Free Republic

One of the projects to be funded with the money Florida rejected will be to transform 135 miles of Amtrak’s Wolverine route, which runs between Chicago and Detroit, into a higher-speed rail line, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. This improvement, which will cost $196.5 million, will be paid for by the federal government. Trains will be able to reach speeds up to 110 mph, compared with their current top speed of 79 mph. The trip, which currently takes more than 5 hours, is expected to be more than 30 minutes shorter. “This is not true high-speed rail by...

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley is calling on Iowa lawmakers and Gov. Terry Branstad to fund the state’s share of the cost of developing a high-speed rail connection between Iowa City through the Quad Cities to Chicago. Iowa and Illinois have secured $230 million in federal funding for an Amtrak route between Chicago and Iowa City. The project now depends on Branstad and the Legislature fulfilling Iowa’s $20 million commitment to the project, according to Braley, whose district includes the Quad Cities. He has written to Branstad as well as House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal,...

It's A Dead Heat, Lunacy And Hypocrisy Are Dueling For The Lead, At The Head Of The StretchSen. Charles Schumer, NY, is calling for increased security on trains; since, Osama's computer files have included vague plans for attacking rail systems to celebrate the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Schumer is suggesting an ever larger increase in America's security forces that have largely been shown to be ineffective and incompetent in the past. Schumer is also suggesting a fool proof, no-ride list, so that terrorists who are known to be terrorists cannot ride, but will be free to find another opportunity...

Subsidies: This week, Amtrak marks its 40th anniversary, which means that for decades it's wasted tens of billions of tax dollars. Naturally, Washington wants to reward this with billions more under the guise of "high-speed" rail. To say that Amtrak is a failed business is to be unkind to failure. Consider: • A Pew study found that all but three of Amtrak's 44 lines lost money in 2008, with an average loss of $32 per passenger. Even the heavily used Northeast Regional line was a money-loser. • Each year, Amtrak relies on more than $1.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies —...

— Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for better rail security now that the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound has turned up plans to attack trains in the U.S. “Anyone, even a member of al-Qaida could purchase a train ticket and board an Amtrak train without so much as a question asked,” Schumer said. “So that’s why I’m calling for the creation of an Amtrak no ride list. That would take the secure flight program and apply it to Amtrak trains.”

After lobbying federal officials hard and long for $270 million for the Springfield-to-New Haven high-speed rail project, Connecticut landed just $30 million Monday. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the distribution of $2 billion for fast train projects, and Connecticut was counting on a hefty share. Despite earlier signals from LaHood that Connecticut and the rest of the Northeast stood a solid chance, he ended up giving more than half the money to projects in the Midwest and California. Despite heavy traffic congestion and dense population, Connecticut got less than 2 percent of the funding. "Any money for high-speed rail...

A senator on Sunday called for a "no-ride list" for Amtrak trains after intelligence gleaned from the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound pointed to potential attacks on the nation's train system. Sen. Charles Schumer said he would push as well for added funding for rail security and commuter and passenger train track inspections and more monitoring of stations nationwide. "Circumstances demand we make adjustments by increasing funding to enhance rail safety and monitoring on commuter rail transit and screening who gets on Amtrak passenger trains, so that we can provide a greater level of security to the public," the...

This week kicks off the 40th Anniversary of the money-sucking, inefficient, outmoded national rail system we call Amtrak. Let’s start with money. Amtrak loses bucketloads of money every day. The national rail system operates in the red, generating huge losses and has done so each and every year of its existence. And they are not shy about it. That’s over $1.2 billion in losses for the most recent year, putting the overall tab for this antiquated, bloated and inefficient system around $50 billion dollars of taxpayer money. The embarrassment of Amtrak has even struck a chord with someone who rallied...

SNIPPET: "CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) – Chester police are urging vigilance after they found an improvised explosive device, this afternoon, near Amtrak and Septa railroad tracks and the Commodore Barry Bridge. 

 Police say the device consisted of two bottles with a yellow liquid inside. They say one had a timer and wires attached by duct tape."

No deal. That's the decision from the state Department of Transportation, which notified BNSF Railway Co. this week that the state was terminating an agreement to buy 182 miles of unneeded northern New Mexico train track. And Gov. Susana Martinez wants a $2.35 million refund. In 2008, the administration of former Gov. Bill Richardson paid nearly $5 million for the track from Lamy, N.M., to the Colorado border. The segment is used only by Amtrak for twice-daily passenger service. BNSF stopped its freight service there several years ago. The unneeded segment was part of a package deal that enabled the...

