"The safest — and deadliest — ways to travel"
Posted on 05/16/2015 3:19:15 PM PDT by jazusamo
“If we’re going to have passenger rail, we’re going to need to make it safe and make it efficient,” he told The Billy Penn.
“It’s going to require investment,” he added, predicting Amtrak would need $117 “billion with a B” for reaching optimal safety and speed along its Northwest Corridor.
Fattah, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, criticized Republicans for opposing additional funding measures for Amtrak.
“One party thinks we should invest in passenger rail and mass transit, and the other party doesn’t,” he said.
House Republicans approved a funding reduction for Amtrak on Wednesday.
Fattah argued Saturday the move was insensitive given Amtrak Regional Train 188 had derailedoutside Philadelphia only the night before.
“The [Republicans] could have delayed the meeting out of respect for those in the accident but they decided to go forward and vote on party line votes,” he said.
“That is not unusual,” he added of Wednesday’s vote.
Fattah said that the accident illustrated the growing deterioration of America’s infrastructure overall.
“Our airports, bridges, railroads and highways are in pretty bad shape,” he said. “But we can’t fix them without money.”
Wednesday’s reduction was part of a $55 billion funding bill for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
The new measure gave Amtrak $1.13 billion, down from approximately $1.4 billion Congress appropriated for the organization in 2015.
The Federal Railroad Administration on Saturday ordered Amtrak to improve safety regulations along its Northeast Corridor line.
The agency instructed Amtrak to install an automated system for slowing out-of-control trains along the heavily traveled railway.
It also asked that Amtrak improve its signage for the proper speed limits in that corridor.
National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said Thursday evening that Train 188 had sped up to 106 mph before its accident late Tuesday.
That pace, he added, took place in an area with a 50 mph speed limit.
Train 188’s crash Tuesday evening killed eight passengers and wounded at least 200 more.
The FBI announced Friday it was investigating the possibility that the vehicle was hit by a bulletor some other flying object.
Why don’t we just give all the riders, cars and lifetime gas? Don’t the taxpayers already subsidize Amtrak enough?
I remember that. Weren't they all "shovel ready" jobs?
Bump.
The key sentence: “If we are going to have passenger rail.”
Let’s not have it. Millions of citizens have voted with their dollars NOT TO USE RAIL FOR PERSONAL TRANSPORTATION.
Amtrak should be sold off to RR enthusiasts with the understanding that they do not have to maintain passenger service on unprofitable lines with low ridership. Maybe the NE corridor will survive, and if so, I’d be very pleased since I used to ride the train from NY to Paoli, Pa back in the 50s and enjoyed the ride.
But you can’t run a transportation system nationwide on nostalgia and deficits.
Well said and that’s where it’s at, some passenger lines can be run profitably but not nationwide.
"The safest — and deadliest — ways to travel"
If they don’t come up with the money, the whole system could tip over and capsize.
As a railfan, I think Amtrak needs to be privatized. I believe Amtrak would be successful like Conrail was. We might have a regional service... The Northeast from Maine to North Carolina to Chicago. Maybe 3 national routes...
Bump.
And that would be a good thing. Reality finally needs to bite these idiots in the ass.
About one-tenth of the trillion dollar “stimulus” funding Obama got back in 2009.....
The gov't has been trying to get rid of AMTRAK since Nixon, but nobody has been crazy enough to bid once they look at the cost structure/balance sheet. When normal businesses have problems like AMTRAK, they A.) "Cut costs" or B.) "Raise prices". AMTRAK instead chooses option C.) "Steal money from taxpayers and profitable businesses."
There is plenty of demand for trains, at least on the Northeast Corridor. "Could" AMTRAK ever make a profit? Greyhound seems to make a profit and it also seems that transporting people around with smaller buses would be a lot more labor-intensive than transporting them in trains.
A republican should come out and say that this could be fixed for 1/3 the cost without the union. Then ask if he still supports it.
That will end debate very quickly.
If the taxpayers lined the railroad tracks with $100 bills the next train going around a curve at 100 miles an hour will still tip over!
And what’s funny is that Nixon is still hated by the Left. He gave the Left everything they wanted in terms of domestic policy and he was still hated.
Chaka, America is "broke with a B." Wouldn't it make more sense for you to use your talents, such as they are, to address that problem?
that should cover about 1,000 union jobs.
sounds good.
raise the fares for those who use it then.
Cut the waste of the unionists
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