All the same-- if you make a daily ritual of the reading the Onion, you'll be glad you did.

I get too angry watching anything political, even the satire of it.

A view from the other side of the pond......

 

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13446666

 

Transport systems

 

Slower than a speeding bullet

Apr 8th 2009 | CHICAGO

From The Economist print edition

 

America’s trains may soon go faster—relatively

 

 

“WE’RE going to lay some rail!”, Rod Diridon shouted to a packed room in Chicago last month. “What kind of rail?” he asked. “High-speed rail!” the room roared back. Mr Diridon, chairman emeritus of the California High Speed Rail Authority, was addressing like-minded folk at the annual meeting of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association. The conference had attracted far more people than anticipated, lured, no doubt, by money. Barack Obama’s stimulus contains $1.3 billion for Amtrak and $8 billion for high-speed and intercity rail projects. And support will be sustained with $5 billion in state grants over five years.

 

.....

Leave it to a British publication to be the first to put the U.S. rail discussion in the proper, well-reported perspective. It is matter-of-fact about the past (passenger rail languished in this country because of government subsidies to highway and air travel) and the future (federal rail money must be carefully spent with a national strategy in mind).

http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/aptapt/issues/2009-04-13/17.html

 

APTA Forms High-Speed Rail Task Force

 

APTA has announced the formation of the High-Speed Rail Corridors and Intercity Passenger Rail Service Principles Task Force, co-chaired by Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute in San Jose, CA, and J. Barry Barker, executive director of the Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, KY.

 

The organization of the task force followed the announcement that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allocated $8 billion in federal funding for high-speed rail corridors, and support for an ongoing national high-speed rail program in the Obama administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget.

 

The purpose of the task force is to make APTA a relevant part of the national dialogue about the future of U.S. high-speed rail.

 

The task force’s objectives are:

 

* Establish the basic policy tenets that should be included in the national high-speed rail corridor and intercity passenger rail plan being developed by the Federal Railroad Administration;

 

* Develop recommendations on the execution of the ARRA funding programs, including the relationship of these programs to existing rail systems; and

 

* Develop recommendations on how to structure ongoing programs for both a national high-speed rail corridor and intercity passenger rail.

 

Members of the panel include George N. Dorshimer, president of LTK Engineering Services; Mortimer L. Downey III, president of Mort Downey Consulting LLC; Edward J. Fishman, partner with K&L Gates; Wayne L. Friesner of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, vice president, commuter rail and railroad management, Trinity Railway Express; Joseph J. Giulietti, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Tri-Rail); W. Dan Pickett, union president, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; Charles Quandel, president of Quandel Consultants LLC; Patricia Quinn, executive director, Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority; Stanley J. Rosenblum, division vice president, Jacobs; Elliot G. (Lee) Sander, executive director and chief executive officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Eugene K. Skoropowski, managing director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, Oakland, CA; David Solow, chief executive officer, Southern California Regional Rail Authority; Randall Wade, passenger rail manager, Wisconsin DOT; and Charles R. Wochele, vice president, business development, with ALSTOM Transportation Inc.

 

“The purpose of the task force is to position APTA and its members to work with Congress and the Administration to achieve the vision of high-speed and intercity rail,” Downey said. “With the passage last year of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act and, more importantly, President Obama’s effort to get a big jump-start on passenger rail with $8 billion for high-speed rail in the stimulus plan, this is now a reality.”

 

He continued: “We’re looking for answers to questions such as: How is the program to be organized? What are the goals to be achieved? How will it coexist with other transportation programs?”

 

The task force held its first conference call April 1 to develop principles for a future APTA high-speed rail and intercity passenger policy. It will present interim recommendations to the APTA Executive Committee at its May 2 meeting.

Isn't this rather old news.  I thought APTA formed such a task force three years ago.

I thought they had, too. But there it was, in Passenger Transport.

Maybe nobody noticed the first time around?