QUINCY, Ill. — The Illinois Zephyr — a workaday locomotive and four cars sitting in the predawn darkness in Quincy, Ill. — isn’t the sleek, futuristic image of high-speed travel, but it’s what some Eastern Iowans have worked toward for years. While the effort to bring passenger service to Iowa City by 2015 still faces some political and financial obstacles, trains sponsored by Iowa’s would-be operating partners Amtrak and the state of Illinois continue to draw travelers — 1.6 million in 2010 — from the highways and airways. “It’s pretty convenient,” said Don Huechteman, a Quincy retiree seeing his wife...

Back in June and July of 2009, I spotlighted the Obama corruptocrats’ unceremonious removal of respected veteran Amtrak watchdog Fred Weiderhold (see here and here). Flashback: Who railroaded the Amtrak inspector general? by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2009 Watchdogs are an endangered species in the Age of Obama. The latest government ombudsman to get the muzzle: Amtrak inspector general Fred Weiderhold. The longtime veteran employee was abruptly “retired” last month –just as the government-subsidized rail service faces mounting complaints about its meddling in financial audits and probes. Question the timing? Hell, yes. On June 18, Weiderhold met with Amtrak...

Today’s the big day for Amtrak’s Wilmington train station. It is being renamed in honor of Vice President and former Delaware Senator Joe Biden following major renovations made possible with stimulus funds. One problem: the CEO of Amtrak got stuck on the train. ABC News Deputy Political Director & Political Reporter Michael Falcone tweeted at approximately 10 a.m. that the Acela train he was riding had been “delayed” in Baltimore and that he was sitting next to Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman. Falcone tweeted, “Acela to NY delayed for ‘unknown period’ Should I feel better that the Amtrak CEO is sitting...

IOWA CITY – Elected officials in Iowa City, Coralville and Johnson County say they are willing to spend local tax dollars to help support Iowa City-to-Chicago passenger rail service. The communities had recently indicated they’d be willing to put local funds toward Amtrak service in Iowa City, but they formalized that in a March 11 letter to Nancy Richardson, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation. In the letter, released Thursday, Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek, Coralville Mayor Jim Fausett and Johnson County Board of Supervisors Chairman Pat Harney listed a variety of potential sources for the local money. Those...

As a thank-you to its most famous customer, Amtrak is renaming the train station in Wilmington, Del., after stimulus “sheriff” Vice President Joseph R. Biden - after the project received $20 million in stimulus money and came in $5.7 million over the initial announced budget. Spokesmen for Mr. Biden, who said he personally fought for stimulus money for Amtrak, didn’t respond to messages Wednesday or Thursday.

A Chicago-bound businessman traveling in an Amtrak sleeping car didn't expect to wake up in Omaha. That's where plain clothes Nebraska State Patrol Investigators boarded and knocked on the doors of four first-class passengers. Greg Travis of Bloomington, Indiana said, "It was a loud knock followed by questions. 'Where are you going! Who did you visit!' They shined a flashlight and I was in my pajamas." Travis said he saw two other groggy passengers in his sleeping car also talking to the investigators. "If I had my wits about me, I might have said, 'No I don't want you looking...

WASHINGTON — In late February, the Transportation Security Administration took over the Amtrak station in Savannah, Ga., and thoroughly searched every person who entered. None of the passengers got into trouble, but the TSA certainly did — big time. Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor said he first thought a blog posting about the incident was a joke. When he discovered that the TSA’s VIPR team did at least some of what the blog said, he was livid. He ordered the VIPR teams off Amtrak property, at least until a firm agreement can be drawn up to prevent the TSA from...

This has been mentioned in other threads, but deserves its own. Here is a video from 2/13/11 showing a mother and two young children being searched AFTER they got off the train at the Savannah train depot. From the YouTube poster's account: Quote: The only bad thing on our trip was TSA was at the Savannah train station. There were about 14 agents pulling people inside the building and coralling everyone in a roped area AFTER you got OFF THE TRAIN! This made no sense!!! Poor family in front of us! 9 year old getting patted down and wanded. They...

HELENA, Mont. -- An unruly passenger who was removed from an Amtrak train later made a threat that led to the train’s evacuation, an Amtrak official said Tuesday. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said Hussein Abdi Hassan, 24, was removed from the train in Browning shortly before 8:30 p.m. Monday. While being interviewed by authorities, the Minnesota man “somehow threatened the safety of the train," he said. Nothing dangerous was found. The train was stopped between Browning and East Glacier. Passengers were taken to a middle school in Browning, where they were set up with sleeping bags and air mattresses.

An intoxicated Burnsville man was pulled by law enforcement from an Amtrak train in western Montana and then said with a laugh that a bag he left behind held something dangerous, according to charges. The alleged threat by Hussein Abdi Hassan, 24, prompted evacuation of the 140 or so passengers Monday night from the westbound train amid snow that was blowing and drifting from winds topping out at 90 miles per hour, according to charges filed Tuesday in Glacier County. No bomb was found, but abandoning the train in a treacherous swath of territory was difficult for older passengers and...