Both before and after the two world wars, passenger trains in one form or another provided most of the public transportation in the U.S. Long-distance trains linked cities and connected entire regions. Major cities had transit systems. Trains ran underground in New York and Los Angeles, while Chicago opted for an elevated system. Smaller cities…
Life in a modern, industrialized society is complicated and it’s often the case that solutions to one problem just create different problems. Case in point: In 1997, Congress put a $200 million liability cap on awards resulting from a railroad accident. The idea was to protect passenger railroads, whether Amtrak or a commuter line, from…
Ask almost anyone into transportation issues which City in the country is the most enlightened and progressive when it comes to transportation infrastructure and I’ll bet that 90 percent would say Portland, Oregon. When it comes to getting around a fairly large city without a car, Portland has it figured out. There’s a light rail…
The news is coming in bits and pieces, and it’s too early to know for sure how significant it is, but [breaking into song] “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christ-mas … “ That’s from the perspective of a passenger rail advocate, of course. Seriously, there really does appear to be the beginning of…