Congressional help needed for Ohio to

win manufacturer of passenger trains

All Aboard Ohio says vacant Ohio industrial properties

should be re-tasked to make passenger rail equipment

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 13, 2009

Contact:  Ken Prendergast

All Aboard Ohio Executive Director

(216) 288-4883

[email protected]

 

In the face of increased competition from other states, All Aboard Ohio is urging the Ohio Congressional Delegation to support grassroots efforts to re-use shuttered manufacturing facilities, such as auto plants, for new factories to build or rebuild passenger rail cars and components. There are several properties in Ohio which could meet this need, including the General Motors Corp. Moraine Assembly Plant (near Dayton), Delphi Corp. Brake Hose Division Plant in Dayton, the Ford Motor Co. Lorain Assembly Plant or vacant steel mill sites in Cleveland, Youngstown and elsewhere.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently committed $90.8 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to rehabilitate passenger train cars in the United States and return them to service. Additionally, there is $8 billion in federal stimulus funding for passenger rail expansion nationwide, including the manufacture of new rail cars. In November 2008, California voters approved $10 billion for high-speed rail. And, President Barack Obama announced $5 billion over five years in federal grants to states to help them further improve passenger rail services.

 

"Someone is going to build passenger trains and components somewhere in the United States again," said Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio. "Ohio has large industrial properties with utilities and transportation access as well as a skilled labor force to compete for this manufacturing activity. Now is the time for Ohio to enter this competition."

 

Other states are ramping up their activities to land a railcar manufacturer, including Illinois. On April 10, the Illinois Congressional Delegation sent a letter to USDOT Director Ray LaHood which asked the former Illinois Congressman to support their effort to revive the passenger rail car manufacturing industry in Illinois.

 

The federal stimulus requires trains to be built in the U.S. Sadly, the last domestic rail car manufacturer, Colorado Rail Car Co., closed its doors in 2008 only months before the stimulus bill passed. Undisclosed investors are seeking to acquire the assets of Colorado Rail Car. The biggest question is where the train cars will be built.

 

"We have a grassroots group right now thats looking into and reviewing this," said James Wellman, deputy mayor of Riverside near Dayton and an At-Large board member of All Aboard Ohio. "We're discussing the re-use of the Moraine Plant with GM officials, local political and business leaders and state legislators. We need to do more with our federal officials because this is important not just for the Dayton-area economy but the entire state's economy."

A sign of the travel economy being down?

 

Amtrak ridership down nearly 9% in February  

www.railwayage.com

 

Amtrak reports that it carried 1,849,000 passengers in February, down nearly 8.87% from the 2,029,000 carried in February 2008.

 

On-time performance improved to 82.3% this year from 72.1% in February 2008.

 

Ticket revenue was down 10.7% to $106,387,000 compared to February of last year.

 

In the first five months of the current fiscal year, which began last Oct. 1, Amtrak carried 10,878,000 riders, down nearly 2% from the corresponding period in the prior fiscal year. On-time performance improved to 77.4% from 72.6%.

 

Ticket revenue for the fiscal year so far was $657,281,000, 2.36% below revenue for the prior-year period.

 

http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/750/121/

In the previous several months, Acela and Northeast Regional services were way down in ridership, as the financial crisis hit business travel hard. Meanwhile the long-haul routes and short/medium corridors nationwide were up. I suspect the Northeast routes are still down but the rest of the routes nationwide have flattened out and are no longer able to carry the Northeast.

In the previous several months, Acela and Northeast Regional services were way down in ridership, as the financial crisis hit business travel hard. Meanwhile the long-haul routes and short/medium corridors nationwide were up. I suspect the Northeast routes are still down but the rest of the routes nationwide have flattened out and are no longer able to carry the Northeast.

 

In additon The, US and Delta, BOS-NYC-DC shuttle routes had less passengers.  They've even downgraded the planes used on the route.

http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/756/121/

 

Midwest makes move for high(er) speed rail funds

 

Seeking to capture a significant portion of the $8 billion in federal stimulus money targeted for high speed rail, eight governors from Midwest states have written Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for $3.5 billion to be applied to regional rail upgrades.

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-obama-rail,0,4615436.story

 

Obama pushes for better rail system in US, calls it a key to solving energy dependency

NATASHA METZLER | Associated Press Writer

9:34 AM EDT, April 16, 2009

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama called Thursday for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air and save on energy.

