We talk a lot about our national debt. But the largest debt we owe is to those who will come after us in this nation. Our fulfillment of that debt should underpin the actions we take right now.
Our national infrastructure forms the bedrock foundation upon which our economic future is built as America competes in the global marketplace. Railroads — both passenger and freight — are essential elements in the national transportation network that will help deliver future economic growth to communities across the country.
But for the rail network to function at its best, the rail industry must further improve safety.
Has Amtrak abandoned its vision of 220-mile-per-hour bullet trains speeding up and down the Northeast Corridor?
The railroad recently issued draft specifications for new trains to replace its existing Acelas that call for 160 m.p.h. trains, not the 220 mph versions Amtrak said in January that it was seeking.
In competitive markets, vision and strategy are tested daily as consumers vote with their wallets, investors choose among opportunities, and competitors react – all creating greater efficiency.
Conventional wisdom in passenger rail today is high speed trains. Amtrak, for example, has a 30-year, $117 billion (or more) plan to convert the 456-mile Northeast Corridor, linking Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, to a 220-mph speedway providing 96-minute trips between Washington and New York and 84-minute trips between New York and Boston. That equates to more than $250 million per mile, which, on the Washington D.C.-New York segment, would shave some 69 minutes from the current Acela Express trip that travels between 110 mph and 150 mph over 65 percent of the route and about 85 mph on average for the trip.
Joseph H. Boardman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amtrak, has been named 2014 Railroader of the Year by railroad industry trade journal Railway Age.
“Joe Boardman, who came to Amtrak after his tenure as Federal Railroad Administrator, has been chief executive for the past six years, far longer than any of his post-Graham Claytor predecessors,” said Railway Age editor-in-chief William C. Vantuono. “Under his watch, Amtrak has posted record ridership and revenues, ordered a new fleet of electric locomotives for the Northeast Corridor and new single-level long-distance cars, developed a long-term strategy for additional new rolling stock acquisitions, and is effectively administering major capital programs. Boardman has a sustainable vision for the future of U.S. intercity passenger rail, which includes higher-speed services. As such, he is a deserving recipient of our Railroader of the Year award.”
Railway Age magazine contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner will appear on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal television show Wednesday, Nov. 27, from 8:25 a.m. to 9:15 (EST), discussing his book, Amtrak: Past, Present, Future, and answering audience call-in questions. Wilner formerly was the United Transportation Union’s director of public relations.
The Washington Journal is a forum for leading journalists and public policy makers to discuss key events and legislation.
As the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee prepares a markup on rail reauthorization legislation, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) is urging Congress to embrace a national vision for intercity passenger trains.
NARP is concerned that committee leaders may be moving toward ‘shrinking rather than strengthening the nation’s already-limited passenger train network,” NARP officials said yesterday in a press release.
NARP makes the case that Americans want more trains, citing Amtrak’s ridership growth. The national intercity passenger railroad carried 31.6 million riders in fiscal-year 2013, setting the tenth ridership record in 11 years. However, U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), who chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has questioned the continued funding of some Amtrak long-distance routes.
“What happens to the people that are stranded if Congress kills the long distance trains?” said NARP President Ross Capon. “Because make no mistake: if Congress eliminates operating support for these interstate routes that is what will happen. For many of these communities, it’s their only connection to cities in other states.”
NARP drafted several goals and recommendations for Congress to consider in drafting rail reauthorization legislation. Long-term goals include:
expanding service to put 80 percent of Americans within 25 miles of a railroad station within 25 years;
constructing at least one dedicated 200 mph high-speed line with operations commencing by 2025;
initiating a federal program to strengthen intermodal connections; and
improving safety.
Policy recommendations call for including a high-performance rail network in the next surface transportation reauthorization bill and creating a high-performance railroad network account in the Transportation Trust Fund (renamed from the Highway Trust Fund).
While politicians can’t agree on much, Iowans and the majority of Americans surely agree on one thing: They want more Amtrak service, not less.
