ST. PAUL, MN-The two-day retreat for the NARP board of directors has just concluded, leaving me in a kind of never-never land. I checked out of my hotel room at noon today, but I’m not actually leaving until 10:00 tonight when the westbound Empire Builder pulls into the St. Paul station. Several of us will…
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1800 people and causing $108 billion in damage. Included in that mess were many miles of track belonging to the CSX railroad that were washed out along the coast. That, of course, meant the cancellation of the New Orleans-to-Orlando segment of Amtrak’s…
Over the past few days, I’ve been brooding over the Trump regime’s efforts to eliminate Amtrak’s long-distance service. And that led me to wonder what it is about the American mentality that says, “I don’t care if they do things differently in the rest of the world. Our way is better.” Currently, the Trump…
Well, it’s official. The Trump Administration is serious about eliminating Amtrak’s long-distance trains. This comes direct from the lips of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao, aka Mrs. Mitch McConnell. Appearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development today (Thursday), she left no doubt as to…