 

Appearing with Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Obama said the country cannot afford not to invest in a major upgrade to rail travel. He said he understands it necessarily will be "a long-term project" but said the time to start is now.

 

........

Pres. Obama Press Briefing on High-Speed Rail

 

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?ProgramId=HP-A-41630

 

Pres. Obama held a press briefing on high-speed rail’s affect on transportation, the economy and our dependence on foreign oil. He was joined by Vice Pres. Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Obama says U.S. high-speed rail "overdue"

Reuters, April 16, 2009

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama outlined his plan for "long overdue" high-speed rail on Thursday that would rival air travel, create jobs and help curb the U.S. transportation system's appetite for oil.

 

"My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America," Obama said in announcing the first steps of an initiative that will tap $8 billion in economic stimulus money through 2012.

 

[see the URL for the rest of the article.]

http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/756/121/

 

Midwest makes move for high(er) speed rail funds

[ ... ]

Governors from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin co-signed the letter to LaHood.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised that "My way is the highway" Mitch has signed on. It would be nice to think that the Rally for Rail in Fort Wayne, and possibly other consitituent activism, inspired him to adjust his priorities.

US News & World Report has an online poll today asking readers to vote on Obama's plans for high-speed rail.  Please take a moment to follow the link below and vote....

 

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/fresh-greens/2009/04/16/what-do-you-think-of-obamas-plans-for-high-speed-railways.html

 

The results so far.....

What do you think of the planned high-speed rail - will you use it for travel?

74.16% Yes - it's environmentally-friendly and convenient.

1.87% No way. I'd rather drive or fly.

3.37% No - I refuse it on principle because it is a waste of our money.

16.85% Maybe. It depends on the cost of tickets.

3.75% No - the new high-speed rail doesn't go to my city.

passenger rail are too helpful now without this what will happen to trains.,

 

_________________

blanchard grinding

 

From the Miami Student:

 

Group asks for Amtrak in Oxford

Kelsey Anagnos

Issue date: 4/24/09

 

Every year, Miami University students make weekend and day trips across the Midwest and the country by car or by plane, but if a big proposal from a small group passes, they may have the option to travel by train.

 

Read more at URL below:

 

www.miamistudent.net/media/storage/paper776/news/2009/04/24/Community/Group.Asks.For.Amtrak.In.Oxford-3725314.shtml]http://media.www.miamistudent.net/media/storage/paper776/news/2009/04/24/Community/Group.Asks.For.Amtrak.In.Oxford-3725314.shtml[/url]

http://209.51.133.155/cms/index.php/news_releases/more/more_new_york_cleveland_toledo_chicago_rail_service_needed/

 

More New York-Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago rail service needed

Present service “inadequate” - call for action

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 1, 2009

Contact:  Ken Prendergast

All Aboard Ohio Executive Director

(216) 288-4883

[email protected]

 

All Aboard Ohio, a statewide nonprofit association, will unveil on Saturday a conceptual proposal for improving passenger rail services linking New York City and Chicago, America’s first- and third-most populous cities, plus numerous other cities in between. Ohio is right in the middle of this busy travel market, yet it is often considered flyover territory. Amtrak does its best to imitate that flyover situation by sending its lone New York - Chicago train through Ohio in the middle of the night.

 

“Trains operating during unmarketable hours in Ohio is not service,” said All Aboard Ohio President Bill Hutchison. He will be speaking at the National Train Day event in Toledo, Ohio, May 2, 2009.

 

“Ohio has had such poor service for so long that people are calling it ‘Draktrak’ because all we have are middle-of-the-night trains,” he said. “I believe we can and must do better.”

 

The one daily New York-Chicago train, called the Lake Shore Limited, is hampered by slow running times and freight congestion. Trains often arrive and depart late yet are frequently sold out. Amtrak does not have enough equipment to carry more passengers on existing trains. This shortage of equipment also hampers efforts to add service.

 

At the same time, air service between intermediate points is often scarce and expensive. Air service is also congested at airports in Chicago and New York City. At the same time, there are few alternatives to driving. Current travel is uncivilized and inconvenient.

