It’s Gonna Take Money to Fix Up the Fixer-Uppers
Congressman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is one of Amtrak’s biggest friends in Congress. He was the moving force behind the recently passed bill that authorizes a five-year funding commitment to Amtrak by the federal government.
William Crosbie of Amtrak appeared before Oberstar’s committee yesterday and there were a couple of nuggets in his testimony that illustrate one of the big problems facing the railroad – lack of equipment.
Crosbie cited the need to replace a lot of the so-called Heritage fleet, best described as the classic rail cars that were generally in service when Amtrak was created in 1971. At issue are baggage cars and diners like the one shown here. Crosbie said that the average car of this type is – ready for this? – 57 years old!