing high speed rail in California, and in the U.S. more generally.

The author covers a good number — if not all — of the difficulties in constructing hundreds — or thousands — of miles of dedicated high-speed rail lines. From the political and economic challenge of securing land, to the engineering challenges of building a track that has no traffic crossings.

A German friend once remarked to me that one of the first things he noticed when visiting the US was that the trains actually blew their whistles. The sound of a train whistle was foreign to him. I, on the other hand, grew up listening to the sound of train whistles every morning and evening, as it came into our town, crossing multiple streets that otherwise carried automotive traffic. What was natural to me — cars, pedestrians, and trains on the same surface — was a quaint relic of yesteryear to my friend.

The US passenger rail system isn’t even a 19th century system, despite more modern locomotives. It’s a slow-moving, delay-prone embarrassment.

In any case, high speed rail, while facing an uphill climb, is finally looking up in the U.S. The Obama administration is planning $13 billion in infrastructure investments for rail, and regional authorities are making plans to connect their cities.

High speed rail works wonderfully on short- to intermediate-distance regional routes; shortly after it opened, the Madrid-Barcelona AVE train grabbed 50% of the passengers from the airlines on the route. If the routes are planned right and the speed is right, expect a similar impact on air travel in the Northeast corridor, California, Texas, the upper Midwest, and possibly the Carolinas/Georgia. High speed rail won’t replace trans-continental flying, but it can affect a lot of the high-frequency shorter hops.

But don’t expect the airlines to remain complacent. Expect lobbying, advertising, and side-deals from the airlines to try to quash high-speed rail. Maybe not quite at the level of GM’s quashing of streetcar systems — the airlines don’t have that kind of money or clout right now — but keep your eyes open. You know the airlines are watching.

(image 1, image 2)

Last week, I was trying to book tickets for travel between Barcelona and Madrid on the relatively-new AVE high-speed rail line. I soon realized that the price quoted on the website of RENFE, Spain’s national railway, depended on the language in which you chose to conduct your searches.

When I searched the site earlier that day from my office, I searched in Spanish. A one-way ticket from Barcelona to Madrid could be had for around 44 euros on a “tarifa Web,” their Internet special fare with 30 day advance purchase.

When I was at home, ready to finalize my purchase, I opted to search with the site language set to English. The price was nearly 110 euros.

(On the positive side, RENFE’s full-fare ticket is still less than the $253 per person that Rail Europe is charging… Where on earth is that fare coming from?…)

A little digging revealed that the Spanish-language RENFE site offered three tiers of ticket, including the deep-discounted 15-day advance purchase “Tarifa Web” and the discounted 7-day advance purchase “Tarifa Estrella.” (Terms of which are described here.)

The English-language site only offered the full-price fare, with an indication of how much that fare would cost if you bought it in the station vs. on the web. Web and Estrella fares were missing.

My one year of high school Spanish, limited travel experience in the Spanish-speaking world, and Google Translate were enough to figure out what I was buying on the Spanish-language site. And I was able to get the lower fare, using a US billing address and an American Visa card, with two tickets costing less than one ticket on the English site. But why is this necessary?

A quick search shows that other English-speakers have had similar experiences, and that some users have been unable to complete a purchase at all.

The bothersome part is that RENFE has actively constructed a site that looks and acts differently for different users, based solely on their language. It’s not based on your IP address, or your billing address. It affects Americans, Britons, and anyone who opts for English in the same way.

I just did another search, for different dates, and it’s not just a fluke. It’s systematic. Here’s a screenshot of Spanish-language search results (note that fares in the search images below are different from what I booked):

And here’s the same search, on the English site:

A very different look on the English site. And no discounts.

(The two-price system reminds me of a trip through eastern Europe in 1992. At the Vilnius train station, where I was trying to buy a ticket to Warsaw, the rail station cashiers had a simple standard for outsiders: The fare was 200. 200 rubles, dollars, Deutschmarks, whatever. Your nationality determined your currency. It always cost 200.)

Segmenting your customers, and pitching different products to them accordingly, is one thing. Discriminating against them wholesale is quite another.

——

UPDATE 1:
An unnamed RENFE representative writes in:

Subject: Renfe website doesn’t charge double
The information found in the Upgrade Travel Better blog, stating that the price for tickets purchased in the English language option on Renfe’s website is much more expensive than in the Spanish version, is incorrect. The prices referred to in the above-mentioned information relate exclusively to the Timetables Search section; legally, Renfe is obliged to publish the prices to which the various discounts are applied. However, when tickets are actually acquired (by pressing the shopping trolley icon) the purchaser is taken directly to the ticket purchase application, which shows all special offer prices, identically in all languages. The area designed for purchasing tickets also has an English version.

As I indicated in my comment last night, it is indeed possible to find the discounted web fares. But this misses the point: The initial English quoted price is still double the initial Spanish quoted price. Why would anyone who searches in English assume that the price would go down from there? There’s no indication on the initial English search page that web or estrella fares even exist.

Renfe’s English site is the equivalent of going to a supermarket and seeing a pack of gum labeled for sale for $5. If you see the $5 price, you’ll probably just leave it there. Or, you could ask the cashier about the price, and when he doesn’t know why it’s so expensive, he could call over the manager, who would politely explain that you could buy the pack of gum for $1. So, yes, after much time and negotiation, the gum actually costs $1, but why would you go through that trouble?

Renfe’s response shows that they’re content to sell their services with mislabeled prices. Why is this an acceptable business practice, exactly?

UPDATE 2:
The folks from Renfe just won’t give up on denying that their site misrepresents their prices! But they admit their site needs work, and they indicate that a relaunch of the site is coming. If the response to this post is any indicator, that relaunch can’t come soon enough.