 

By comparison, America’s competitors in Europe and Asia are enjoying much more frequent, faster, comfortable and affordable rail services. Those services are being augmented with high-speed rail. For example, numerous trains per day are provided in the Madrid, Spain to Paris, France market which is a longer route than New York-Chicago. Another rail route of similar distance, Beijing to Shanghai, is undergoing major investment to think those cities and many smaller ones in between. Yet America lacks a strong foundation of quality rail service which Europe and Asia has used to develop high-speed rail. All Aboard Ohio’s recommedations would start to change that.

 

All Aboard Ohio is calling for the formation of a multi-state/Amtrak coalition to develop a plan to add more and better service between New York and Chicago via Buffalo, Cleveland and Toledo, with the following goals:

 

> Four daily New York-Buffalo-Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago round trips.

> 60 mph average speed over the 960-mile route.

> Consistent, reliable 16-hour running time between endpoints.

> Daytime service at all points at least twice daily in each direction.

> Overnight service in key markets.

> Ongoing capital investments program-tracks, stations and signaling.

 

“This is a major east-west route and fortunately, there is a way to address today’s problems and that’s the American Revitalization and Recovery Act,” Hutchison said. “There is money in this act that is aimed at exactly the service we are proposing.”

 

Two route segments - New York-Albany-Buffalo and Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago - are designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as potential high-speed corridors. The only gap is the 187-mile Buffalo-Cleveland segment. All Aboard Ohio urges that this should also be made a federally designated high-speed corridor.

 

A joint State/Amtrak request for federal stimulus funds should be made to start development in the New York-Buffalo-Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago corridor. It’s our belief that a joint request has a much greater chance of success than a series on disjointed individual efforts. Thus, this proposal would serve as the opening round of improvements for existing, federally designated high speed corridors.

 

These improvements will benefit not only Toledo and Cleveland, but the entire Midwest-East Coast section of the country. Economic development and jobs will be one spin off. Better mobility, energy concerns, environmental issues, will be addressed, for a better quality of life. Last but not least, rail freight rail traffic will also be made more fluid and efficient.

 

“I call on our friends in Ohio and on-line states and communities to get involved and make a difference,” said Mr. Hutchison. “Let’s roll - on passenger trains!”

 

END

Pullman Porters holding final reunion

By Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 3, 2009

 

In the heyday of train travel, in the early decades of the 20th century, Pullman Porters numbered more than 20,000.

 

Today their ranks have dwindled to fewer than 100, and a precious four of them, including a Bond Hill man, are headed this weekend to Philadelphia to take part in National Train Day ceremonies. The gathering surely will be the last reunion of a proud group of African-American men who worked hard, made a good living and helped usher in the modern civil rights movement.

 

Full story at URL above:

^What a great article!

Tremendous. It's amazing how dignity becomes contagious. I hope these men won't be forgotten.

Four Hundred Hours a Month! To maintain that schedule with dignity and decorum and without showing fatigue and frustration requires strong character and pure dedication.

Yeah, I thought that when I saw 400 hours a month.  That's about 13 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Don't forget these guys were on call 24 hours. Most Pullman cars were sleeping cars (though some were parlor cars and dining cars), so if a passenger in a sleeper needed anything in the night, he hit a button to call for the porter. And there was usually one porter per car. They often slept upright in a seat next to a bank of lights/buzzers and, in later years, an intercom. They were on duty 24 hours a day. On the western long hauls from Chicago to the West Coast, that meant being on duty for 50 hours straight. In Los Angeles, Oakland or Seattle, they would rest in a crew dormitory and be back on the train eastbound that evening.

Plus, if they had passengers detraining in the middle of the night/wee hours of the morning, they had to make sure the passengers got a wake-up early enough to be ready. Sometimes they had to turn a room quickly, getting one passenger out, cleaning everything and changing the linens and getting the next passenger in.

 

I made a couple of trips Chicago-Oakland or Oakland-Chicago in the middle of winter, when the train was delayed 12-14 hours because of weather. On-board service crews had to work those extra hours and then got just enough time to shower and put on fresh uniforms and be back on the job for the return, which also got delayed because of weather. The attendant in my sleeper was completely awesome in staying on his toes and keeping his cool; the only time I saw/heard him lower the boom on anyone was when a couple of kids maybe eight or nine years old were running up and down the car and messing with stuff that made his job harder. Then, he cornered them when they got to one end of the car and gave them a lecture. They settled down, and I didn't see that he got any flack from the parents.

