"Scamtrak"???

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo threw his wrench into the machine last tuesday, labeling 'Scamtrak' as a corporation that has never earned a dime for profit.

http://www.house.gov/tancredo/newsroom/ ... 9_14b.html

Too bad he doesn't understand that this is why Amtrak was formed in '71 for this reason. That's why most passenger railroads are state-owned in the first place. Duh!

Nicely said Mr. Norman and thanks for the two links.

I am sure that the Congressman will soon be complaining about the scandalous operations of the Colorado Regional Transportation Department, which recently published its audit demonstrating that it has huge operating losses. See http://www.rtd-denver.com/Projects/Fina ... ECTION.pdf

I wonder if the Congressman voted for the many federal appropriations to expand the RTD light rail? After all, it is a huge money loser, so I am sure he voted no. Perhaps he can call it the Rip-Off Transportation Department and get even more face time?

Unfortunately, as long as there is no real committment in this country to providing adequate passenger rail transportation to the entire nation, which there is not at this time, opponents of the various funding proposals made from time to time will continue to come out of the woodwork. And they are likely to say anything than comes into their minds, regardless of its inaccuracy. ( " My mind is made up--- don't confuse me with the facts!") What is especially aggravating here is that the Congressman was able to successfully invoke a procedural point in order to kill legeslation which would have provided some funding. The fact that this could happen to this bill is as much the responsibility of those who failed to take the earlier procedural steps which would have made this move impossible as it is the responsibility of this particular Congressman.

Walt,
What you said is similar to what occurred to the expiration of the assault weapon ban....that is, as it expired, no one in congress, except for maybe Sen. Diane Feinstein, really made much of an effort to renew the ban....but all the supporters all cried foul after the fact.

The whole concept of Amtrak as a "for-profit corporation" was a sham back in 1971 and insofar as that concept is still invoked, it's even more of a sham today.

The only way for people like Congressman Tancredo to be defused is for Amtrak management to loudly proclaim that the operation doesn't make a profit, never will make a profit, and that Congress has to decide for once and for all whether it wants to fund intercity passenger trains as a public transportation service. I think that in the long run, Amtrak's purported self-sufficiency goal has done it far more harm than good.

TomNelligan wrote:The only way for people like Congressman Tancredo to be defused is for Amtrak management to loudly proclaim that the operation doesn't make a profit, never will make a profit, and that Congress has to decide for once and for all whether it wants to fund intercity passenger trains as a public transportation service. I think that in the long run, Amtrak's purported self-sufficiency goal has done it far more harm than good.

David Gunn has said all of the above already.

Unless a miracle happens, I guess it is all over. Unless it is a bunch of riders among other legislation, but too keep certain politics out of this forum, I will excersise restraint and not tell which bills I really think they should pursue this strategy on.

I mean, sorry to be an alarmist, but when will the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, Auto Train, Lake Shore Limitted, and all other Long Distance Trains quit running? October, January?

I am editing this again, new information, it looks like another Congressman that I do not like, Rep. Ernst Istook (R) of Oklahoma said that it would be restored, it was just a turf battle between committees. I hope both of them lose this November.

The sad fact remains that milions of Americans outside the corridors find it hard to identify with Amtrak. Remember that the accomodation, local and mixed trains which served these people have, in many areas, been gone for fifty years or more. Concurrent with the disappearance of these services came the rise of the private vehicle. And the pecentage of locals who seldom venture far from home is still substantial.

One argument that might sway a few minds would be to use Amtrak's network for government-mandated service, but unfortunately, the on-again, off-again attitudes toward both mail and express have done a lot to discredit this opportunity.

OK, lets use Amtrak for Federally-mandated travel? Again, not likely to work outside the corridors. Amtrak just doesn't go to enough of the places that count, often enough. And if functionaries in the former Soviet Union viewed air, rather than rail travel as a political privelage, you can guess what the reaction would be here.

And please, "passenger-lobbyists", don't try to convince us that a network that mandates two or three daily departures in any city of a certain size, will guarantee more patronage. That sort of warmed-over New Deal thinking is responsible for the overbuilt, over-funded, over-pensioned municipal and school systems which fueled much of the "sagebrush rebellion" in the first place. The 60%-and-more marginal Federal tax rates of the 1950s-70s are about as popular in these parts as animal rights.

