Amtrak equipment shortages limit service growth as ridership cl...

Well, this is August and Durbin is purposing this - if he's re-elected in November it will be off the table because he will have his job for another term.

Then highways should also no longer get any taxpayer money. They certainly do not pay their own way. Same goes for airports, billions there, and barge traffic which is getting billions to update locks on the Mississippi and Ohio.

I think a few million for Amtrak to improve something that is valuable that the private railroads asked the goverment to take over is reasonable.

As the super-subsidized Domestic Airline Industry goes down the drain we should modernize our passinger railroad infrastucture before it is too late. Especially for trips under a thousand miles (door to door travel times would be similar or even less at under 500 or so miles). Highspeed Bullet trains, maglevs etc. should all be supported as they are in other industrialized countries (even more so here, aren't we the innovators?). The U.S. and passenger benefits are too numerous to list here, but I'm sure the readers could think of a half dozen off the top of their heads.

So what's Amtrak's proposal to replace an aging Dick Durbin?

This is a great idea. We have to get people out of their cars. Isn't about time we start building Amtrak stations at U.S. airports so we don't need to fly fuel guzzling airplanes on routes less than 400 miles?

Just the Facts wrote:

This is a great idea. We have to get people out of their cars. Isn't about time we start building Amtrak stations at U.S. airports so we don't need to fly fuel guzzling airplanes on routes less than 400 miles?

Probably right but again.....

Sen Turbin of the out troops at Gimo are like nazis, etc. is not the guy to do it.

If he's involved it'll be DOA...he'll be the only one to benefit from it.

AGAIN AND AGAIN..If Sen Turbin from Illnois is involved I'm dead set against it !!!!

I know part of this is an emontional response but just the sight of him on TV makes my blood start to boil !!!!

Here's my problem with Durbin:

He supposedly opposes the CN/EJE deal, which I favor, but then he *supports* CREATE. Now he basically abandons CREATE to get on the AMTRAK bandwagon in an election year, thus throwing the people affected by the CN deal under the bus. Nice, huh?

Now, I agree 100% we need good passenger rail, but you can have all the cars and locomotives you want and if there are stopped freights on the tracks, they ain't gonna go anywhere. The man is bouncing off one MAJOR problem to another like a pinhead....er.... pinball.

The high spped rails of europe, and they have slow rails also, are on major routes and between large cities that are closer together than most of the USA. The time involved in train travel, combined with the cost, will not replace airplanes. These local trains, over short routes may need some money to upgrade. I can't see taking a train from Chicago to LA, at any price.

Okay, all you Mister Dick Turbin fans, take it easy. You know the transit system in the U.S. sucks. We need to get Amtrack back in shape. This oil crisis/global warming thing isn't going to go away anytime soon. BTW, the rail system has to get approval for any expenditures from the government. They're intertwined. That's probably why our mass transit system is sinking further and further into debt in the first place.

Dickie Durbin our un-American SEN. from Illinois,I believe Dickies wife is a lobbist for the State of Illinois thats got to tell you something this guy is someone who sneaks around the farm during the wee hours of night opens the barn door for the animals to run off and then comes around in the morning and tells the farmer it;s your fault you forgot to close the barn door.

Yes, Amtrak should receive the funding needed to purchase the new equipment it needs, but it will be 2-to-3 years before it will be delivered and available for service. Rehabbing the 60 existing out-of-service cars could be done in a few months, giving some relief to the current car shortage problem. It would make good sense to do both.

Sure Turbin, we trust you. This would be a "trust" fund like say...social security? By the way Dickie, where is that money!?

You clowns don't like Durbin so you knee-jerk and trash any proposal he makes automatically. Real deep thinkers, the bunch of you! No wonder this country is in deep trouble.

[QUOTE who="No Way" I can't see taking a train from Chicago to LA, at any price.[/QUOTE]
There was a forum a couple of months back where a politician said something similar, only the route was New York to Chicago. The politician's remarks were that regional routes were fine, but there was no need for New York to Chicago.
Someone in the audience asked about New York to Albany.
The politician agreed, yes, this is the kind of regional service he was talking about.
How about Albany to Buffalo? Again, yes.
End the end, the questioner strung together a series of "regional" markets that ran from New York to Chicago.
The point is, that regional markets are great, but you still need to string them together. In any transportation, it about connectivity, it doesn't matter if it's the airlines, Amtrak, UPS, or the city bus.
One could say that Indianapolis to Chicago would be "regional". And Nashville would be part of the Atlanta region. But do people in Indianapolis only want to go north, and people in Nashville only south?
For online discussions it's easy to look at only one or two angles, but transportation planners have to dig much deeper into the subject.

JimLoomis wrote:

You clowns don't like Durbin so you knee-jerk and trash any proposal he makes automatically. Real deep thinkers, the bunch of you! No wonder this country is in deep trouble.

I think very deeply. And someone who votes over 97% of the time along democratic party lines ain't my kind of guy.

I'm a glad the Senator is supporting funding for Amtrak---to bad he he doesn't get much of anything else right...

Do not let the age of Amtrak,s cars fool you. The VERY BEST train in North America, Via's Rails "Canadian" is
using cars from the 1950,s That were restored, and rebuilt. People from all over the world travel on the "Canadian" for the scenery, the wonderful equipment, and the GREAT food service. Amtrak's food is good on the long distance trains, but thanks to cuts in dinning car services demanded by the GAO of the Bush Administration. Where the "Canadian" had 9 sleeping cars, Amtrak Empire Builder only has 3. They were booked six months before departure!

Depot Jim wrote:

<quoted text>
This would be like Metra or the CTA "sink or swim" without government support. Highways and Airports are supported by the government. And we may be entering an era where the Air travel will be partially supported by the government.

The government builds the airports.

JimLoomis wrote:

You clowns don't like Durbin so you knee-jerk and trash any proposal he makes automatically. Real deep thinkers, the bunch of you! No wonder this country is in deep trouble.

And your deep-thought solution is?

We don't dislike Dickie, we just don't rubberstamp everything he proposes, because, typically, it's a boondoggle of the highest order!