 

It's a tough job when everything is running normally, and Amtrak's frequent late running has made it much harder.

Plus, if they had passengers detraining in the middle of the night/wee hours of the morning, they had to make sure the passengers got a wake-up early enough to be ready. Sometimes they had to turn a room quickly, getting one passenger out, cleaning everything and changing the linens and getting the next passenger in.

 

Unfortunately, that hasn't been my experience of late. I've had overnight trips in sleepers where I have asked to be woken at least 45 minutes before entering the station (usually in the wee hours of the morning) and, instead, been woken to "We're pulling into the station."

 

If intercity passenger rail is going to win the hearts and minds of the public it has to be made more pleasant than an airline trip. That means that all passengers need to be treated well at all times, but especially those passengers who pay the equivalent of one night at the Four Seasons for a room slightly larger than a closet, and then find themselves ignored by the porters. There are many fine stewards that work Amtrak routes, but there are just as many slackers. Train travel can't be only for those who wouldn't do it any other way.

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/sports/10anderson.html?_r=1

 

May 10, 2009

Sports of The Times

The Romance of Teams Traveling by Train

By DAVE ANDERSON

 

For any trip of meaningful mileage over the last half-century, big-league sports teams have usually traveled in sleek chartered jets, but before that, they often rode long hours in overnight sleeper trains. Yogi Berra and Carl Erskine enjoyed it. Frank Gifford tolerated it. Most basketball players disliked it. Hockey players accepted it.

 

But like it or not, that’s the way it was. That’s how teams went from city to city, sometimes from coast to coast. And as Amtrak celebrated National Train Day on Saturday at ceremonies at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, and at Union Station in Washington, in Chicago and in Los Angeles, travel in that era clickety-clacked through the memories of those who did it.

 

Read more at the link above:

Nice. I recall reading that my hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals last traveled by rail to Cincinnati on the B&O. I do personally recall a fan special from Cincinnati to St. Louis for a game between the Reds and Cardinals some time in the 1960's. Both of these towns were and still are baseball towns and the train was fairly long, if I recall correctly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/sports/10anderson.html?_r=1

 

May 10, 2009

Sports of The Times

The Romance of Teams Traveling by Train

By DAVE ANDERSON

 

 

Much easier when Chicago and St. Louis were the farthest west that teams had to travel.

 

 

Yes, and much easier when we had scads of passenger trains operating all over the country. That's what we had before the government decided for us to build interstates and destroy the railroads. No doubt under any circumstances, much travel by pro teams would still be by air, especially for long distances, but if we had a truly national rail passenger system, at least that option would be available.

 

BTW, what's the point of that tag line of yours? I could say the same thing about bus terminals and the only reason air terminals are nicer is that they were built with huge amounts of public money. Seems a bit abrasive to me.

I believe that some teams still travel by train today - the NL East Teams (Philadelphia, Washington, and NY Mets) have used the Acela in the past to travel.  I remember a few years ago during Mike Piazza's last year for the NYM that he wanted the team to travel by train in suits, hats, etc similar to the article above.  The Acela service does get quite a bit of marketing at these stadiums especially in NY.

 

John Madden traveled by trains from 1979 until Greyhound gave him his own bus. Many college and professional teams prefer travel by train or bus if it is viable. When I was in college we traveled almost exclusively by train or bus unless it was not feasible.

 

And I see the Norfolk and Southern OCS pass my way all the time. In fact, I've see it at the Masters in Augusta. Talk about walking the walk.

 

That's the point, isn't it? People are more likely to use a service if it exists.

 

Rail Coalition Marks Celebration Of National Train Day

 

States for Passenger Rail

Randy Wade

(608) 516-6382

 

WASHINGTON, DC — States for Passenger Rail Coalition Chairman Frank Busalacchi today released remarks applauding the celebration of National Train Day. The event will be celebrated here and in other cities across the country May 9.

