Here is a link to a recent Hartford Courant article with some thoughts on the future of Amtrak. http://www.ctnow.com/news/yahoo/hc-condon1125.artnov25.story
Great article. But the questions go unanswered. If Amtrak is told to sell off everything, who takes control of a nation wide passenger railroad? What if it splits into 4 or 5 different companies and 2 of them run in the red down the road in ten years or so? What do we do with them? Is our gov't going to hold onto Amtrak now? Will the airlines run fares that will bring people back to planes? I see some pretty cheap fares out there. To me, Amtrak isn't that inexpensive. I hope this gov't gives up some more cash to Amtrak. Considering the condition of the roads in my hometown, that's a hard thing for me to say. We need plenty of money to fix these broken roads too. And I do fly also. And my father was a trucker for many many years. I don't want to see anyone hurt. I hope all goes well especially for the Amtrak.
You make some good points, JT. One of the reasons I posted that link was because I was amazed that someone in the press actually came out with something I had been saying for several years. Both the federal and state governments should be taking a hard look at how the European railroads are run. They may not be perfect, but we have a lot to learn.
Peirce, it's amazing how far behind we are with high-speed train service here. From a disaster comes a miracle. Acela is actually selling out. Amen.
Sadly this Country got side-tracked for 50-75 years by the automobile, oil, and aircraft industries, and allowed the Congress to short change the rail industry. Since our politicians only react to what we belly-ache about because they like being re-elected, all they heard was "Build MORE Roads and Airports!" ... so they did! Now it's up to all of us to really get loud and in the faces of our politicians ... barrage them with personal letters and e-mails, and visit or call them when they are home during Congressional recesses, like during the next 4-5 weeks !
