Amtrak bill gains momentum

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

UTU web site

Amtrak bill gains momentum States are rallying behind an Amtrak bill co-sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg because for the first time it would provide millions of dollars to run more trains between cities within 400 miles of each other, the Gannett News Service reports.

Congress and the White House, which seldom see eye to eye over the future of the nation's passenger rail network, are in rare agreement that it makes sense to expand Amtrak service where demand is the greatest.

Congress and President Bush are proposing giving states grants starting next year to increase service on rail corridors linking about 50 major cities such as Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif.; Indianapolis and Cincinnati; Houston and New Orleans; and Chicago and Milwaukee.

The Northeast Corridor is the most heavily traveled route in Amtrak's system and the only one with high-speed Acela service. That's the type of service other states want.

Many urban corridors are setting ridership records because people want an alternative to driving on congested highways or flying out of crowded airports, advocates say.

Frank Busalacchi, chairman of the 29-member States for Passenger Rail Coalition, said federal lawmakers in the past expressed support for intercity passenger rail but failed to provide money to supplement the millions states already pay Amtrak to increase service between select cities in one state or those in adjoining states.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan1976]

It would be a really good thing if states did have rail corridors connecting major cities. I just hope this isn't going to be used as an excuse to kill the long distance trains. If anything, I see these smaller corridors as being a boon for the existing long distance train, as the potential to have the state sponsored corridors connect with the long distance trains would be beneficial to everyone. And would probably spur the need for added cars on certain routes. What I really don't want to see is the discontinuation of the long distance trains, leaving this country with fractured rail corridors that do not connect to each other....

 

[battalion51]

As long as these funds are in ADDITION to current funding I'm all for it (obviously). There's a couple of corridors I hope would receive funding, namely TPA-ORL, JAX-ORL-MIA, and ORL-ATL.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Reading that thing in the hindsight of the administration's history in this area, it makes me real suspicious that they are intending this to get everybody focused on these corridors while they kill the LDs on segments that don't meet the "major cities 400 or less miles apart" definition, and then after the grants are doled out to set up those corridors, they kill all federal funding and tell the states that since there isn't a national rail system any more, and there is only the corridors that were set up with those grants, it is now up to the states individually to provide operational funding from then on, and their goal of dismantling Amtrak as a national rail passenger system has been reached..

 

[frj1983]

Reading that thing in the hindsight of the administration's history in this area, it makes me real suspicious that they are intending this to get everybody focused on these corridors while they kill the LDs on segments that don't meet the "major cities 400 or less miles apart" definition, and then after the grants are doled out to set up those corridors, they kill all federal funding and tell the states that since there isn't a national rail system any more, and there is only the corridors that were set up with those grants, it is now up to the states individually to provide operational funding from then on, and their goal of dismantling Amtrak as a national rail passenger system has been reached..

Wow,

That really does sound suspicous AmtrakWPK. However, seeing that the current administration has less than 2 years left, and far too many larger fish to fry or problems to diffuse, I don't find myself as worried. I suppose that it is a possibility, but I think it would raise too much cain among the opposition(Democrats) and that would be the last thing they'd want to do right now!