Rail
Basics
Would President Romney Build Roads or Rail?
All eyes are on Texas Gov. Rick Perry these days, the faraway frontrunner in the Republican race. But as the primary goes on (and on and on) more Republicans might take note of the fact that in a matchup with President Obama, only one candidate stands a chance of winning: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
September 27, 2011
House GOP’s 2012 Transportation Budget: Deep Cuts, Especially for Livability
In about an hour, Congressional appropriators will vote on how much money to allocate for transportation in the next fiscal year. It won't be pretty.
September 8, 2011
Amtrak’s Loco Locomotive Purchase for the Northeast Corridor
We're pleased to welcome Stephen Smith as a new contributor to Streetsblog Capitol Hill. We'll be running Stephen's work on a regular basis, and you can catch more of his writing at his home blog, Market Urbanism.
July 22, 2011
Rail-Wary FL Gov. Scott Threw Caution to the Wind in Supporting SunRail
On Monday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will travel to Orlando for the ground-breaking of the SunRail commuter rail project in central Florida. We reported with some pleasure two weeks ago that Gov. Rick Scott had approved the project. But what we didn’t mention was that there’s significant opposition to the project, and it’s not all from the usual suspects of Tea Partiers and deficit hawks and transit haters.
July 15, 2011
CRS: Northeast Corridor Privatization Plan Violates Constitution
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has examined the question of whether the GOP plan to privatize Amtrak’s most valuable corridor is constitutional – and it’s determined that it is not.
July 13, 2011
Florida Gov. Scott Finds a Rail Project He Doesn’t Hate
Florida Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad has announced that Gov. Rick Scott’s administration will support the development of SunRail commuter rail.
July 1, 2011
The Economist Issues a Reality Check to Rail Privatization Proponents
The Economist's blog on business travel, Gulliver, has a short post this morning about Rep. John Mica's proposal to privatize the Northeast Corridor. Blogger "N.B." has a healthy dose of skepticism for arguments on either side but does significantly more damage to Mica's argument that that of his opponents. Gulliver strikes a blow at the very idea that private companies can accomplish what Mica hopes they will:
June 27, 2011
Think Privatizing Amtrak Services is a Good Idea? Think Again.
House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) is moving forward with his plan to hand over the Northeast Corridor to private companies, despite (or because of) the fact that such a move could write Amtrak’s obituary.
June 21, 2011
Cutting Train Budgets Could De-Rail Transamerican Routes
The idyllic cross-country train trips that many Americans still take could get derailed by today’s “slash and burn” federal budget policies. Meanwhile, fears for the safety of rail passengers in the post-bin Laden era are drumming up political support for costly security measures and raising, once again, questions about why the federal government funds rail routes without any promise of profitability.
May 17, 2011
House to Vote on Deep Cuts to Essential Transportation Programs
The House is still voting on amendment after amendment to the continuing resolution that will fund the federal government for the rest of FY2011. Just a quick recap as we go into the weekend. The “base bill” of HR 1 – not the amendments – would do the following:
February 18, 2011