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DOT awards 75.8 million for Virginia capacity improvements
Socialists picking winners and losers again. The welfare recipients on the east coast get subsidized while the taxpayers without any railroads get to pay for it. Let the state and local governments pay for passenger service and let CSX pay for its own freight improvements, if any. I noticed a trend here. It used to be freight railroads wanted nothing to do with subsidies. And wisely so. You watch. In the future, big government will use subsidies to keep freight railroads in check and do what the socialists want. At that point, the freight railroads will start to operate like in Europe. Useless for competing against trucks. Pre-Staggers era all over again.
Charlotte to Atlanta, and on to Jacksonville would be cool.
Actually the R.F.&P sub sees 20 amtraks per day, 10 each way.
Extending the NE Corridor Washington - Lynchburg to Chattanooga would be nice as well.
I wonder if any of these 8 trains will be though runs from the Northeast Corridor. Extending conventional NEC trains to provide the 8 trains a day would make the most sense. With Amtrak getting new Viewliner cars, an overnight run over both corridors would be good.
Jeff: Shippers are trying to save money on the costs of moving goods, as well as reducing theft and pilferige. I just left another job in the trucking industry because greed is ruining the industry. Freight brokers, load planners, and dispatchers are not being truthful about when they want their freight picked up and delivered, aggravated by rich egomaniacss who want to dictate the cost of everything and squeezing every dollar out of everybody they can for their own selfish benefit. The industry is shooting themselves in the foot lobbying for the extended sizes and increased weights of trailers, which will make roads and bridges wear out quicker. Many truckers are using I-81 instead of I-95 to avoid tolls. Discounts for EZ pass only exasberate the costs of maintaining the road further. Toll rates need to be higher, not lower ,during the rush hours and on busy holiday weekends. If not, there’s a better chance hell will freeze over unless another funding mechanism is found besides cutting funding from other projects to keep the toll roads open. Now if Virginia and North Carolina can get together to reactivate the former SAL route across the state line, it would be to benefit both Amtrak and CSX.
As an operations guy, I watched with dismay as the railroads reduced capacity through the '80’s and '90’s. Now as a taxpayer, I watch with dismay as the industry wants tax money to restore that same capacity.
With Virginia being in play for the election, the timing of the announcement is suspicious. If we had less partisan rhetoric and actions in Congress and less questionable actions by the political leaders, I may not see the announcement in such a manner.
Back when I moved to Northern VA in 1968 and for many years the old RF&P was triple track into Prince William county and the third (middle) track was pulled up. Of course there was no commuter service until the past 15 years I guess.