Much as it saddens me personally, I see the current trends in the rail industry as setting the stage for the final demise of the traditional long-distance passenger train, regardless of who occupies the White House. The positive side of this is that continued upward pressure on fuel prices, combined with urban congestion, could pave the way for new, longer, more comprehensive corridor services, particularly if the funding is tied to capital improvements which could also benefit freight railroading.

The sad fact remains that milions of Americans outside the corridors find it hard to identify with Amtrak

And that's by design. Unless you provide corridor-like service (speed and timeliness), there won't be anything available to "identify with".

Amtrak needs to get organized and damn fast if it wants to last

Amtrak is organized—Capitol Hill is not. Care to swell the ranks of those who lobby Washington for this sort of thing...?

This subject is somewhat difficult to discuss without using names so at the
risk of up-setting someone/anyone, I will mention a few names here only
to identify their positions regarding Amtrak in particular.
The President - Goeorge Bush (Rep) is not an Amtrak booster
The Secretary of Transportation - Norman Minetta (Dem) (hope I spelled
that name correctly) is also not an Amtrak booster
Congressman Quinn (Rep - NY) is an ardent Amtrak supporter and he
certainally deserves to be re-elected.
Congressman Instook (or whatever his name is) Rep - OK) is not a
supporter of Amtrak
In general, most of the congressmen/women from the northeastern
states whether they are Republican or Democrat are supporters of
Amtrak.
There is a Senator from Texas named Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Republican, who is also a supporter of Amtrak.
Why did I make the previous comments? We ALL NEED TO INFORM
OURSELVES of our local congressman/woman's position on passenger
rail transportation in general and especially Amtrak.
If we want our country to have a balanced transportation system and if we
want passenger trains to ride in the future, we MUST vote accordingly.
To those who do not agree with me, I am sure there are some people who
support Amtrak but whose views/votes otherwise are something that you
do not agree with. You will need to make a choice in such a case.
Unfortunately, the lobyiests for the highway, bus and other anti rail interests make their voices heard. I assume most of the folks who read
my remarks here are pro-rail and if so, we really need to make our
voices heard and our votes count.
Whether they are Republican or Democrat, if they are pro Amtrak, vote
for them and if they are again Amtrak, vote for their opponent.
I hope I did not upset anybody by my remarks, I am speaking from my
heart.
Noel Weaver

let's not leave out 2 Amtrak supporters:

Sen. Joe Biden (D) Delaware and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R) New Jersey.

...but then again, these are people who's constituency is the NEC.

There some supporters out there you'd never expect...

Burns said, "I'm happy to see that our committee is designating more to Amtrak than our counterparts in the House. But it's still not enough. As this process moves along, I'll be working hand-in-hand with my colleagues in the Appropriations Committee to make sure Amtrak has the resources needed to continue their service in a self-sufficient and effective manner."

The Burns is Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), not really a corridor constituency.

The full article is at:

http://www.sidneyherald.com/articles/20 ... news02.txt

Anyone with even a casual knowledge of politics or Amtrak has to concede that Amtrak's history is inarguably non-partisan.

Amtrak was founded under a Republican administration (Nixon), Drastically curtailed under a Democratic administration (Carter), nearly killed by another Republican Administration (Reagan) and allowed to live in poverty under Clinton (although the "Contract with America" had a lot to do with that). Bush, it seems, is using it as an issue, but only peripherally. The usual buzzword of "reform" being resuscitated and thrown about as proof of fiscal responsibility.

But you can't just blame the Presidents: It is after all Congress who decides these things. Generally, Conservatives (of both parties) object to its supposedly wasteful operations and unionized workforce, as well as it's "socialist" nature. Likewise, Liberals (of both parties) like its strong labor workforce and fairly egalitarian nature.

While these are rather broad and simple-minded generalizations, they reflect the mindset of a political and media class that generally regards the citizenry as somewhat dense, and presents their positions to us in that manner.

The sad and frustrating thing about this is that the purpose of Amtrak - transportation - too often gets lost when any sort of public discussion or debate on both the NRPC or public transportation in general, happens.

The worst thing is that we as a people allow ourselves to be talked down to in this manner. But that is another matter entirely.