Lost opportunity

Who's to blame? I note the latest information regarding Hurricane Katrina and another mis-step by the New Orleans local authorities was their missing the offer by Amtrak to use the trains to evacuate residents. There were many missed opportunities to help those who had no other way to leave town and perhaps this is just another example of--I'll be kind and say 'overlooking' when I'm thinking 'ignoring' the role trains can play in disastrous circumstances.

How many people recall--or know of--the value of rail transportation during WWII? Troops were transported across the country, from one coast to the other, by rail. Are we so confident that the only way to do this nowadays is by air? We are constantly reminded of the threats by terrorists to air travel; might it not make a difference as to how we would always move the troops?

It's conceivable that more people will come to recognize the importance of keeping transcontinental lines alive as the administration nags at us to be more aware when we travel. I, for one, think the security measures at airports are wasteful, time-consuming, and will do little or nothing to deter a terrorist from carrying out whatever desperate measures he/she wants to inflict on the American people.

Hurricane Katrina wipes out rails

There's no doubt that when Katrina blew into the Gulf and onto the shores of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana it did as much damage as the tsunami in the far east. Towns were wiped out, homes and businesses disappeared, several hundred people lost their lives and those who survived may never recover their lives as they once knew them. Considering how much of the rail track runs so close to the shore and at water level across marshes it's no surprise that most of it is gone. The Florida to New Orleans run of the Sunset Ltd may never return considering how this particular line of the Amtrak system has been so disliked by the government.

To make matters worse a Republican Study Commission reviewed the budget and came up with a spending cut plan to help offset the billions which will be needed to rebuild what the hurricane destroyed. Not the least of these cuts, which cut back by millions every program in the budget, were those affecting transportation. Although the federal subsidy for Amtrak took a big hit, at least the highway 'earmarks' were cut back more proportionately. As usual short-sightedness reigns supreme and the administration and Congress can't see beyond their noses when it comes to passenger rail.

Of course, the freight lines will put some of their profits which runs into the billions into replacing what they need to enable the 'goods trains' to continue to transport cars, grain, coal, whatever is carried in containers from one coast to the other or from one border to the other.