I am often nonplussed by members of Congress who are critical of Amtrak because the railroad operates at a deficit, although that deficit it’s barely a blip on any rational radar screen. The pressure to cut costs is relentless, nevertheless, and has been taken to extremes by Amtrak in an effort to appease those politicians….
SIENA, ITALY–Fifty-plus years ago, the gag definition of “mixed emotions” was watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your brand new car. I’ve got a new one: “Mixed emotions is traveling from Tirano to Siena on three different trains and comparing that experience to Amtrak.” Each of those Italian trains departed and…
One of the frustrating aspects of NARP’s passenger rail advocacy is coming up against those influential members of Congress who are anti-Amtrak as a matter of political philosophy or ideology. Somehow we need to find a way to get the discussion back to the issue itself. Of course with some of these people, nothing…
Those of us connected to the National Association of Railroad Passengers spend a lot of time worrying about Amtrak’s long-distance trains. Congress has targeted them for years. John Mica (R-Florida) is constantly trashing them and Jeff Denham from California, also a Republican, is worse than Mica because he actually sounds rational some of the time. Like…