If passed (unlikely) good bye long distance trains.
Now who would thought that Trump would eliminate ld trains, comes at such s surprise. Lol
For Amtrak, the budget would restructure and reduce federal subsidies to the national intercity passenger railroad to focus on services within regions. It eliminates federal support for long-distance Amtrak services, “which long have been inefficient and incur the vast majority of Amtrak’s operating losses,” according to the document.
“This would allow Amtrak to focus on better managing its state-supported and Northeast Corridor train services,” it states.
The President’s FY18 Transportation Department budget eliminates funding for Amtrak’s long distance trains. In doing so it emphasizes using the nation’s limited resources on those parts of the passenger rail system that provide meaningful transportation options within regions.
The budget also eliminates the Essential Air Service Program, which it notes was implemented more than 40 years ago as a temporary measure. Other changes include privatization of air traffic control, limits on funding for Federal Transit Administration Capital Investment Programs, and elimination of the unauthorized TIGER discretionary grant program.
Excerpt from A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people today, and into the future. The Budget request reflects a streamlined DOT that is focused on performing vital Federal safety oversight functions and investing in nationally and regionally significant transportation infrastructure projects. The Budget reduces or eliminates programs that are either inefficient, duplicative of other Federal efforts, or that involve activities that are better delivered by States, localities, or the private sector.
The President’s 2018 Budget requests $16.2 billion for DOT’s discretionary budget, a $2.4 billion or 13 percent decrease from the 2017 annualized CR level.
The President’s 2018 Budget:
Initiates a multi-year reauthorization proposal to shift the air traffic control function of the Federal Aviation Administration to an independent, non-
If it passes I will be okay with that.
What did the railroads do when steam became inefficient? That’s right, they killed off steam.
Why do we insist on sustaining a money losing system that has a ton of viable alternatives that don’t cost the nation money? (Bus, personal automobile, ride sharing, airlines, etc…)
If this part of the budget passes, it will make it impossible for people who cannot fly because of health problems to travel long distances when they have no other way. And, it will make it impossible for people who, for other reasons, do not fly to travel long distances.
Respectfully, you are asking the nation to shoulder a very large portion of the bill for a very small part of the population. That money could be better spent to serve them. And a bus is just a viable an alternative. A bus might not be as comfortable, but it will get you there, and likely for less money.
I have a brother-in-law that is required every day to ride the MARC, Amtrak, and Metro to get to work in Washington DC. Do you know what MARC and Amtraks arrival “on time” record was last year? 2 out of 200 working days. He keeps a public blog documenting the failures on a daily basis. One time the conductor stepped on a live voltage cable between two cars and put him out. That’s how bad things are. And you know why a lot of these cars are in such bad shape and why the trains arrive late?
- Union contracts that incentivize employees NOT to arrive on time.
- Money being diverted on maintenance to pay for money losing operations
- Not having private road lines and CSX not giving a darn if they get proper rail priority or not.
The system is broken. But at least we can fix #2 where it’s needed.
I am fine with the budget in this area as submitted. All the long-distance trains save perhaps Auto-Train are a waste of money as they are currently run. One thing not mentioned in the proposal is that terminating the LD trains will generate a large Multi-Billion dollar labor protection agreement that most Amtrak employees fall under since the start of the Corporation in 1971. Pretty sure President Trump is unaware of that issue as have been past Presidents. So labor protection clauses of cutting of LD trains will cost more than savings for at least 3-5 years into the future unless they find a way to transition Amtrak LD employees over to other areas.
Lets not kid ourselves however, the Budget will not be passed as proposed and President Trump stated that last night and said “this is the opening part of a negotiation”. In fact, I cannot think of a Budget by any President, since I have been breathing air that has been passed as proposed. Budget first goes to house where they present amendments and vote on it, then it moves to Senate where more amendments are voted on before it passes the Senate.
I agree with you. Those midwest representatives will fight tooth and nail to save those trains. They always have.
I am aware of the labor protection clauses, and there is a loop hole that doesn’t protect them. Corporate America loves to use it all the time when they scale back: “We have a job for you, but you have to move to BumDuck Nowhere. Otherwise you will be fired.” A lot of employees decide to quit instead of going through the hassle and cost of a move.
