Amtrak overseas?

Thanks to a Google search more news about Amtrak, this time from the Railway Gazette International (UK). It's a report about Amtrak's President and CEO Alexander Kummant requesting $4.67 billion in subsidy for next year (2009). Surely that's a small amount to help Amtrak pursue improvements, both for operating support and capital projects. It would be nicer if somebody woke up and realized we could--and should--do more to make national passenger rail more attractive to the traveling public.

Spreading the news

Google's a great aid in gathering information about what's being said about Amtrak around the country. The Detroit Free Press on April 16 thinks a "new plan for transportation" would be a good idea although it will require "vision and courage". Well, that last bit is going to be hard to find. I found one reporter who said he'd sent all the present presidential candidates a questionnaire about public transportation and none of them responded. Surprise? Not here. Some things are so far down their list of topics to raise for discussion it doesn't bear thinking about.

On April 18-19 the Iowa City Press-Citizen and WQAD of Iowa City say a study on regional railroading supports "restoring passenger service in the Quad cities". It was more than 30 years ago that the area lost the Rock Island Line but now they believe they can get nearly two hundred thousand riders. And that's just between Iowa City and Chicago!

And that's two mid-western areas only.

As gasoline prices continue their upward curve more and more people are going to seek public transportation. Now we need the government get out of the road-building and airline support businesses and give serious thought to Amtrak!!!!!

Encouraging?

Recent news reports about the problems most airlines are having (cancellations, lost or delayed luggage) encourage those of us who have high hopes for Amtrak and the American rail system in general. A recent column in the Detroit Free Press makes a good point about the lack of a national transportation policy. The current administration has been anti-Amtrak from the beginning, trying constantly to break it up into state-funded pieces. More and more people are coming to appreciate the varied pleasures of riding a train: going from city center to city center, being able to get some business done comfortably, perhaps even getting a decent meal (or food, at any rate).

Yes, problems continue to plague Amtrak. Full funding is still fought by the current administration, relatively nothing allowed in the present budget. But maybe things will change. They will change if the public has to face higher gas prices and increasing problems with the airlines.