This post is already incredibly long, so I share their latest e-mail to me, and my response to it, after the jump. (more…)

Oil hit $120 a barrel today, and the financial pundit class is talking about $200 oil. To quote the wisdom of Mr. T: “My prediction… is pain.”

High oil prices and travel generally don’t mix. But is there any segment that stands to benefit?

Apparently so. Trains!

As the price of fuel skyrockets, more people are traveling to North Carolina’s major cities by train. Ridership on Amtrak is up as much as 40 percent on some routes compared to last year.

40%? Pretty substantial. Perhaps enough to offset the higher cost of diesel.

But how widespread is this as a trend? It’s more likely a phenomenon on shorter, regional routes that would otherwise have been driven. Except for a few diehards, and some gluttons for punishment, most aren’t choosing to take Amtrak from California to Chicago.

Trains becoming more a part of your travelin’ life? Hit the comments.

(image)

Downgraded: Amtrak’s Guest Rewards program
Six weeks ago, I sang the praises of Amtrak’s loyalty program, for the ability to transfer miles between programs with no loss in value. I take it all back. Every last word. As Gary Leff reports, Amtrak has, without warning, changed the terms of their transfers out of the program. Again. This isn’t the first time they’ve changed rules on the fly, without notifying their customers. Bottom line: Amtrak’s program just sucks, sucks, sucks. The managers of the program must take some sadistic pleasure in playing three-card monty with their customers. Ooh, what are the program rules today? How about now? How about now?

Downgraded: Amtrak’s planning and foresight
Amtrak doesn’t just screw with their customers on the loyalty program side of the business. They do it to passengers too. Like running out of fuel between San Diego and Santa Barbara. They required a push from a freight train to reach their destination. Granted, Amtrak has historically been given minimal resources to make it work, but filling the tank seems like a basic calculation.

Downgraded: American Airlines’ new business class
I haven’t flown it, but I was skeptical when I saw the photos. Now AA-loyalist Will Allen writes his review of the new AA business class “lie flat” (but not horizontal) seats, and it’s not glowing.

Downgraded: Arbor Day
Las Vegas man found guilty of secretly cutting down 500 trees because they blocked his view of the Strip. Noted without comment.

Upgraded: Blogger junkets
The Cranky Flier got to fly on the Airbus A380 as it flew around LA airspace. Fun! His detailed report is here. Sweet. Not to be outdone, I hereby challenge Richard Branson to send this blogger to space on Virgin Galactic. Use the contact form, Richard. Top right of the sidebar.

A bizarre little video snippet from the heart of YouTube: A train cruises through the center of a Bangkok street market. The last few seconds are surreal.

Gives new meaning to drive-through…

New York passes passenger bill of rights
It’s official: New York governor Eliot Spitzer signed a passengers’ bill of rights, which kicks in January 1 for flights grounded for three or more hours at New York airports. Note that the law won’t require airlines to allow people off the planes after three hours. Rather, it will require that the airline keep the toilets clean and the beverages flowing — thereby creating a roundabout requirement for airlines to link back up to the terminal. Lawsuits will fly. Pass the popcorn.

But the fact that this is a local law, and not a federal one, is absurd. Will we now need a separate contract of carriage for every possible way station on our trips? I’m all for states taking the initiative when the federal government won’t act (think California emissions), but laws like this one or the Chicago bill just indicate how broken the system is, from top to bottom. Those “customer service plans” that the airlines have offered up as a self-regulation alternative haven’t done the job, and Congress hasn’t acted quickly enough to address the systemic problems — air traffic control as well as passenger rights. We’ll see if this lights a fire under the collective asses of our legislative branch.

How to make Amtrak fun again: Free booze!
Drunken passengers are happy passengers. So says Amtrak, which is offering $100 in free drink vouchers for long-haul sleeper car trips. Sponsored in part by “Night Train”?

Virgin America debuts tomorrow
Tomorrow is Virgin America’s first flight. Anyone out there flying them on day one? (or heck, week one?) Hit the comments and tell the tale!

Following up on yesterday’s French rail speed record, reader Randy offers this challenge:

That’s a fast train, but is it too fast to surf it?

Huh? That’s right: trainsurfing. Extreme transportation!

Check out this video of a kid who rides caboose on an ICE high-speed train in Germany. He actually rides on the sloped back of the train as it speeds along. (Cheesy soundtrack, but quite a video.)

Madness!

(Thanks to reader Randy!)

The SNCF, France’s national rail company, set the record for the fastest steel-wheel train (i.e., not magnetic-levitation train) in the world, with a high speed of 574.8 kilometers per hour (357 mph). Quite a way to break in the new Paris-Strasbourg line!

Watching this, I’m struck by the excitement of the French announcers as they give the play-by-play of a train zipping through the countryside.

I’m also impressed by the closeup of the train’s wheels on the rails. So smooth and straight. Then I think of poor, pathetic, underfunded, unloved Amtrak. Or worse, the Chicago Transit Authority’s blue line, as it chugs along to O’Hare, shaking back and forth on its rickety tracks. Sigh. American rail is hardly a source of national pride.

It would be great to have a rail alternative for short- to medium-length flights. With speeds like the new TGV, rail service would be a viable alternative between American cities, but, regrettably, I just don’t see it ever happening here.

Click to view the video. (en francais) They hit the record speed in the last minute of the tape or so.

Thought you could avoid TSA security checks by riding the rails? Think again.

The TSA has started searching random passengers at Buffalo, New York train stations, wanding people for explosives. If you refuse, you’re banned from the station, and from traveling on Amtrak.

Searches aren’t random, but “risk-based.” For now, it’s only an experiment through the end of November, but other rail stations across the country should expect similar spot-checks over the coming months. How long before the first incident of ethnic profiling?

To channel Mr. T: My prediction… is pain.

(via USA Today)