Lawmaker: Amtrak can keep Northeast Corridor line

[brooklynite]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman of the House Transportation Committee says he'll no longer demand the government take away the Washington-to-Boston train line that is Amtrak's crown jewel.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., had wanted to put the Northeast Corridor's tracks under control of the U.S. Department of Transportation or a new government-created corporation, then allow a private company to develop high-speed rail service on the route. But on Tuesday, he said fellow Congress members had balked at the plan and it was holding up high-speed rail efforts.

"I'm willing to compromise," he said. "I could probably pass just about anything in committee, but I want to make something happen."

Mica was in New York on Tuesday to speak to the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, a trade group that wants to build train systems capable of 225 mph like the ones in Europe and Asia. Amtrak's Acela trains can only manage 150 mph, and only along a few stretches.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWsgzDsgDgYRYEubBOyskFeKhrqw?docId=a08938afeb5341d2846e0fcd456bacec

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So much for Tea-Party pandering...

[onehandle]

1. What a complete ass. nt

[southernyankeebelle]

2. I love going from Wash, DC to NY and back the same day. Its wonderful

to go shopping in NY.

[freshwest]

8. Aw, you beat me to it!

[Vogon_Glory]

3. The Corridor Is Just A Crumb Tea-publicans Want To Shut Down The Rest

The Northeast Corridor is just a crumb; the Tea-publicans want to shut down the rest of the Amtrak system, even the intercity passenger rail lines that feed into the Boston--Washington corridor like Boston--Portland, Washington--Richmond, NYC--Albany, etc. The Tea-publican-controlled House Appropriations Subcommittee on transportation and Housing passed a proposal back on September 9th to cut Amtrak's operating subsidy 60 percent. Their proposal would have blocked any efforts to co-fund trains that connect to the corridor with the states.

http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/news_releases/more/house_subcommitee_passes_kill_amtrak_bill/

I am one of those DU'ers who changed party preferences and became a solid Democrat back in the 1990's. I grew up believing that the R's, whatever their short-sighted and myopic vision, were responsible and had the long-terms interests of the US at heart and in mind when they made policy. Watching the Reaganauts at work, followed by Gingrich's Congress convinced me otherwise. The capture of the GOP by its ideologues and high-functioning psychotics has convinced me that not only are the R's grossly delusional as to how the world really works, but that their prescription is going to put the US in a economic and political situation that would make present-day basket-cases in the Euro-zone look like well-governed, soberly-managed economic paradises.

[CBHagman]

4. Well, that's mighty big of him.

...though I suppose it could have been worse. As it is, in rail service we're already behind other industrialized nations.

[Vogon_Glory]

5. Heavy Rail: Once You Lose It

What I don't think that most DU'ers, most voters, and most politicians fail to realize is that once you lose your passenger rail service, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to get it back.

A passenger rail service is not just a train; it also consists of infrastructure such as stations, passing tracks, and servicing facilities. Amtrak did as well as it did because there were still lots of employees with passenger rail experience from the private companies, infrastructure left over, and lots of used equipment.

I think the Tea-publicans' deepest desire is not only to force an Amtrak shutdown, but to mandate the liquidation of Amtrak's equipment, wholesale firing of Amtrak employees, and demolition of Amtrak's existing facilities so that passenger rail could never, ever come back.

[CBHagman]

7. What I hate hearing...

...is some lawmaker from a sparsely populated state who says, "My constituents just don't see the need for mass transit." :eyes: Bet those same constituents won't say no to highway funding.

[BiggJawn]

6. Without the Northeast Corridor, no Privateer will touch the system.

The plot was to "sell" Amtrak to a Privateer, let them cash-cow the NE Corridor, and abandon the rest of the system.

System-wide, Amtrak has had the best year for fares in their entire history.