On the heaviest traveled passenger rail corridor in the nation, the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak keeps breaking ridership records. But the untold story is that in a large swath of less-traveled rail corridors in middle America, including Iowa, people want Congress to keep investing in and expanding Amtrak service.
It is time for Congress to listen and stop pursuing risky defunding and private contracting schemes.
Amtrak recently reported that its trains carried a record 31.6 million passengers last year, up from 20 million in 2000. And ridership on the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief lines, which traverse Iowa across southern counties, also saw a healthy spike in ridership.
Wytkind
No wonder a new poll of Iowans conducted by St. Paul, Minn.-based DFM Research shows that more than seven out of 10 residents in Polk County and the southwestern counties of the state want to increase federal government investment in Amtrak, or at the very least keep it the same.
So why are some in Congress constantly pointing to federal spending on Amtrak as wasteful?
If members of Congress listen, they will hear a message loud and clear on an issue that is a vital part of every American’s life. Whether they live in red or blue states, in crowded cities or rural areas, in southwestern Iowa or in Polk County, are Republicans or Democrats, old or young, Americans want to ride Amtrak.
In Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District that encompasses Des Moines, the message couldn’t have been any clearer. Among Democrats, the keep-or-increase percentage rises to 87 percent, while 64 percent of independents agree and a hefty 59 percent of Republicans agree.
Even among those who have not ridden Amtrak in recent years, 72 percent want to keep or increase the passenger railroad’s federal funding.
These findings aren’t limited to Iowa. In six middle-America states — Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri — 70 percent of the people say they want more Amtrak service, and they want the government to fund it.
In other words, Amtrak isn’t a blue state thing or a red state thing. It is an American thing.
Tens of thousands of Iowans who value their Amtrak service are increasingly taking the train each year and seek more connections to cities such as Chicago. The business community has joined the choir as well, understanding that passenger rail expansion is good for business and job creation. And for good reason: For every $1 Iowa spends in this sector about $4 is injected back into the state’s economy.
This is a no-brainer during the still anemic economic recovery.
Members of Congress need to get that message, and get it fast, as they prepare to rewrite the law that governs and funds Amtrak and that will decide who in Iowa and other parts of middle America will get to keep their service or ride new train service.
Americans’ appetite for Amtrak service is growing regardless of their political views. This train has long left the station, and the American public is on board.
The preceding column was co-authored by SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich and AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Edward Wytkind. It was published Oct. 28 by the Des Moines Register.
The Northeast Corridor is a national transportation asset and Congress should stop taking it for granted, Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Boardman told a Senate committee yesterday.
The corridor is aging, failure prone and lacks redundant systems to keep it operating in the event of failure, Boardman told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which met in Bridgeport, Conn., yesterday to discuss the causes of a recent power failure on MTA Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line.
Support for saving Amtrak’s Southwest Chief passenger train and making Pueblo a route stop is picking up steam.
The Pueblo Area Council of Governments passed a resolution Thursday pushing the importance and need for Pueblo to be added on to the Southeastern Colorado route, and to keep the Chief rolling through this area, New Mexico and Kansas.
OAKLAND — A man who randomly walked up to two women and punched them in the face, punched a train conductor, then pulled a knife on a witness who tried to help, was arrested Thursday afternoon near the Amtrak station at Jack London Square, police said.
The 40-year-old man, who has addresses in both San Ramon and Fairfield, was arrested for battery, brandishing a weapon and possession of drugs — possibly methamphetamine, police said. His name was not released.
Has Amtrak abandoned its vision of 220-mile-per-hour bullet trains speeding up and down the Northeast Corridor?
Railway Age magazine contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner will appear on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal television show Wednesday, Nov. 27, from 8:25 a.m. to 9:15 (EST), discussing his book, Amtrak: Past, Present, Future, and answering audience call-in questions. Wilner formerly was the United Transportation Union’s director of public relations.
Support for saving Amtrak’s Southwest Chief passenger train and making Pueblo a route stop is picking up steam.