Amtrak has spent decades under threat from presidents and some members of Congress who see it as a waste of money. But numerous attempts to reform it or shut it down have failed because most members of Congress know how vital good rail service is in the Northeast. What's more, trains are popular with many of their constituents, even if those people have little or no service they use. Now, Amtrak's new president, Alex Kummant, appointed last year by President Bush, is offering a refreshing perspective, talking of expanding service rather than cutting it. Read more about what he and Amtrak's supporters in the Senate have planned here.
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Has peace broken out for Amtrak?
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Tom Belden, a former Inquirer business writer, has written about Philadelphia International Airport, airlines, the travel industry, the conventions and meetings business for 25 years. He has traveled to all 50 states and extensively in Europe and Mexico.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 25, 2007 11:22 AM.
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Comments (2)
Alex Kummant is the kick in the pants Amtrak has been needing for quite some time!
He is not afraid to stand up to GWB and say that Americans want trains.
I do not fly, I refuse to fly, I have not been on an airplane since 1990. I can see so much more of this country by rail.
And there are more people like me out here that the present regime refuses to acknowledge.
Now if Mr. Kummant can get the freight railroads to let Amtrak run on time...we could have ourselves one helluva ride!
Posted by anne marie in philly | January 26, 2007 2:10 PM
Posted on January 26, 2007 14:10
Amtrak has a viable mission. But nobody in Washington cares much. If Amtrak had anywhere near a proportionate share of Federal subsidies that air and car travel receive from DC, then Amtrak would be a viable carrier (if managed correctly). There's no reason that the US shouldn't have good rail service in the 200-500 mile distances that this article discusses. I can think of several markets that would be viable for that aren't served today in Ohio, Texas, Florida, Missouri, the Carolinas, Illinois, etc. But this administration, among its other failures, wants Amtrak to just go away. But since they will out-survive this administration, then there may actually be a chance. By the way, US DOT needs to let train manufacturers design trains without interfering as badly as they did on the Acela (known by the builders as The Pig) cars-DOT added 100% extra weight to make sure that Acela operates as inefficiently as possible.
Posted by rich | January 28, 2007 7:39 AM
Posted on January 28, 2007 07:39