Funding Discussion - Amtrak DC Politics RELATED TO RAIL!

I think you are either misunderstanding my point, or are comparing apples to oranges.
The NEC has the population density, the money, and the political pull to support high train frequency. I am not suggesting 3x a day service between Tombstone and Yuma. What I am suggesting is a train network that would not require a person making a 1,000 mile trip make an additional 800 mile detour. The fact that people actually do this supports my position.

If the Sunset Limited is losing $192 per passenger, it is not because people are not using it. The last time I rode this train it was at about 85% occupancy. If a train can run near-full and still lose money, it is not the public's fault.

I believe AMTRAK was set up to fail, as a political sop to retain votes. The system would operate a year or two, no one would use it (except for the NEC, which is a sort of sacred cow). Then lack of ridership would be the reason to do away with the whole thing. The pols could say "Look, we tried". The fact that the public actually used it, such as it was, must have come as a shock.

AMTRAK was supposed to be a national system. It does not end at Boston and DC. Does anyone think the NEC would be abandoned if AMTRAK had failed? The fix was in to exempt that part from the start. We have a national system with one central hub. If long distance trains are losers, why not make a nationwide network of medium distance trains connecting a collection of smaller hubs?

Les

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Well, look what "popped to the top" again; this time on its own merits.

And now the Economist weighs in.

Anticipating substantial delays on Monday, New Jersey Transit pre-emptively allowed them to use their train tickets on private buses and ferries instead. By this point, rail-service interruptions had become so predictable that New Jerseyites were probably happy to traverse the Hudson River by boat. Four of the five workdays last week brought long delays on the line, largely the product of electrical failures in the octogenarian overhead wires running through the centenarian train tunnel under the Hudson.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver ... l-corridor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Meanwhile,

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a $4 billion overhaul of the facility that's expected to be approved the first half of 2016.

"LaGuardia is slow. It's dated. It is a terrible front door entranceway," Cuomo said. "We are transforming LaGuardia into a globally-renowned, 21st century airport that is worthy of the city and state of New York."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/travel/la ... -overhaul/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LaGuardia was built in 1939. NY Penn is a little more dated than that.

Since Florida Congressman Mica lost his seat last night, and President Elect Trump (I am still in awe from his victory) said in his victory speech that he will rebuild the infrastructure in the United States to be "World Class", I wonder if Amtrak's future (funding-wise) will be much brighter?

It remains to be seen whether trump has any great interest in the specifics of any of the policy issues he's focused on, or whether he'll leave that up the Amtrak-unfriendlies in the House and senate.

I for one suspect that we'll get a lot of roads

The official Republican platform calls for ending federal funding for mass transit and intercity rail along with privatizing Amtrak:

http://www.bna.com/republican-platform- ... 014445035/

That said, he has apparently spoken admirably of other countries' HSR systems. I guess we'll see where the wild ride takes us.

The Donald is a product of New York; that means to "take the train" is part of his mindset.

While he proposed "HUUUGE" infrastructure projects during the campaign, he is up against the reality that much of his base is from "the wide open spaces", so is that base's Members of Congress. There could well be resistance - even within the Republican Party - to any kind of infrastructure within Montana. Hey, when is the last time you heard of a traffic jam on I-90?

I think that any kind of rail infrastructure will be largely confined to the several Corridors; otherwise, Amtrak will "get its B" and that will be that.

But on the flip side, I do not expect any initiatives from the Reagan, both Bushes, Carter, and Clinton eras to "shut 'er down".

At least for now I have an OPEN MIND and I think we all need to do the same. As for Mica, glad to see him go, he is probably the most anti Amtrak person in Washington.
Noel Weaver PS

Interesting analysis, Mr. GBN. I see Trump as a chameleon...New Yorker when it's convenient, evangelical Christian when visiting the heartland, even Republican only recently.

So I am not so hopeful that as a New Yorker he is even slightly pro-Amtrak. If anything, he has more obligations to the Texans and Idahoans than to his homefolks in Manhattan. While it is true he has taken stances that Reaganesque-Republicans would be horrified at (anti-free-trade, anti interventionalist war), I still don't see him supporting government-subsidized transportation.

That said, I think the Democratic opposition will be more united than ever, and given their only 1 or 2 seat deficit in the Senate (while a number of Republicans are clearly in the 'Not a Fan of Donald' camp), there may be hope for intercity rail funding in this age. Given Amtrak's ridership growth, success of Acela, experiments with Diner-light (which I still abhor), the safest route may be to "not rock the boat" with regards to Amtrak. Just my opinion and I'm happy to hear others'.

Oh and you may want to rephrase your I-90 quote...while I take it you mean the plains of S.D., remember 90 also goes through traffic-clogged Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, and Boston!

BandA wrote: People living in heavily demorat [sic] areas such as New England or Illinois are likely going to have a harder time getting (pork) funding, while areas with republican [sic] reps and senators will have an easier time.

Actually we need to get RID of "Pork" spending altogether!!! We need to make good SOLID SOUND INVESTMENTS into our Infrastructure. The problem has been that quite a bit of the "spending" on rail projects WAS "Pork". I truly believe that our President Elect will only make these SOUND Investments into projects that make sense to do, and that they will be completed ON TIME and UNDER BUDGET, plus be of the highest QUALITY (Just look at ANY of his properties).

Lets see what he proposes on his first "State of the Union" Address in 2017 to the Congress Critters.
At least the "Micascope" has been voted out.

Regarding your immediate Mr. Backshop, Ms. Murphy, as a Freshman "critter", will be relegated to backbench committees. So the question is who will chair the House Transportation Committee and will that Member tolerate the grandstanding from anyone Mr. Mica got away with?

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!!!!

I think that Mr. Norman's analysis is correct.

I've seen a few recent studies showing that, in short, Republicans live in thinly-populated areas and Democrats live in densely-populated areas. Republicans don't live in areas where rail transportation is prominent and so Republicans in Congress (or anywhere else) aren't particularly supportive.

As a former Republican, I never followed the logic behind the argument of "we Republicans want a free market, including in transportation, so we'll dump money into highways but not want to spend a cent on mass transit". They should have just said, "we don't use mass transit so we don't want to pay for it."

Beyond Mica being voted out, Rodney Frelinghuysen is in line to head up the House Appropriations Committee. His district is well served by the NJT Morris & Essex Lines and has benefited from the introduction of Midtown Direct. He has expressed support for Gateway and is generally moderate. All told, I think there is a lot to be cautiously optimistic about, and I will choose to keep an open mind.

The first consequence of this election is that the chances of passing a budget for FY 2017 before the Continuing Resolution runs out in December have just disappeared. Congress will pass another extension to get us to spring so that the new President can set his priorities for the second half of the year.

Then it will be a matter of getting at least 8 democratic Senators on board. What will their priorities be? I'm guessing it will be capital improvements for inner-city schools rather than rail.

Trump is also talking about an infrastructure stimulus bill. As much as Obama talked about shovel-ready jobs, plenty went to projects that didn't have completed environmental impact statements. If you want a short list of potential rail improvements, look at those that will have an approved Phase 2 EIS by February 2017. Also consider non-ADA accessible stations. Most of them are in Republican towns. Amtrak has not made much headway on ADA accessibility, consistently spending significantly less than the small amount annually budgeted. ADA accessibility projects put Trump voters to work. $300 million/year would get most of it done in 2 years. It's a great opportunity to say, "the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed 26 years ago. Washington has failed to meet the standards that it imposes on every business in the country. Either change the law or get 'er done."