The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: libertybele on May 01, 2021, 12:43:28 am
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Choo Choo Joe strikes again. There's no end to this jackalope's never ending reckless spending. The video is another Dementia Joe extravaganza. (No I didn't watch the whole thing, I couldn't take listening to his stammering and b.s.)
Biden celebrates Amtrak's 50th anniversary with plans to expand the railway
President Biden traveled to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Amtrak’s first rail ride, from New York City to Philadelphia, and tout a grand future for the federally funded train system.
"Today we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity position — Amtrak and rail and inner-city rail — to play a central role in our transformation and transportation economic future," the president said during a Friday press event.
Biden’s proposed $2 trillion spending package, which targets job growth, infrastructure, and climate forward initiatives, would allocate $10 billion a year to passenger and freight rail systems – two-thirds of which would support current Amtrak railways........
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-pushes-big-spending-package-celebrates-amtraks-50th-anniversary
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Biden IS on a train to nowhere for sure!
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Saturday, May 1, 2021
I’m Really Sorry That Train Has Left The Station
It takes a special brain to lose its train of thought at an Amtrak station. ... And Joey’s got one of those special brains. In case you missed it, here’s an exact transcript:
“When I was Vice President with Barack, he allowed me to put together a budget for Amtrak and it had money for high-speed rail at 200 MPH, from…Charlotte, another line going from…in Florida, down to Tampa, another line — if we had moved…we’d have that tunnel fixed in New York now.”
Needless to say, that was a complete train wreck, and there’s no light to be seen at the end of the tunnel in New York. ... Michelle Obama's Mirror (http://www.michellesmirror.com/2021/05/im-really-sorry-that-train-has-left.html?fbclid=IwAR1eMZwnY4rkSWZzJS8eVU6JF8rY1rw07u2iF1KanPiM9odmyVtz3HjSD8E#.YI1Ogt0pDIV)
(https://doc-0k-2o-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/3cm9vlim175fgvkq9l6504eqahectdm0/f7v82esb5srk4ckf2u98lb5a8acc98sc/1619873400000/09764964171729514628/05681197714260877711/1gBHl6x60ty46_CwO86PXAj4KFFSMrVd5?authuser=0&nonce=plbnnbr22g8k4&user=05681197714260877711&hash=pknatj4l4ejok8dqisrhsdqhue0fu531)
Hello? White House? It’s Joe. How do I get off this train?
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Amtrak is having trouble with ridership due to the covid epidemic.
Some of their traffic was WAY down, as in around only 25% of what it was pre-covid. That may be coming back now, but it will come back slowly.
As ridership crashed, so did passenger revenue. Granted, Amtrak requires subsidies to run, but back when I was still working they managed to get to the point where farebox revenue covered about 50% of their expenses.
It doesn't make sense to expand routes now -- it's all they can do to keep things going as best as they can on the routes they have now (with reduced service on some of the corridors, etc.). So capital projects (outside of routine maintenance) should be put off.
One thing I'd like to see them get is funding to replace the NYC tunnels under the Hudson River (and eventually, under the East River as well). They're 111 years old now, and they're probably not going to last much longer without a full rebuilding, which will require that one or two replacement tunnels be built first so that the old ones can be taken out-of-service and re-done. I've walked in them back years ago, and even then, the age was showing. Actually, I've been down on the trackbed at the bottom of the tunnels, trying to get brake hoses reconnected under the engine and cars at 2 in the morning when they parted and the train (the "Twilight Shoreliner") went into emergency...