RE #3 - Bovine Excrement to the MAX! MARC & VRE get all possible priority on CSX. I KNOW because I gave it to them
[quote user=“BaltACD”]
DigitalGriffin
Deggesty
If this part of the budget passes, it will make it impossible for people who cannot fly because of health problems to travel long distances when they have o other way. And, it will make it impossible for people who, for other reasons, do not fly to travel long distances.
Respectfully, you are asking the nation to shoulder a very large portion of the bill for a very small part of the population. That money could be better spent to serve them. And a bus is just a viable an alternative. A bus might not be as comfortable, but it will get you there, and likely for less money.
I have a brother-in-law that is required every day to ride the MARC, Amtrak, and Metro to get to work in Washington DC. Do you know what MARC and Amtraks arrival “on time” record was last year? 2 out of 200 working days. He keeps a public blog documenting the failures on a daily basis. One time the conductor stepped on a live voltage cable between two cars and put him out. That’s how bad things are. And you know why a lot of these cars are in such bad shape and why the trains arrive late?
- Union contracts that incentivize employees NOT to arrive on time.
- Money being diverted on maintenance to pay for money losing operations
- Not having private road lines and CSX not giving a darn if they get proper rail priority or not.
The system is broken. But at least we can fix #2 where it’s needed.
I did not notice anything in this article regarding capital funding. Would it be a fair assumption that this would be taken up as part of the infrastructure plan of the President, or something else?
sorry not part of the infrastructure portion of his budget either.
WE need Amtrak in this country Both LD trains and Med trains. What Cutting the highway funding from 45 billion dollars to 40 bilion and giving that 5 Billion dollars to Amtrak?? or airlines 15 billiion dollars to say 10 billion and give that to Amtrak?? We need to think outside of box there.[2c]
And what is your reasoning that we need LD trains?
What part of the FAA $16 Billion budget isn’t paid by the nation?
Airline passengers cover just 70 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration’s budget. Aviation subsidies increase if you consider the costs of the Transportation Security Administration.
Respectfully your second statement is selfish. A very large portion of the nation pays taxes for services that they may never need. I rarely fly but I don’t complain about paying into the pool of money for the benefit others.
WE give the Highways 45 Billion a year and give Airlines 15 billion a year. We give poor old Amtrak little 1.3 billions dollars. and Now Mr. Trump wants to it 250 Million dollars. Countrys like Russia& China spends 10 to 30 Billions a year on they train system. We needs Amtrak in this Country USA.[2c]
Opinions about what is wasteful and what is a wise use of public funds are about as varied as the people who hold those opinions. A few observations:
Every time Trump takes one of those vacations for which he criticized Obama (and said he’d be too busy to take), the local Florida airport shuts down. This causes a great loss of local revenue for employers and employees, and serious inconvenience to travelers. Is this efficient?
Trump says the highways are in disrepair. The party that has controlled Congress (i.e., the purse strings) for several years has failed to do anything about it. Does Trump expect that Party to do a 180 and suddenly do what it has failed to do in the past? Get real.
The number of commercial intercity bus routes and frequency of service has steadily declined for over a generation, rendering that option less and less viable.
Many small towns have no other practical commercial connection to the outside world.
Minimum wage workers either can’t afford a car, or can’t afford a car that they can trust on a long trip. Is it fair for a government, whose professed purpose is to serve the people, to deny them the opportunity to travel?
Those of us who are older know that commercial air travel does not have to be the onerous experience it is today, but the steady trend is to make it even more inhospitable. The only ones who can escape it are the few who can afford their own planes. Since income disparity has steadily increased over the past several years and shows no sign of abating, air travel is becoming an unacceptable nightmare.
I won’t get into the discussion of Federal funds spent on highway and airport construction and maintenance, the costs of air traffic control and highway law enforcement, the loss of tax base and/or productive land when highways and airports are built, etc. because that’s been argued to death and nobody can agree.
My conclusion: If the role of Government in a free Society