 

“National Train Day is an important time to celebrate the vital role trains play in our nation’s transportation system,” Busalacchi said. “Passenger trains are reemerging as an important way to move people in all parts of America. They are energy-efficient, pollute less than other transportation modes, and ease congestion on highways and in the air. Our challenge is to make sure that the federal government fully funds passenger rail so it can meet the traveling demands of today and the future.”

 

National Train Day marks the day the “golden spike” was driven into the final

railroad tie that joined 1,776 miles of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways, ceremonially creating the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. That spike was driven on May 10, 1869 in Promontory Summit, Utah.

 

Busalacchi noted that the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue

Study Commission, of which he was a member, last year identified funding levels

required to ensure the future stability and growth of the nation’s passenger rail network.

 

The commission’s final report concluded $357.2 billion in capital improvements

would be required by the year 2050. Additionally, a commitment of $5 billion per year will be needed for the 80/20 federal rail grant program over the six-year reauthorizing period. This important program provides an 80 percent federal/20 percent state funding split for passenger rail projects, mirroring the funding split in highway projects.

 

“As Congress considers the reauthorization legislation for the nation’s surface

transportation system, it is vital that passenger rail service be funded more generouslythan ever,” Busalacchi said. “Passenger rail travel is rising to levels that have not beenseen in many years. Americans want a world-class passenger rail system.”

###

 

http://www.s4prc.org/inthenews/2009news/09_nat_train_day.pdf

http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/837/121/

 

Boardman: Amtrak frequency, reliability are service keys

 

Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman says U.S. passenger service will benefit more quickly from reliable, frequent operations, not from seeking top speeds of 200 mph or more in an effort to quickly match European and Asian high speed trains. Moreover, aiming for such ambitious speeds would be very expensive, beyond the reach of funds identified last month by the Obama Administration.

 

Bingo. Quick and reliable is all we really need. 110 mph is plenty for now.

The freight railroad position is that 90 mph is Ok on their tracks, with proper signaling and capacity improvements. There might be exceptions to this, but I think it'll probably be the standard for the foreseeable future. Go above that and you'll need dedicated track, they say.

 

In fact, the freights are really on board with passenger rail, since they have become members of the OneRail Coalition, allying themselves with organizations which would have been odd bedfellows a few years ago.

 

They now realize the importance of speaking with one voice, especially since there really is no escaping the fact that there will be a lot more passenger trains on their tracks and that they need a public partner to cope with their own capacity issues.

 

As for me, I'll take 90 mph, if it's also reliable and frequent. That would be a huge advance over what now exists.

Bingo. Quick and reliable is all we really need. 110 mph is plenty for now.

 

Agreed. Reliable, frequent 110mph service would be pretty damn spectacular compared with what most Americans are used to at home. Even 79mph with predictable on-time running, toilets and heat that work in cold weather, and four trains a day instead of none or just one in the middle of the night, would pack people onto trains as fast as rolling stock could be built to accomodate them. The money would be better spent adding second and third tracks to existing heavily-used single and double-track freight routes, than building costly exclusive-use tracks for true European- and Asian-style HSR. But we've said all that over and over on UO.

 

And provide heated/air-conditioned waiting rooms with restrooms and updated train-arrival info, either from an agent or from a digital reader board, Instead of a plexiglas bus hut with no doors, facing on a wind-swept asphalt platform lit by freeway lighting on thirty-foot poles, where the eastbound train stops on the track farthest from the platform and if the engineer misses the narrow paved walkway across the tracks, passengers alight into snow-covered ballast rock and try to get to the platform without serious injury.

 

Sorry. </rant>

But a well-spoken rant.  Very well put. :clap:

The Romance of Teams Traveling by Train

 

One of my friends sang in the Boston Symphony's choir for about four years, from about 2001-2005.  When they performed in New York they would bus the whole symphony, choir, and entourage.  But when they played in Philadelphia or Washington, they chartered a train out of South Station.  Now what, exactly, it takes to charter a train I don't know but they did it and they did it more than once per year.  I think they did it in part so that they could serve decent food instead of stopping at a truck stop in New Jersey.  Just imagine the sight of one of the world's top 10 symphonies waddling out of buses into a Jack-in-the-Box.   

