Transit Fares Surprisingly Well in House Spending Bill
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With some hard-right House Republicans refusing to support the package, Democrats were able to secure a few spending priorities.
Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Amtrak
What the Amtrak 501 Derailment Says About America’s Failure to Prevent Train Crashes
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While the investigation is just beginning, initial reports indicate that the train entered a tight curve at too high a speed.
How Federal Rules Make It Harder to Build Trains in America
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The Wall Street Journal‘s Bob Tita broke the news yesterday that the manufacturer of 130 new Amtrak railcars is years behind schedule, and probably won’t complete the order before the federal funding for it expires. How did this happen? The 130 double decker railcars were approved for purchase in the 2008 stimulus package, destined for service in the Midwest and California. But the terms […]
House Votes to Slash Amtrak Funding Just Hours After Horrible Crash
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Just hours after seven people were killed and hundreds injured in an Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia, the U.S. House voted to cut funding for the passenger rail service. Early reports suggest the derailment was caused by excessive speed — exactly the type of crash that could be avoided with a new safety system that Amtrak is in […]
What’s New in the House Amtrak Bill?
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In what’s being called a “rare burst of bipartisanship,” the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill yesterday reauthorizing Amtrak funding for four years at its current levels. Despite a last-minute, Koch brothers-backed push to eliminate funding for the railroad completely, the House advanced its bill to provide Amtrak with $1.7 billion annually for four years. It’s […]
Don’t Look Now, But the House Amtrak Bill Actually Has Some Good Ideas
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Tomorrow, the House Transportation Committee will consider a bill that changes the nation’s policies on passenger rail. The proposal, while it includes some cuts, is a departure from the senseless vendetta many House Republicans have waged against Amtrak in the past. The National Association of Railroad Passengers, NARP, says the plan contains “commonsense regulatory and […]