Thoughts on this data released from the new Transportation Sec…(Wife of Majority Leader). If cuts are put in place…about all that remains would be the NEC. And we all know much update is critical with that system…This is absolutely no surprise to me when first learning she was appointed…!
Thoughts from forum members please…
A chronic liar was elected President.
Nah - I better not…
It is about time! As JJ Hill is reported to have said about passenger trains, when they were actually important, a time long gone. “Passenger trains are like teats on a boar, neither useful nor decorative.”
It is time to kill the bleeding sore that is ATK outside the NEC. Hope Congress has the guts to do it!
There are enough Congressmen and Senators with Amtrak somewhere in their district or state that I suspect Amtrak is safe. It is something we’ve made a considerable investment in, which investment pales in comparison to money spent on Interstate highways and airports. So I’m casting a pro-Amtrak vote here. It’s an alternative a nation with a growing population should have.
As everyone who cares about the future should. Unfortunately there are a lot of folks like PNWRMNM.
Gotta save money to pay for the border wall.
“Yes…gotta save money to pay for the border wall”…
If budget for Amtrak is cut as I have written…that will be the end of our rail passenger transportation system as we know it…Amtrak can never be improved if it continues to be cut to shreds by Republican leaders…Like is being requested in upcoming budget request. Whom could plan ahead for improvements when under the cutting threat each…budgit season. Republican leadership has put Amtrak Leaders under this threat for decades…Now…with their control of Congress & the W H they most likely will finally get it
Republicans had control of WH & Congress in the middle of Pres. George W. Bush’s term, and Amtrak was not abolished. What makes this time diffrent?
The control of Congress, w/the strong arm of the Freedom Caucus, coupled w/an adminstration that has proposed a huge reduction for psgr rail will likely lead to major mileage cuts to the Amtrak map.I’m not basically for it, but I get it. As a citizen I would be willing to give up Amtrak in return to make our country better. Its not about me, me me but what is the best direction our nation needs to go in regard to transportation. People do have to keep in mind that Amtrak is not going away regardless of what the forthcoming cuts will bring when that time comes. Service will remain on several regional high rider corridors which could be expanded. This is not the end of the world. It’s change, but nothing to be doom & gloom of. As a nation, we are faced w/bigger issues compared to this
In the words of Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), “I’m shocked! SHOCKED!”
Yes, and Manhattan security for his family, and trips to Mira Lago, and Jared Kushner’s nifty new bullet proof vest. Did you see the pictures today? He makes Michael Dukakis in the tank look like Rambo!
Sorry, but I can’t take this disgusting circus seriously.
Tom
A few points seem to become evident:
The long distance cutbacks are phrased so as to free up Amtrak’s resources and time to focus on the NEC and state supported regional services. If this was an all out war on Amtrak, They would seek to jettison the whole thing.
Essential air service subsidies will also get the ax. Combined with the privatization of air traffic control, which may result in higher fees for the airlines, will this hasten the loss of air service to smaller cities and higher cost for a plane ticket? Is there an opportunity for Amtrak to take advantage of here? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Amtrak…The first that this Administration wants to gut. Believe he ran on rebuilding our infrastructure…Sounds like rip it up and spend it…who knows where. If that is what he wanted to do while running for election he should have said so. You bet, it spells the demise of Amtrak long term if they get their way.
The mess at NYPS this week ““MAY”” help the NEC but we cannot count on it ?
The problem here is that what he’s proposing isn’t going against his campaign promises…he talked about spending big on INFRASTRUCTURE, well, ATK in of itself is not infrastructure, the railroads it runs on are infrastructure…but, where the problem comes from is that he’s cutting items that amount to fractions of a percent of the Federal budget, which is a complete waste when what you want to cut are programs that are at least in the 10’s of billions or more around 2 - 5% of the Federal budget in order to make a difference. Things like the farm subsidy, or foreign countries subsidies…now cutting those programs would make a significant difference in our budget deficit, but small time stuff like funding ATK, PP, NPR, NEA, NOAA, etc. are worthless…besides the number of jobs you’d be losing.
Great. Let’s spend a bunch of money on infrastructure, then have no trains to run on it. Makes perfect sense to me.
Tom
Tom
Hunter is working on that part…
Watch this to explain what so many of us know. And please note. Amtrack is not the only infrastructure out there, and may not be the most important.
Interesting. Would love to see a parallel production about airline travel… Or better yet, a side-by-side comparison in one video.
I watched that till the narrator said 1.7 gallons per mile for the airliner. At that point I knew the rest of the video would be BS.