 

 

Surface Transportation Reauthorization   5/15/2009

Progressive Railroading Magazine

 

Rockefeller-Lautenberg bill aims to increase the use of intercity passenger rail, freight transportation provided by non-truck modes

 

Yesterday, Sens. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced The Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009.

 

The legislation’s lofty goal: to establish a “comprehensive and unifying mission for the nation’s surface transportation system,” in part by boosting the use of intercity passenger rail and the proportion of freight transportation provided by rail and other non-truck modes.

 

Specifically, the Act aims to:

• reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis;

• reduce national motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50 percent by 2030;

• reduce national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent by 2030;

• reduce national surface transportation delays per capita on an annual basis;

• increase the percentage of system-critical surface transportation assets that are in a state of good repair by 20 percent by 2030;

• increase the total usage of public transportation, intercity passenger rail services, and non-motorized transportation on an annual basis;

• increase the proportion of national freight transportation provided by non-highway or multimodal services by 10 percent by 2020; and

• reduce passenger and freight transportation delays and congestion at international points of entry on an annual basis.

 

 

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=20423

 

High-speed rail among top 100 U.S. infrastructure projects, CG/LA says

 

The top 100 infrastructure projects in the United States include several high-speed rail and passenger-rail projects, according to a list released earlier this week by CG/LA Infrastructure L.L.C.

 

The "Top 100 U.S. Strategic Infrastructure Projects" list features projects that have a total estimated value of about $465 billion.

 

 

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=20419

Stop This Train!

Are trains slower now than they were in the 1920s?

By Tom Vanderbilt

Posted Friday, May 15, 2009, at 12:22 PM ET

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Quick: Can you think of a technology that has regressed since the early 20th century?

 

Technological progress is usually considered a given. Think of the titters when you see Michael Douglas in Wall Street walking on the beach with a bricklike mobile phone. Then, it was thrilling, almost illicit—Gekko can call Bud Fox from the beach. Now, the average 12-year-old has a far superior phone: smaller, camera-equipped, location-aware, filled with games and a library of music, and so on. We've seen vast improvements in just a few decades, which means the gulf between now and, say, the 1920s seems almost unimaginable.

 

There is at least one technology in America, however, that is worse now than it was in the early 20th century: the train.

 

I have recently been poring over a number of prewar train timetables—not surprisingly, available on eBay. They are fascinating, filled with evocations of that fabled "golden era" of train travel. "You travel with friends on The Milwaukee Road," reads an ad in one, showing an avuncular conductor genially conversing with a jaunty, smartly dressed couple, the man on the verge of lighting a pipe. The brochure for the Montreal Limited, from an era when "de luxe" was still two words, assures travelers that "modern air-conditioning scientifically controls temperature, humidity and purity of air at all seasons."

 

 

Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2218394/

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/05/amtrak_cuts_some_fares_by_25_f.html

 

Amtrak cuts some fares by 25% for summer

by Associated Press

Wednesday May 20, 2009, 12:57 PM

 

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak is cutting fares by 25 percent on some Eastern trains this summer as the national passenger railroad looks to boost demand during the recession.

 

The discount runs from June 2 through Sept. 3. It applies to those taking regional trains on the Northeast Corridor which runs from Washington to Boston. The discount also is available from Washington to Newport News, Va....

Tom Vanderbilt is author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do.

 

Vanderbilt, eh? Could he be Cornelius Vanderbilt reincarnated? Or is he a long-lost relative of the Commodore, who was the founder of the New York Central?

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do is a great book, by the way.

Okay everybody...can we get "back on track" for this thread?

Huh??!! There were only two comments, both of which were in response to an article you posted! :laugh:

Huh??!! There were only two comments, both of which were in response to an article you posted! :laugh:

 

He was referring to a digression from topic that resulted from my effort to inject some levity into a passenger-rail thread. I removed my post and the resulting followups. I acknowledge that it was uncalled-for irreverence, and I apologize and promise to refrain from humor when referring to passenger trains in the future.  :oops: :cry: