Funding Discussion - Amtrak DC Politics RELATED TO RAIL!

I think one cab make a business case to get ADA improvements finished, get the locomotives & cars ordered out of the factory & on the rails. Get the Heritage diners replaced, watch operating costs from the old fleet drop. New Amtrak president should know how to run a more efficient railroad. If trains are ready to go on time, maybe the OTP can improve some too. No big cuts, no big increase either.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:But wait volks; the Micascope will simply be relocating from First & Capitol to K Street. It could well end up being at work for NARP - if the price was right!!!!

The Trump has proposed a 5 year noncompete for congressional and other officials to work for lobbyists.

a five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials on becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.

Obama passed a $1 Trillion stimulus plan when he took office known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Although there was much talk about "shovel-ready jobs", only $150 billion was actually designated for infrastructure. Trump also wants a $1 trillion stimulus plan, but he wants to make it all about infrastructure. So even if rail has a much smaller piece of the pie, the whole pie could be six times larger.

I don't normally plug lobbyists, but the next 170 days for NARP are going to be critically important. If you are not a member, please consider it now.

Two key appointments to the Trump transition team give us clues.

Congressman Devin Nunes, CA, voted in 2011 to reduce funding for Amtrak and after supporting high speed rail in 2007, introduced legislation to allow Caifornia high speed rail money to be reallocated to state route 99 in 2011.

Congressman Lou Barletta, PA joined Mica in criticizing Amtrak's losses on food service but voted against reducing funding for Amtrak in 2011. He has voted to reauthorize Amtrak funding.

Maybe he will open his eyes? He seems like while he is known for complaining about the cost of a can of soda on Amtrak, he might have an idea to fix the problem.....

I think every politician has some small "meaningless annoyance" they look for as a indicator of "wasteful spending"; Mica's is apparently when soda costs $3.40....now like you said, it sounds like he would have a field day when he hears about CAF not delivering product!

It's been reported that the Trump transition team is considering Mica to be the
next secretary of transportation. If that happens what will happen to food
service on all Amtrak trains?

Not only food service. What will happen to Amtrak, period.

Here is a link to an article in the Sun-Sentinel this AM regarding folks from Florida being involved. Mica's name was not listed here and I hope he never gets any appointment that involves rail travel.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politi ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Noel Weaver

Some articles about Donald Trump and his attitudes towards passenger rail/mass transit:

http://time.com/4247162/donald-trump-tr ... structure/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://fortune.com/2016/11/12/trump-tra ... riorities/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


It appears that Trump is not only unopposed to mass transit and passenger rail he's into it. He has said before "why does China have 300mph trains and we don't?" among other things, in addition to what he wrote in his book Crippling America.


So it might not be Donald Trump standing in the way of improved passenger rail service, but certain Republicans in the Senate and House who don't agree with him on that. Don't forget Trump is a New Yorker and must know as much as anyone else who's been there long enough how critical railways are in NY and the Northeast. Also if he wants to win re-election in 2020 it wouldn't hurt for him to approve much needed bridge, tunnel, highway, and rail projects in "blue" states such as NY, CT, MA, etc. A surprising number of Democrats actually voted for him in the election this time. If he wants their (and others') vote next time he'll need to step up his game if the DNC nominates a true force-to-be-reckoned-with candidate.


Thankfully in this situation Trump and the incoming House and Senate both are in agreement on other MAJOR issues (Supreme Court nominees, health care, law enforcement, etc.) so they might be willing to "budge" on this one. As for Mica he's all for a truly high speed NEC and -as GBN noted- secured funding for SunRail. His issue with food service losses (which are legitimate) nonwithstanding I don't see his appointment as Transportation Secretary as an automatic nail in the coffin though I too would prefer to see a more pro-rail appointee.


Just as long as they don't try to privatize Amtrak the way the U.K. did with British Rail... Even Margaret Thatcher warned John Major not to do it. Perhaps the Iowa Pacific/Amtrak/Indiana partnership for the Hoosier State could be the business model to look at for certain corridors outside the NEC.

NH2060 wrote:Don't forget Trump is a New Yorker and must know as much as anyone else who's been there long enough how critical railways are in NY and the Northeast. Also if he wants to win re-election in 2020 it wouldn't hurt for him to approve much needed bridge, tunnel, highway, and rail projects in "blue" states such as NY, CT, MA, etc.

That was one of the first things that jumped to my mind, too. Gateway, for one, probably just jumped to the absolute top of the queue, especially with Chuck Schumer taking up the Senate Minority Leader's job at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Wouldn't be too surprised to see some Fed $$ going toward the Empire Corridor, either, especially since Trump carried 45 of the 53 counties north of Westchester.