25-30yrs. ago an economic advisor to then Pres. Nixon stated before Congress that RR’s were dinosaurs. has anyone seen David Stockman lately? and does anyone think the calibre of “advisers” in Washington has improved, concerning RR’s or any other matter?? Thx
It’s mixed, you have some very pro railroad people and some who are trying their best to hurt the industry. Some pro-rail people in Washington lately, have been Tommy Thompson, Kay Bailey Hutchinson Tx, Charles Schumer N.Y., *** Durbin Ill.,Toreceli N.J. The strongest opponents, John Mc Cain AZ, *** Armey TX, Richard Shelby Al.
Citizens who are interested in a healthy railroad industry should really follow what the Congress and Senate are up to. It is also a good idea to follow up on what your state department of transportion policies are, some states have great Railroad support programs, North Carolina, Penn. Vermont, Michigan, others totally ignore railroads for pro-highway projects. The trend lately has been towards developing railroad infrastucture, but their is still a long way to go. The highway, aviation and trucking lobbyies are very powerful and have no desire to share the tranportation pie. It doens’t hurt to get involved with theNational Association of Railroad Passengers or to check out the Association of American Railroads to find out what legislative battles are going on.
James
David Stockman is Manager Director of Blackstone Partners, a Wall Street “mergers & acquisitions” group, according to a check on “Google”. You don’t hear about him, he is just quietly getting very wealthy.
James - with respect to passenger rail New York and California are tops. Pennsylvania may be OK in the East, but west of Harrisburg, the state provides mimimal support for passenger trains. Intercity bus service is also poor.